<pre><code> I have an interview set for a Smith Barney internship in Boca Raton, Florida. The internship descripition is:
Position Description: Assist in preparing financial plans and proposals, research on stock and mutual fund investments. Assist financial analysts to prepare for meetings, enter cost basis, assist on administrative details, mailings, answer phones, filing and coordinate seminars. Internship location in Boca Raton, FL.
Learning Expectation: Exposure to income planning, retirement planning, educational planning, and estate planning. Exposure to traditional investments, alternative investments and insurance products.
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<p>It seems like it has little or nothing to do with investment banking. Nothing about mergers and acquisitions or distressed assets. I am struggling to find any kind of finance related internship because I come from a non-target school and I have no connections. Is it worth doing this unpaid internship? I'm only asking this because I am a seasonal waiter and could make 6-8 grand over the summer. Basically, I will be losing my opportunity to be a waiter. Would investment banks look favorably upon this internship? (I know citi is on the verge of collapsing)</p>
<p>Sounds like a position in their brokerage area (mom and pop retail brokerage accounts). Not anywhere close to I-banking. Not even the same division.</p>
<p>Better to beg, borrow, steal(?) an unpaid job in the research department of a fund management company.</p>
<p>Hard to pass up earning $6-8k during the summer. I wouldn't do it for the Brokerage job. I would do it for a chance with a fund management company.</p>
<p>Yes, this is not an ibanking job. This is a SB broker or group of brokers who often get free help this way. If you have any interest in being a broker it would be a good way to learn about the business.</p>
<p>My D took something like this at the local Merrill Lynch years ago. She quit after two weeks. You job description includes "phone answering" and I think you will be doing a lot of that. It's not a resume builder.</p>
<p>I would think that it may be worth it if you're a Freshman in college (?). Juniors and Sophomores probably should not be looking at this type of internship.</p>
<p>Right now? I'll do any internship that comes my way, paid or not.</p>
<p>But then I have no IB aspirations whatsoever, and just need to show law schools that I did something productive with my time that doesn't involve sitting on my butt at home and studying for the LSAT.</p>
<p>If this is sophmore summer.... take it if you get it.</p>
<p>I'm a senior and i'm doing a Merrill Private banking internship. Its not only a great experience to get hands on exposure to finance but its definitely good for professional development. You want all the experience that you can get, regardless if its mind numbingly boring data entry intern-ish stuff.</p>
<p>If your resume says, "Smith Barney" for winter recruiting, it shows your level of interest in finance. I believe after this summer, you'll have a stronger chance of landing an M&A internship at a local boutique just because you have previous finance experience. </p>
<p>Another thing, hope that you realize that your managers at Smith Barney work with professionals in the M&A field. When an entrepreneur goes to sell a company, he seeks advice from an M&A firm. After he sells, he seeks advice from a financial advisor(because he is now flushed with cash). So where do you think FAs get their leads?</p>
<p>Ask your managers if you can get work related to M&A. Preparing cashflow statements, reconciling balance sheets, and other general accounting work. In addition, ask for contacts, see if they can introduce you to some M&A analysts/associates/vps... etc Wealthy people(ie bankers) have financial advisors... make use of contacts if M&A is what you really want to do.</p>
<p>Private banking and M & A have absolutely nothing to do with each other. A manager will not be able to get you M & A work. PB is NOT finance experience. You are truly misinterpreting any connection between the two.</p>
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Private banking and M & A have absolutely nothing to do with each other. A manager will not be able to get you M & A work. PB is NOT finance experience. You are truly misinterpreting any connection between the two.
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<p>Umm.. he needs to get good at excel... so cfs statements and bank reconcilations will help in that area... with no prior experience, i doubt he can put together a pitchbook as quickly as I can and I have never done it....</p>
<p>How is PB not finance experience? yes its not highly technical... but a portfolio of $20mm is not just 10 stocks and bonds...</p>
<p>A reference doesn't hurt... waiter or experience at smith barney... no offense, but this is a no brainer</p>
<p>Here at my desk, my colleagues have done everything from babysit a bunch of kids and teach them finance to paying insurance bills and reconciling tax accounting data.... There's a lot of work you can do with a PB, you just gotta show up everyday and find something that interests you.</p>
<p>Here's an old post from Wallstreetoasis.... written by an associate who participated in some recruiting... scroll down to Mis Ind's post. Take note of how many individuals participated in Merrill regional advisory internships.</p>
<p>That was written in 07... so you can imagine how much tougher it will be now.</p>
<p>I've logged 30 years in M & A, starting as an associate. If I look at a resume of someone who has worked in PWM, I'm unlikely to interview that person. Frankly, the kids I'm hiring would not have done that internship.</p>
<p>Such an internship has no more to do with my area than one at a Big 4 accounting firm would.</p>
<p>And there is no interaction within the bank between the two. Most wealth managers are in branch offices in affluent suburbs. PWM's are not investment bankers, most never were (though some do try it if they don't make it in other areas) and never will be. In 30 years I have never seen anyone go from PWM to M & A.</p>
<p>So if ibanking is the goal I would not take that internship because it will pigeon hole you. Better to get a banking internship at a regional firm or even to work in finance at a corporation. I'm not saying either of those will make you an M & A must hire, but they also won't get you circular filed like a PWM job would.</p>
<p>hmom5, goodness, a 3:43 AM time stamp on your post?! Hah, I guess even as an MD in IB the hours will never be normal. I'm fairly bullish on M&A in the long-run (especially, in the healthcare and financial institutions space) but you can't be THAT busy :]</p>
<p>assuming its like freshman summer or something, i see no problem with a pwm internship. probably like half the kids at my school who got sa positions in banking this summer went that route - its a good first finance job when nobody else will take you</p>
<p>if this is for junior year though, this is another story</p>
<p>Pure, I'm recovering from back surgery so don't equate my present schedule with what's going on in M & A. Trust me, things are busy. For all of you future bankers, think about it, with leverage gone for now, M & A will be king for the foreseeable future.</p>
<p>Look around, some big deals are in the news with more to follow.</p>
<p>Birdman, are you in a hiring position? I hope so! Ass I always tell my own kids, you have one chance to make a good first impression. Everything you do will 'count' towards your future.</p>
<p>My DS is a freshman and working at a company this summer that's in play. That kind of job will really help for M & A and surprisingly few think to look at corporate acquisition targets or acquirers.</p>
<p>A good freshman/sophomore internship would be in an active corporate development group. If there are any large companies (fortune 500) etc near your home town, try to work a connection or apply directly and see if you can get into corporate development. This is particularly useful if the company has done a lot of acquisitions in the past, because they may be looking to purchase smaller companies that need a cash injection now and are willing to sell at lower valuations. </p>
<p>While its not directly banking, it is less treasury/accounting oriented than most direct corporate finance positions, and you should get some modeling experience. This will be helpful when applying to junior year positions. </p>
<p>Also look into sophomore summer programs at banks; however, you will likely need to be a top candidate at a target to be in the running.</p>
<p>is anyone really disputing that f500 corporate development is better than pwm for an internship? in this environment, target school juniors are competing for those corp dev spots, so you better be pretty good (or connected) to get them as a freshman. my only point was that it is a good starting point when nobody else will take you: it show an interest in finance and its not like anybody is going to pigeonhole you for what you did your FRESHMAN summer</p>
<p>hmom - i think my post made it pretty obvious i'm not in a hiring position. i was just stating a fact - i think every single one of my friends who worked in bb pwm their freshman summer ended up with a bb or elite boutique banking offer if they wanted one. Obviously correlation =/= causation and the fact that i'm at a top target has something to do with it, but a pwm internship isnt the death trap you seem to make it out to be</p>
<p>obviously, none of this applies if you aren't a freshman</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm pretty sure you don't want to spend a sophomore summer working at a PWM firm, but I think that as a freshman, it's NOT a big deal. I've been told that it's better to work in PWM for a summer, so you get a good name on your resume at least (like Smith Barney).</p>
<p>I'm a freshman and I'm in a similar situation as the fellow who started this thread (unpaid internship with Smith Barney). What type of internship should I be looking for next year if my goal is Investment Banking. I will have junior status in Fall 2009 so I was thinking of applying to boutique and middle market banks as a junior. What do you all think?</p>
<p>hey guys thanks for all of the constructive replies. I'm honestly at the point where I have no idea what to do anymore. I have experience with excel from my last internship. I am unsure of so many things right now. I will have 76 credits at the end of this semester but I am transferring next year (I'm waiting on NYU-stern). I am a realist and I honestly don't think I will get into i-banking because if I don't get into NYU then I'm going to UNC Wilmington. Wilmington isn't a bad school, but in highly competitive fields like i-banking and hedge funds, there is little hope to get into the field. I know double majors seems dumb, but I am probably going for computer science and finance because I know how to do some C++ programming. I did an internship as a freshmen. I was an IT audit project manager at a hotel. I computerized the audit by having it run automatically. Right now I do an online internship with a hedge fund consultant. I just do brainless work like making lists of hedge funds, hedge fund definitions, learn about different investment startegies, ect. I don't know what to do anymore so I'm just going to keep my grades up and hope for the best. I am technically a junior, but I still won't graduate until 2011. I have applied to about 100 finance related internships and got a job offer from NW mutual. I found the people to be really scummy and the job to be even scummier, so I turned it down. I'm thinking about starting my own business eventually, but I'm going to need finance related experience and some certifications before I can do that. I don't really know what to go from here with a 3.6 at a non target school. I have decent work experience too just I don't think I will make the cut with this economy.</p>