Graduate opportunities
At Allan Gray, we believe in building our teams by investing in people with extraordinary potential. The Allan Gray CA Trainee Programme aims to expose aspiring chartered accountants to professional learning opportunities. Our small annual intake gives trainees highly individualised attention, the chance to do diverse, stimulating work and the opportunity to launch a dynamic career.
Hear more about the CA Trainee Programme from its director, candidates and alumni below.
Frequently asked questions
TIPP refers to training inside public practice, i.e., with a traditional auditing firm. If you choose this route for your articles, you will gain most of your experience in the traditional auditing function. This is the type of programme you will do if you wish to pursue a career as an auditor.
TOPP is training outside of public practice. This type of programme is offered by non-auditing firms and encapsulates many different industries, including retail consumer goods, financial services, management consulting and tax consulting.
A key difference between the two is that a TIPP programme generally provides you with high-level exposure to many different businesses and industries, depending on your individual assignments within the audit team. A TOPP programme, on the other hand, will provide you with in-depth exposure to the specific business/industry where you are completing your articles.
Allan Gray has historically recruited between two to five trainees each year. This small intake allows each trainee to get individual attention from the business. It also allows management to allocate trainees to in-depth projects that give them the opportunity to add value to Allan Gray while gaining significant industry knowledge and expertise in the process.
The small size of the programme means that trainees have meaningful connections with everyone in the programme, as well as with alumni who are still at Allan Gray.
There are three rounds to the application process:
- You will meet with the CA training officer and a manager from the programme.
- You will complete psychometric tests.
- Interviews will be held at our Cape Town office (where the programme is based) with the managers of each rotation. These interviews take most of the day, and the process is demanding. However, it is a great opportunity for you to experience our culture and to determine if Allan Gray is the right place for you. You will meet managers from various departments within the business who you will work with on the programme.
If your academic average is higher than 70% and you wish to apply, please email your CV and academic transcripts to topp@allangray.co.za.
Please join us at our meet and greet if you would like to know more about the programme. At the meet and greet, you will get to engage with current trainees, alumni and our training officer.
The programme looks to recruit candidates who will make a long-term contribution to the Allan Gray business.
The programme works well for you if you are able to think critically and enjoy challenging work and problem-solving. You will need to be able to adapt quickly to different environments as Allan Gray has short rotation periods of two months in which you are expected to learn and add value to the team.
Allan Gray finances the ITC and APC board course and the respective materials needed to prepare for the board exams. Trainees are also granted adequate study leave to ensure they are prepared.
First-year trainees typically come in for orientation in January and then take study leave until the January ITC is complete.
CA trainees have a three-year fixed-term training and employment contract. During the three years of articles, you will have the opportunity to rotate into departments and discover your strengths within each rotation. There is no guarantee of employment after the three years of articles, but the design of the programme enables you to identify areas of interest and to build appropriate networking relationships in those departments. Allan Gray has an excellent retention rate; past alumni are currently working in different departments within the business, such as the Investment team, Venture Capital and Philanthropy.
Yes, trainees apply and interview to go on a two- to three-month secondment to our sister company, Orbis. This rotation typically takes place at the beginning of the third year. In the past, trainees have been on secondment to London, Bermuda and Vancouver.
First year
You will rotate within the finance function. The various teams include ex-SA, Allan Gray Life, Business Services and Finance Analytics.
Second year
You will continue your financial exposure with a rotation in the Group Consolidation team. You will also get the opportunity to learn more about the business through rotations in the assurance function, namely the Risk team and Internal Audit team. There are also open rotations where you can apply to work in teams across the business that are not part of the programme.
Third year
You will have the opportunity to apply to (a) go on secondment and (b) write a report for the Investment team. There are also rotations available for trainees to work in various departments, such as Product Development, Institutional Client Services and other teams that may be of interest.