It is 11:00 a.m. in Owerri, Nigeria.
I am in front of my computer waiting for the bong notification from Google Meet. In a moment, Oghenerukevwe Odjugo appears on the call. I have been a fan of her investment newsletter series, The Beginner Investor, on LinkedIn because, well, I am a beginner investor.
It is 9:00 p.m. in Sydney, Australia.
Keeping frequent late nights as part of her job is a feature, not a bug. Twelve-hour workdays are common in her role as an equity analyst at Schroders. But on this particular night, she is going to see a movie to de-stress.
We start the conversation with the lifestyle shocks of moving to Sydney. We make small talk about tax systems abroad—the UK, where she previously lived and worked, and where Nigerian immigrants frequently settle—collects more in taxes.
“There’s no national insurance [in Australia], so that saves you a bit of money. In the UK, national insurance is essentially a government pension scheme, but in Australia, the equivalent is superannuation, which is fully paid by your employer,” she explains.
We talk about a peculiar fascination I’ve had with Australia from my little corner of the world: animal sightings. Odjugo laughs as she recalls the question she has been asked more times than she can count: ‘Do frogs really find their way into your toilet in Australia?’ It’s the kind of thing you hear about Australia—alongside the oversized spiders and deadly snakes—but, as she explains, it’s mostly a myth for city-dwellers like herself.
“I’ve been here a year and a half, and I’ve never seen a single snake outside of a zoo,” she says.
What she has seen, however, is a life and career that have taken her from Warri, a riverine city in Nigeria’s south, to Cairo, London, and now Sydney. She spends her days analysing stock market trends and assessing companies.
Outside of work, she has found a rhythm in her new city—one that includes yoga, Zumba, and playing ‘squash and swim’ twice a week.
A journey rooted in numbers
Odjugo’s relationship with finance started early.
“I like to tell people that my story starts with a love for maths. I was the kind of student who, in SS2, bought an engineering mathematics textbook meant for university students—just because I enjoyed solving problems,” she says.
But when it came time to choose a university course, she had to be strategic.
“If I had told my parents I wanted to study math, they would have asked, ‘So you want to be a teacher?’” she says. “I knew I needed something that sounded practical, so I said banking.”
Her mother, an accountant, suggested she study accounting and so she ended up an accounting student at Covenant University.
She excelled academically—eventually graduating with first class honours—but by her third year, she knew she wanted to do more than balance books.
“Accounting is useful, but I could not see myself doing it for the rest of my life,” she says.
A year after college, an internship with Afreximbank in Cairo marked her entry into finance, and a scholarship to Loughborough University in the UK for a master’s in finance and investments solidified her path.
“At that point, I knew this was it. It was finance, but with a lot more room for analysis and strategy,” she says.
Her career path was anything but linear. She applied to dozens of firms before landing a break through the 100 Black Interns programme (now 10,000 Black Interns), which led to a graduate role at Schroders in London. After completing the two-year program, it was time to make the big decision.
“At the end of it, you are supposed to find a job within the firm or when your contract ends, that’s the end. So when I was coming to the end of the programme, I needed the job,” says Odjugo.
Months later, a role at the firm’s Australian office opened up.
“I had never thought about Australia,” she says. “But when I read the job description, I thought, ‘This is exactly what I should be doing.’ It described me so perfectly that I almost felt like I had written it myself.”
Within two weeks, she had gone through multiple interviews and received the offer. Schroders processed her visa and transfer from London to Sydney, and life began in the emerald city.
A new life in Sydney
Moving from London to Sydney was less of a culture shock than moving from Warri to London for her master’s degree. Yet Australia still had a few surprises.
“The houses here are much bigger than in London,” she says. “And the roads are wider.”
Unlike London, where riders tap in only when they get on a bus, in Sydney, you have to tap in and tap out. Forgetting to tap out could mean being charged for an entire bus route.
“That was a shock,” she says, laughing.
The cost of living was another shift. Rent in Sydney is typically paid weekly or fortnightly, and for a single person, it ranges between AU$300 and AU$400 per week. But if you’ve got a half-decent paying job in Australia, you’ll be fine, says Odjugo.
Despite these changes, she found her footing quickly, thanks to an unexpected message from a fellow Nigerian.
“After I moved, I posted on Twitter about it. A Nigerian woman living in Sydney reached out and said, ‘If you ever need anything, let me know.’ We ended up meeting for lunch, and she even paid for my meal,” she says.
That meeting has since led to a 10-person friend group who meet every other month.
Life at Schroders
As an equity analyst at Schroders, no two days are the same.
“I could walk into the office with a plan for the day, but if a major news story breaks about a company I cover, that plan goes out the window,” she says.
Her job involves researching publicly traded companies on the Australian Stock Exchange, particularly in tech, gold mining, education, and payments.
“A large part of my role is figuring out which companies are worth investing in. That means reading annual reports, looking at financial statements, and trying to understand a company’s long-term potential,” she explains.
One company that has kept her particularly busy is IDP Education, which helps international students secure university placements.
“It is a fascinating business because education is such a huge industry, especially for people from developing countries looking to study abroad,” she says.
Beyond work
Balancing work and personal life is something Odjugo takes seriously.
“Finance is intense, so I make it a point to step away and do something just for me,” she says.
“When you move to Australia, you just start doing things like yoga, Pilates, and going to the beach,” she says. “It is part of the lifestyle here. I am not quite at the surfing stage yet, but we will see.”
Travel has also been a defining part of her life. She has visited 18 countries, taking advantage of discounted flights and strategic booking.
“When I was in the UK, I would buy flights almost a year in advance when British Airways had deals,” she says.
That approach has taken her to Greece, the United States, and across Africa.
Despite working in a field that revolves around long-term forecasts, Odjugo does not believe in rigid long-term planning.
“Beyond the next step, you really cannot say. A year before I moved to Australia, I had no idea I would end up here,” she says. “I focus on what I can do today that will make the next step possible. That is it.”
This mindset extends to her thoughts on career success.
“Be excellent where you are. If you are the best at what you do, you can compete globally,” she says. “There are many brilliant Nigerians who, with the right exposure, can break into global investment management firms. The talent is there.”
Her passion for finance extends beyond her job. In 2020, she was recognised as a LinkedIn Top Voice for her contributions to financial literacy, courtesy of her newsletter which simplifies investing for young professionals.
“I started it because finance can feel intimidating, and I wanted to break it down in a way that felt approachable,” she says.
As we wrapped up the call, I asked her, “If you could do anything differently about your journey, what would that be?”
“I got an internship offer from Citibank in Lagos around the same time as Afreximbank in Egypt. I didn’t want to miss the Afreximbank opportunity, so I chose not to do the Citi internship and didn’t show up,” she recalls.
“But then, the Afreximbank internship got pushed by a year due to timing issues, and I realised I could have done both. If I could go back and do it all over again, that’s the one thing I would do differently.”
However, with life at Schroders, Odjugo seems to have put that regret behind her. She loves what she does, she’s travelling, and importantly, she is learning how to allow more flexibility in her life.
For now, she is focused on excelling in her current role.
“Where I am now is a lot more certain than where I have been in the past, and that is a good place to be,” she says.
As for the future?
“I will figure it out when I get there,” she says with a smile.
