Talking with ... Axa IM's Nigel Thomas

How did you get into fund management? I was a failed accountant. I studied economics and geography at university and afterwards did the milk round. I got as far as a second interview with Mobil, but no job was forthcoming. So I went backpacking to Greece and Italy - in those days they were considered exotic, rather than the Bali and Thailand of today. When I returned I became an articled clerk at accountancy firm Robson Rhodes. There was a problem though - I could not see myself passing my exams. I knew it was not right for me one New Year's Eve, when I was doing a physical stocktake ...