Summer Analyst Review

Overall this experience has been fantastic, great amount of responsibilities during the time, and a really flat structure so you can talk to people at any level if you need help. My internship was in the research department, I was part of a team focusing on emerging market macro studies. I actually applied for equity research but they assigned me to this macro research team. It took me a while to get familiar with what they do and to understand my projects. My boss and supervisor has been very patient to me even though they have been basically sitting on the trading floor and our communications are limited to approximately once a week. BAML also assigned a buddy and a mentor to me, I would say they are indeed the go-to person for me when I have questions not directly related to my project. The only thing is that they actually pool me and another macro research intern with the equity research interns, and the final decisions will be made by senior management in the equity research side. I sometimes feel at a disadvantage during the lunch sessions and networking sessions with them because I was not able to be an active part of the conversation when they are discussing some niche topics within their side.

I think my work was valued for sure, but my internship projects were actually something independent from the daily job of the team. Also as I mentioned the physical segregation makes it harder for me to ask for some advice or feedback more often. But my work was well recognized and they really gave me credit over that.

I would say at the absolute level I was not the intern given the most support from my manager and supervisor because of their busy schedule and physical segregation, but they really tried their best to squeeze some time from their schedule. And during each discussion they tried to evaluate what I did as efficiently as possible, also they would provide me with some further guidance for the next week, sometimes two weeks, before our next meeting. That on the other hand is great for me to learn how to work independently.

This is tricky, the first half I was quite busy because I need to start from scratch - building the excel model, writing VBA codes, learn how to write reports, do compliance stuffs and so on. I was barely able to provide a research report draft before the mid-term review. I think my manager was not expecting me to finish the draft by then, but I was working very intensively to do that. The second half was quite the opposite. As I have already become more proficient on my job, I spent around 2 weeks to finish the second project and I was pretty much idle afterwards. I manage to fill my day with networking and refining my reports, but it certainly wasn't as busy as the first half.

I like this part the most. I was given the highest degree of freedom in doing my analysis, writing reports and presenting it to my manager. They trusted me with the numbers and results I had. Although it certainly did not mean I can publish my draft, I still feel I had a great amount of responsibilities.

I have already finished my studies so I can't really say about that, but for life there are certainly a few. I learned more about the industry, being professional, communication with people with different backgrounds, these are very valuable to me. Some hard skills: Excel modeling, VBA, datastream. Notably we are the first class of intern that don't have access to Bloomberg, but I think this skill will be picked up fairly soon if I join full time.

Good! Flat structure, friendly people, free coffee.

It's a really well-organized program. The summer internship program at the firm level is run by experienced people, and for our department they have been making adjustments every year. To make sure we have enough responsibilities they actually ask for teams who want an intern to submit a proposal about what kind of project they are providing.

As an intern I don't think there's too much investment, but we do have weekly training sessions from time to time. I think the most learning is done before the internship and during the internship through hands-on work. Also there is a learning hub we can profit from, but we don't have much time to spend on it.

I like the place, and it's very global - meaning that you can actually benefit from internal mobility if you want to do something new or relocate.

Yes for other divisions, not too much for research.

London is quite expensive, although I find a cozy student residence with a reasonable price.

I have a 7am morning morning to go to... I don't know about nightlife.

Yes, some rugby sessions, barbecues.