See where Master of Science in Finance students interned this summer

Students in the William R. Hough Master of Science in Finance program continue to earn summer internships at some of the most notable firms in the country. Whether in-person or remote, these internships provide an opportunity to put what they learn in the MSF program into practice.

Check out where MSF students are interning, what they got out of the experience and how it will impact their futures.

Dhruvi Contractor

Internship: Corporate Client Banking (CCBSI) Summer Analyst | J.P. Morgan | Atlanta, Georgia

In my internship with the Corporate Client Banking team in Atlanta, I had a chance to work on live deals, pitches, and support the analysts and associates in work they were doing. I was responsible for a case study throughout the summer pitching a refinancing scenario for a public company. Along with the case study, we also helped create and update PowerPoint decks for client meetings as well as public information books to inform the team about how a company was currently doing.

Although every day had different tasks, I started my day flipping comments from the night before and worked on any staffing due in the morning. I would then read through my emails and the Wall Street Journal to catch up on what was going on in the markets as well as prepare for any calls I had set up for the day. I would spend most of the day working through the live work I was assigned, leaving time at the end of the day to work on my case study.

This internship helped grow my understanding about the finance field, specifically debt capital markets. I learned everything from Excel and PowerPoint shortcuts to being more efficient to the different type of debt products we offered clients. But past the technicals, I learned how important building relationships was and acting on feedback. Building on my relationships at the firm helped me grow and become more confident in the work I was producing as the summer moved along. I learned how important managing your time is and how you can be a better analyst by building relationships with your mentors and seniors,.

MSF alumni Troy Strominger (BSBA ’16, MSF ’17) and Kendall Ruskin (BSBA ’17, MSF ’18) helped with my understanding of the CCBSI business and what to look out for during my internship. Max Parker (BSBA ’17, MS ISOM ’18) was also really helpful, as he was on the CCBSI Atlanta team for a few weeks before he moved on to a job with JPMorgan in New York City. It was nice having another Gator in the office to ask questions to and have as a friend.

Daniel Sweeney

Internship: Investment Banking Summer Analyst | Guggenheim Securities | Remote/New York

Over the summer, I interned as an Investment Banking Summer Analyst at Guggenheim Securities. The internship was generalist across 10 groups; I worked with the Healthcare Services, Medical Devices, and Industrials groups. While most of the summer was remote, there was an in-person component for several weeks at the New York office.

The UF MSF program and UF alumni supported me throughout the recruiting process. I first heard about Guggenheim at an MSF roundtable with Arif Ahmed, a UF alumnus and Vice President at Guggenheim. Mr. Ahmed provided invaluable guidance, both by advising me on how to prepare for interviews and connecting me with other Guggenheim team members.

My intern assignments varied across the different projects to which I was appointed, but my general responsibility was to support my project teams as requested. One project was a live sell-side M&A transaction where I helped research and track interested investors and supported their due diligence processes. For another project, also a sell-side M&A transaction, I helped the team prepare the client’s pitch deck and calculated supporting performance statistics from the client’s source data. Finally, on a third project, I assisted with industry research and updating the model for a strategic pitch to a client’s management team.

While my day-to-day workflow was highly variable, many days followed a similar structure. In the morning, I would address any comments from the day before and work on outstanding tasks. During the day, I frequently attended team and client calls. Finally, in the evenings, I would focus on deliverables for upcoming meetings and make progress on longer term tasks.

I learned something new just about every day. Working on a team in a predominantly remote setting, clear communication was key and a skill I focused on improving. My technical skills such as Excel and PowerPoint improved each week, allowing me to be increasingly efficient. When taking notes on client calls, I observed how the senior team members interacted with the client, and how the clients strategized to solve both short-term and long-term challenges.

Overall, my summer internship at Guggenheim was an excellent experience. The MSF program and UF alumni were instrumental in my preparation for both the recruiting process and the internship. I am excited to join Guggenheim’s full-time investment banking analyst program after graduating from the MSF program next spring.

Agustina Vincent de Urquiza

Internship: Investment Banking Summer Analyst | Goldman Sachs | San Francisco

This summer, I had the privilege to work as an investment banking summer analyst at Goldman Sachs. Having placed into the TMT group at the firm, I was immediately immersed in all things tech and was able to contribute to deals in the Software, Internet, Gaming, and Transportation services spaces. The ramp up period was fast – with interns getting only the first of our nine weeks with the company to train before being staffed on live deals – but the culture of collaboration made it so I felt immediately confident in my ability to add value, even if I had to ask dozens of questions to do so. To further enhance and refine our skills and learning, interns also attended weekly training sessions and completed corresponding homework assignments, all of which proved to be especially invaluable when the task covered was then assigned to you by an active team.

True to the banking stereotype, days at the firm were long – typically starting around 9 am and ending after midnight. What surprised me the most about the experience,  however, was how rapidly the hours flew by. I would get to the office early and check my inbox for anything missed overnight or earlier that morning – immediately prioritizing my deliverables for the day, anything from scrubbing comparable company financials to account for their latest earnings report releases to making client slides pretty. Once comments for one team were turned and sent back, I would get to work on the next set for the next team or hop on one of the many calls scheduled for each day. With 8 staffings on my docket, it was rare to have a dull moment in the office. Although I was lucky enough to work in office, many of my analysts and associates were still remote, so Zooms and phone calls were still another big component of the work day. Despite the physical distance though, daily pings and texts maintained a sense of friendship and camaraderie between interns and full-times and helped make the experience much smoother and more fulfilling.

I learned a lot more from the experience than just how to pull an all-nighter and take detailed diligence notes though. My ability to prioritize tasks and manage my time efficiently now vastly surpasses that which I had prior to the summer. I’m better able to assess my capabilities and constraints – understanding how my workload affects the timing of my submissions – and to foresee and arrange for potential obstacles to come. I also learned to question the why of what I was assigned as well as the how – a must for anyone hoping to go above and beyond at contributing value since it allows you to anticipate the needs of the team and prepare for them accordingly.

I am infinitely grateful for the experience I was able to have this summer, and know that it is the people that made it so special. I owe everyone at Goldman Sachs, both for the technical skills they taught me and for the kindness they showed when I bombarded them with questions. Even before I arrived at the firm, I was lucky enough to have UF alum Alessandra Pazos (BSBA ’17, MS ISOM ’18) help me with Superday interview prep, despite her own personal busy schedule. Goldman’s culture of teamwork is one I was lucky to be a part of and am excited to return to full-time.