From High School to Future Asset – Emilie Stewart’s Incredible Journey

18-year-old Edinburgh Napier University student, Emilie Stewart, talks about her self-proclaimed “life-changing” experience with the Future Assets Investment Competition.

Having stumbled upon the unique opportunity through her high school career support page, Emilie learned of the Future Assets Investment Competition and submitted her application that day.

Reflecting on her experience, Emilie can confidently say that the competition changed her entire career outlook. “First and foremost, it was really good fun. That’s the main thing that comes to mind – just how much fun and enjoyment I got from the Investment Competition, which genuinely surprised me beyond words.

“I never felt that anything to do with finance, business, or the investment industry would interest me. Since I was a little girl, I always loved English and never envisioned myself pursuing a career in anything else. It was really eye-opening.”

The Future Assets Investment Competition encourages teams of three to six girls to manage client finances and create a short- and long-term plan to encourage business growth. The first step was deciding which Future Assets affiliated company Emilie and her team wanted to work on.

“We decided to go through each company on the list to decide which one we’d be keen to create our presentation on. What was the company? Was it expected to grow? What were its ethics and morals? My group wanted to prioritise climate consciousness, and so that was a big part of our decision.”

After spending time considering the extensive list of companies, Emilie and her team settled on UK-based Danish offshore windfarm company, Orsted. Their business plan went on to win the senior category.

Emilie shares her insight on the competition process: “Our team got paired with a fantastic coach, Amanda. From day one, we got on really well. She gave us some great guidance from checking over our written work, to helping with our presenting skills.

“After our group won, we were invited to a Future Asset Investment Competition celebration event where I met Mary Duffy from The Juniper Trust. A year later, I attended a dinner with other members from The Juniper Trust, which was an incredible opportunity resulting in a scholarship offer to a university of my choice. This has allowed me to study journalism at Edinburgh Napier University and continue working with Future Asset.”

Eager to impress upon any girls still debating the opportunity, Emilie offered some final thoughts. “I think Future Asset should be advertised more because it has truly been a life-changing opportunity. It showed me a whole new area of work that I didn’t know I could enter and has quashed some stereotypical ideas I had about the world of finance, business and investment.

“This competition opens doors that many don’t even know exist – and encouraging young girls to discover them is really incredible. There are not enough women in these industries, and I think it’s great that Future Asset is keen to change that.”