Thanks for taking the time to read this.
I am currently a sophomore finance major at a "semi-target". I am on track to pursue (and hopefully obtain) an IB internship next summer, but I need some advice on which non-IB internship offer to accept this upcoming summer.
1. PWM at Morgan Stanley
2. Insurance Sales at Arthur J. Gallagher
3. Actuarial Consulting at Mercer
Now obviously, none of them directly pertain to IB at all, but it does add some unique experience to my resume which might stick out to a recruiter next Fall.
With option #1, I would be working the least amount of hours, and could possibly intern informally at a local boutique IB firm.
Option #2, I really like the group I would be working for but it's in a field I'm not interested in.
Option #3, this is my back-up back-up option.
Any feedback and advice is appreciated!
~GrandJury
PWM at MS. Branding is the greatest benefit here based off of the other options you listed.
Seriously this should not be a difficult decision PWM.
I would actually go with #3, although you mention it's very much a back-up in your mind. The benefit to actuarial consulting is you'll be working with a lot of statistics, data, regression analysis, and forecasting dealing with financial decisions of large institutional clients - these are all great skills to pitch in an IB interview next year. Mercer (though far from MS) is not a bad name to have on your resume either.
If you are strongly opposed to gig #3, I would go with #1, MSSB. And if you can secure a boutique IB internship while doing PWM, then that of course seals MS as the internship for the summer, in my view. Benefits include, if you are in NYC, being able to network while at MS and potentially with MS bankers in IBD if you can make some connections through the FAs. Downside to pure PWM is that a lot of kids have it on their resume, so it's not as unique as option #3 and there is a huge potential downside that you are stuck fetching coffee and making cold calls (see descriptions of ML PWM internships on this forum).
Thanks for the advice. I am considering option 3 due to what you described. PWM won't be the only thing on my resume; I am currently interning for a relatively small hedge fund so I have some other things on my resume to talk about.
My opinion would be PWM + Boutique trumps all...but now that you brought up the benefits of interning as an actuarial consultant, I'm starting to consider that heavily also.
PWM for sure
PWM without a doubt
So it looks like PWM is the majority vote here. Could y'all expand a little bit on why you would rather pick PWM? The brand name (MS), exaggerated job responsibilities, networking, etc.
It's either that or develop more technical skills through the Mercer internship. I have now counted out Gallagher.
option number 1. As a sophomore, don't worry about what you're actually doing except branding. Your job is to market yourself for junior year and senior year at this point.
What kind of intrinsic value does "branding" bring? I understand if it was a higher-tier internship like IBD or even risk management/operations (back office/middle office), but if PWM is the prevalent internship on many undergrads' resumes, doesn't that kind of diminish the value?
Just trying to get a point of view on all sides. Certainly having a firm like Morgan Stanley on your resume looks great, but just curious if the "PWM" aspect of it would diminish its value.
because finance is a giant dick measuring contest...name means everything. name of the school you went to, name of the firm you work for. even if it's a shitty internship (which any PWM is by default) you still get a good name on the resume. plus you dont actually have to do anything which is a plus since junior summer you will probably be working a LOT if you are pursuing IB.
it is kind of superficial, but as a soph, the branding shows that you can make the cut in an ultra-selective environment, whereas the other two options are not as selective, or at least won't be seen as such by the people you want to ultimately work for when you finish school or junior year internships where you're fishing for FT offers after college. Also, most internships as sophomore, including PWM, are really just gopher jobs: fetch some coffee here, copy papers there, be in awe in of them, etc. All you're really gonna do is just that, and a little bit of shadowing.
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