Chartered Accountant (CA) Programme

Allan Gray CA Trainee Programme - TOPP Articles

This is a three-year, SAICA-accredited Training Outside Public Practice (TOPP) articles experience that broadens your commercial exposure, provides the building blocks for your technical foundation and places you at the centre of business decision-making – far beyond traditional audit-only routes.

Allan Gray CA trainees spend 36 months rotating through teams where finance, strategy and decision-making intersect. The Programme takes trainees into the heart of our high-performance investment business – offering experience in a non-audit environment and the chance to work on meaningful projects that influence internal controls, business growth and product decisions.

Key Duties

Engagement with up to six business areas – including Investments, Institutional Clients, Retail Product Development, Retail Client Experience and Retail Operations Analytics. Participation in financial reporting, risk oversight, internal controls and business analysis. Eligibility for a two to three-month placement with our offshore partner, Orbis, in Vancouver, Bermuda or London.

In this role, you will learn to apply accounting principles to business challenges, assess financial and operational decisions, and reach an understanding of the interplay between products, regulation and investment outcomes.

Qualifications

• Final-year student or graduate with an undergraduate Commerce degree that will enable studying toward a postgraduate Accounting qualification. GPA: 70% or higher.

Program Details

Duration: 36 months. Start: July 2028. Location: Cape Town. Relocation support is provided for selected graduates, as needed.

Recruitment Process

The recruitment process includes three rounds: meeting with the CA training officer and a manager, completing psychometric tests, and interviews held at the Cape Town office.

Study Support

Allan Gray finances the ITC and APC board course and materials needed to prepare for the board exams. Trainees are granted adequate study leave. First-year trainees typically come in for orientation in January and then take study leave until the January ITC is complete.

Program Structure

• First year - finance function teams (ex-SA, Allan Gray Life, Business Services and Finance Analytics).
• Second year - Group Consolidation team, Risk team, Internal Audit team, and open rotations.
• Third year - secondment opportunity to Orbis and rotations in Product Development, Institutional Client Services and other teams.

How to Apply

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.