Fixed Income Intern. What to expect?

I will be working as a summer analyst in fixed income this summer and know very little. I have a few weeks to prepare and was hoping for some advice on what to expect and how to get ready.

To give some background it is a 3rd party asset manager with about 300b AUM.

Thanks in advance.

 

make sure you read a LOT in your down time. if you don't then it's difficult to have real conversations that demonstrate your enthusiasm / knowledge when traders / sales talk with you. they can tell when interns are bullshitting.

honestly in securities it's hard for them to evaluate (vs IBD) because you don't do a lot of hard work for them. so it comes down to your personality, likability, having presence when they talk with you.


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  • Be the first one to work and last one to leave

  • Introduce yourself to everyone on your desk within the first day or two (preferably in the later afternoon)

  • Read Bloomberg articles on your iPhone/Blackberry on the way to work in the morning so you know what happened in Asia/Europe overnight. If you really have balls, try and speak up in the morning meeting after a few weeks.

  • Have intelligent questions about what is going on in the market, be enthusiastic but not too much of a go-getter.

  • Be able to shoot the shit.

  • Have an opinion about each asset class of the markets and be able to back up your opinion

  • When the markets are slow, ask salesmen and traders if you can sit with them for a bit and learn about what they do. YOU have to lead the conversation, not them - don't make it awkward.

  • Show initiative

 

Seriously, you should really try to use the search function. But one great thing to do would be to take a look at testimonials from past Fixed Income SA's (for example here, http://www.gottamentor.com/viewBlog.aspx?b=68) as such would give you a better idea of what you'll be doing. You can also read this (http://www.gottamentor.com/viewRoadmap.aspx?r=285) as it gives some good suggestions of things to do to prepare for a summer internship in Fixed Income, though most are fairly intuitive things like reading the Wall Street Journal daily and watching CNBC to follow market news.

 

Books: Ask your team leader, mine was very helpful and the book he recommended is perfect for my position.

Skills: Just read over your finance class notes and have some fun before you start working.

Tips: Be yourself, don't be a douche, learn to drink without being a retard while drunk (or just up your tolerance), get ur shit done and make sure there's no errors (attention to detail is huge). Don't try to kiss ass and don't be a doormat. Do your work and command respect. Also a MD once said: "Too many kids try to come in and talk and impress people, know when to talk and when to stfu".

 

I think I'm gonna be on the corporates rates sales desk (interest rate and currency options). Will those books be beneficial for the desk that I'll be on?

What are tips on turning the internship into a full-time position? I would really appreciate it if someone that has had an internship in S&T give me some feedback on their experience.

 

Well good luck.

If you're interested in another first-hand account, you can find it here: http://www.gottamentor.com/viewBlog.aspx?b=68.

In terms of preparation, this gives a fairly good roadmap: http://www.gottamentor.com/viewRoadmap.aspx?r=285. It suggests soliciting advice (which you seem to already be doing), reading the WSJ daily and purchasing and reading "The Handbook of Fixed Income Securities" by Frank Fabozzi among other things.

In terms of getting the full-time offer, check this out: http://www.gottamentor.com/viewAdvice.aspx?a=281. The latter gives some fairly good advice - it suggests that you be available, accessible and responsive, work hard and maintain a positive attitude among other things. There is also some other good advice on the site - search "getting the offer" in the advice library.

 

I'm assuming you're smart enough to know to work hard. But that's not always enough.

You need to make friends who are going to advocate for you, and want to work with you for long, stressful hours (traders still pull ~12 hour days, especially at the jr level).

I would honestly suggest following professional sports closely, getting in shape, and learning golf. Seriously - every desk talks sports. Guys on my desk play basketball, go for runs, etc after hours - it's good bonding. And golf? Well, free passes came up a lot when I interned, and if I could've played without embarrassing myself, could've racked up points.

If you already like following sports, you've got a one-up on me.

 

Thanks for the advice guys.

yesman - I follow sports closely and play sports / workout. However, my weakness is golf. I've never played before, but I would like to learn. I think its pretty expensive though to get lessons. Any suggestions on that?

By the way, I start work in about a month, but I haven't gotten any information regarding the internship yet. Do they normally send stuff out prior to the internship? Should I contact them or just wait. I'm talking about stuff in regards to who I'll be working with, who will be my team leader, etc.

 

Yes - I'd be in touch with your HR contact at least once/wk. Finding out who you'll be working with ahead of time is a huge plus. Interview began when you walked into the interview room - keeps going until you land the FT offer. Be proactive.

 
yesman:
Yes - I'd be in touch with your HR contact at least once/wk. Finding out who you'll be working with ahead of time is a huge plus. Interview began when you walked into the interview room - keeps going until you land the FT offer. Be proactive.

I haven't been keeping in touch, but I will now. I just e-mailed HR.

I should also get in touch with the MD that I interviewed with who I think I'll probably be working with. However, I don't know what to say. Any advice for that? Thanks btw.

 

I've been reading over Hull's book and brushing up on my VBA. Hull's book is pretty good I must say, it is probably great if you have no familiarity, but also has some specifics for those who want a little bit more on in intermediate level (I feel like this part is somewhere in between the Derivatives classes in Finance and the Mathematical Finance courses in Math Departments from my own experience). Also good is that you can pick up the international version for cheap and its exactly the same, just softcover and not as nice paper. It couldn't hurt if you wanted to go over things prior to starting.

Jack: They’re all former investment bankers who were laid off from that economic crisis that Nancy Pelosi caused. They have zero real world skills, but God they work hard. -30 Rock
 
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