Summer Investment Intern Review

I really enjoyed my summer internship at M&G Prudential (this was my first internship experience). The aspects I enjoyed the most were: the very steep learning curve, the great working environment, the useful insight sessions to discover the different divisions of M&G Prudential, the smart and friendly colleagues always available to help.

I felt valued by my colleagues. Even though I was in a small team with some very senior colleagues, I was assigned many responsibilities from day one (consistent with my understanding of the business and so of growing complexity as my internship advanced) and I could see that my work really supported the team.

Every member of the team was more than happy to answer my questions and clarify any doubt I had. In the circumstances in which the team was very busy, I had to postpone questions but my supervisor was available to give me guidance as soon as he had some free time.

In the first 1-2 weeks, I had a lot of free time as I had no real responsibility/task since I had to familiarize with the team and learn about the funds activities. However, as the internship progressed, I had many tasks to do and so I was busy all day, which is good because I was doing meaningful work.

I felt like I was given a lot of responsibility, much more than I expected at the beginning of the internship.I was assigned many responsibilities from day one (consistent with my understanding of the business and so of growing complexity as my internship advanced) and I could see that my work really supported the team.

Useless for degree studies. Helpful for my working career. As I interned in a team investing in highly illiquid assets, I acquired skills linked to these specific products. From an academic perspective, I think that most of these skills are “useless” because the only asset classes covered in a standard business degree are liquid equities and bonds. However, experiencing first-hand how illiquid investments are sourced and managed has improved my general understanding of the financial field and will for sure help me in my future working career.

The general atmosphere in my office was professional but at the same time relaxed. I think this is a hallmark (and a great pro) of M&G Prudential: people work hard but the environment is very friendly. Colleagues are very approachable, so it is easy to get to know people from different divisions of the firm.

The internship program was well structured. I found very interesting and helpful the Insight Sessions in which different M&G Prudential employees presented their teams/divisions within the company. Social events were very nice. My only suggestion would be to introduce a formal training in the first days of internship so that inters share the same "minimum toolbox".

I would be very excited to have the opportunity to continue my career in the graduate program at M&G Prudential. In particular, the most attractive aspects of M&G Prudential as an employer are its strong and recognized brand, its leadership position in fixed income and the great work life balance.

One should keep in mind that London is very expensive so the cost of living and socialising is very high. The largest expense is by far the rent, which was especially high for me as I rented my flat for only the 8 weeks of my internship (short term lets are much more expensive than long term ones).