Ben Avor

Ben Avor

Credit Risk Audit Manager


Capital One

Mc Lean, VA USA


It’s hard to be discouraged when you are passionately pursuing something.

Milestones

My road in life took a while to figure out.
Right after undergrad I started writing for a newspaper doing an op-ed on business and politics.
Got into banking in 2010 as management trainee in a prestigious rotational program for wholesale banking.
Got to work as a credit and relationship manager in China and Taiwan.
Moved to South Africa and it was not exactly a good experience.
Moved to NYC to attend grad school.
Found myself working in 2nd line and 3rd line risk management.
Keep following my journey

Education

High School
Accra Academy
Bachelor
Banking and Finance
University of Ghana
Graduate
Real Estate Development (Finance and Investment)
Columbia University
Certification/License
Chartered Financial Analyst
CFA Institute

Career

Credit Risk Audit Manager

I evaluate how well the controls we have in place to manage credit risk are working.

Career Roadmap

Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Writing
Business
Being Creative

Day to Day

Typical day involves a fair amount of stakeholder engagement to understand their processes and their risks. This is followed by planning test work and executing the test work. The fun part for me is the stakeholder engagement—you enter into a new environment and you add value by providing insight on potential risks and opportunities for process improvements.

Advice for Getting Started

Here's the first step for college students

Get the needed education apply for as many jobs as you can.

Recommended Education

My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:

undergrad
Bachelor
Banking and Finance
graduate
Graduate
Real Estate Development (Finance and Investment)
certification
Certification/License
Chartered Financial Analyst

Hurdles

The Noise I Shed

From Peers:

"Get into IT instead – banking is for connected people."

Challenges I Overcame

Racial Discrimination