Investment Summer Intern

Marco Cattaneo

Finance

Internship (1 Month+)

M&G plc

Describe your role and what it entails.

During my internship, I was assigned to the Specialty Finance team, which pioneers investments in private credit. In this team, workflow was very deal-based and my primary responsibility has been to support the team in the modelling of the deals. This was a great experience as I learnt a lot about the asset class in which the team was investing.

What have been your highlights?

My highlight is the great culture at M&G. M&G offers a great work-life balance and you will work with super-smart people who really like what they are doing and are happy to help new joiners.

What have been your challenges?

Probably the greatest challenge has been to understand the asset class in which my team was investing as private credit is not a very common investment, there is a lot of slang, etc. I dealt with this challenge by reading as much as I could on the topic, taking part in meetings and asking questions to the members of the team. I was surprised by how fast I caught up and the great knowledge I acquired.

What have you learnt from your experience in the role?

I learnt a lot of technical concepts regarding private credit, how to model deals etc. However, thanks to the well-structured internship program that allowed me to actively take part in the team’s activity, the two best takeaways I got are deeper than mere technical concepts and are: 1) high-quality analysis pays off, 2) finance is a people’s business where networks and relationships are essential.

What advice would you give to a student following in your footsteps?

M&G is a great company and I encourage everyone to apply. My application tip would be to gather as much information as you can on the firm and its top funds. Information is readily available but will give you a great advantage over other applicants who simply apply to everything.