Advice regarding finance internships

[yourplaceormine]

Hi everyone,

I'm in my 2nd year in uni, and i'm currently looking out for a finance related summer internship, however I still don't know what kind of role I am really interested in, nor do I have much knowledge about the various fields in the industry.
Other than IB, what would be the next best option in finance? As of now, I am pretty keen on private banking, so where should I try interning at? The major banks probably won't hire a 2nd year, so would i stand a chance at the boutique banks?

Also, apart from IB, what other fields in finance would make breaking into private equity or venture capital more possible?

On a side note, I have a internship offer at a company mainly dealing with insurance, and although the internship is supposedly in wealth management, I have my doubts as this is not an internship at a bank, but rather an insurance company. Could anyone shed some light on the difference, if any, on WM at an insurance company and at a bank?

Thank you.

you should find out if the wealth management internship at the insurance company is just insurance agent in disguise. Those insurance agencies like to package their insurance agent job nicely with grant names and grant job descriptions to 'trick' the inexperienced undergrad in.

And you will only know if you are interested in something by doing it. use ur time in uni to do a few internships (take leave of absences if u must) and see which suits u most. And start with small banks... ur chance of getting into big/investment banks will be very low if you do not have any banking related internship experience to tok about.

Originally Posted by yourplaceormine

Hi everyone,

I'm in my 2nd year in uni, and i'm currently looking out for a finance related summer internship, however I still don't know what kind of role I am really interested in, nor do I have much knowledge about the various fields in the industry.
Other than IB, what would be the next best option in finance? As of now, I am pretty keen on private banking, so where should I try interning at? The major banks probably won't hire a 2nd year, so would i stand a chance at the boutique banks?

Also, apart from IB, what other fields in finance would make breaking into private equity or venture capital more possible?

On a side note, I have a internship offer at a company mainly dealing with insurance, and although the internship is supposedly in wealth management, I have my doubts as this is not an internship at a bank, but rather an insurance company. Could anyone shed some light on the difference, if any, on WM at an insurance company and at a bank?

Thank you.

There isn't a "best" option" in finance. It really depends on your personality/preferences. IB isn't the best option if you don't like that kind of lifestyle.

Aside from that, breaking into PE or VC is difficult if you're not in IB. There're some fresh-grad PE/VC firms around, albeit not as established. Having said that, if you want to eventually break into PE/VC and to not go through the IB route, the best bet for you is to go through the commercial route (i.e. dealing with operations of companies). This include Consulting/MNCs/etc. Note that Commercial/Corporate banking are largely sales-roles.

With regard to your question:
- WM @ Insurance company: Deals mainly with insurance products
- WM @ Bank (Retail banking): Deals mainly with credit cards
- WM @ Bank (Private banking): Deals with everything the wealthy people need, from credit cards to investment products (e.g. investment in equities, bonds, etc.)

My advice to you is:
- Try to get an internship in a bank, even if it's BO operations. (from there, learn more about the different roles & network your way through).
- If all else fails, just get the best internship you can possibly get elsewhere.

Originally Posted by yourplaceormine

Hi everyone,

I'm in my 2nd year in uni, and i'm currently looking out for a finance related summer internship, however I still don't know what kind of role I am really interested in, nor do I have much knowledge about the various fields in the industry.
Other than IB, what would be the next best option in finance? As of now, I am pretty keen on private banking, so where should I try interning at? The major banks probably won't hire a 2nd year, so would i stand a chance at the boutique banks?

Also, apart from IB, what other fields in finance would make breaking into private equity or venture capital more possible?

On a side note, I have a internship offer at a company mainly dealing with insurance, and although the internship is supposedly in wealth management, I have my doubts as this is not an internship at a bank, but rather an insurance company. Could anyone shed some light on the difference, if any, on WM at an insurance company and at a bank?

Thank you.

Given your knowledge of the industry and your current position, getting into IB/PE/VC is highly unlikely for you. The IB/PE industry in Singapore isn't as developed and getting into them without experience is pretty much impossible.

There are thousands, yes thousands, of undergrads out there who are working harder than you to find out what and where they should be interning at. Boutique private banks typically don't hire people without a book. Competition at bulge bracket level is insane to say the least, just do a linkedin search and see who you're competing against. I'm not trying to downplay you but looking at the amount of effort you're putting in to know the industry, you probably don't stand much of a chance. Well, that is unless you can get your parents/relatives to bring in a more than a couple of millions.

As for wealth management in insurance companies, you're typically looking at endowment plans/ILPs for individuals/pension plans.

Goodluck nevertheless.

[yourplaceormine]

Thanks for the replies. Say if i were to take up the internship at the insurance company, would the knowledge then be considered relevant to the WM sector in banks?
Also, as someone had mentioned earlier, what would be the smaller banks that I can possibly look at to start off with?

Thanks!

useful reads...
://unofficialguidetobanking.com/assets/Unoffical_Guide_To_Banking.pdf
://unofficialguidetobanking.com/assets/Jargon_Buster.pdf

Originally Posted by yourplaceormine

Thanks for the replies. Say if i were to take up the internship at the insurance company, would the knowledge then be considered relevant to the WM sector in banks?
Also, as someone had mentioned earlier, what would be the smaller banks that I can possibly look at to start off with?

Thanks!

There is nothing more or less prestigious in doing wealth management at a bank or with an insurance company. Wealth management is like being a relationship manager to wealthy people aka high class prostitute.

As long as you have a good looking face and are willing to betray your morals, you will go very far.