Old Elizabethan Stefan Rajendra is helping some of the world’s leading financial institutions manage the risks of doing global business.
Stefan (OE 2001–2008) is a manager at international management consultancy Accenture, where he specialises in risk management within investment banks.
“This has been a particularly interesting area since the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent trading scandals,” he says. “Aside from this, it has also given me the opportunity to work abroad, from Bangalore to Chicago.”
Stefan enjoyed academic success at QE – he achieved straight As in his A-levels in Economics, Mathematics, Biology and Geography – but it was a turbulent time for him, too. “I had quite a troubled childhood and certainly didn't have the foundation most kids my age would have had.
“However, throughout my time at QE I always received support, both financial and overall mentoring, and even when I was suspended in the Upper Sixth, Mr [David] Ryan, the Head of Sixth Form at the time, continued to give me his time and advice. It's not lost on me for a moment that much of the opportunity I have had is because of the education I had at QE.”
After School, Stefan went to UCL to read Economics. He was not alone: “I left QE with about 20 other people in our year that ended up at UCL, with half of them also reading Economics.”
While still a student, for four months in 2010, he worked as a summer analyst in Nomura’s Change Management Team. He returned to the Japanese financial giant after graduating the following year to work as a Regulatory Control Analyst.
In January 2013, he moved on to Accenture, where he remains today, based in London. His work there has included being project lead for a programme at a Tier 1 European investment bank, managing a team responsible for the global delivery of accurate risk reporting.