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Posted September 5, 2007
A 10-week summer associate program goes by fast when you are moving at a JPMorgan pace in New York City! For me, those weeks were somewhat of a blur, but I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to live and work in mid-town Manhattan.
So – what did I do all summer? I had the privilege of interning with 30 Private Bank MBA associates from around the globe. The Private Bank (PB) manages money for high net worth families, associations, and trusts with $25 million dollars or more. Our first week of orientation was very structured, introducing us to different business lines at the bank. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, spent almost two hours with us the first week on the job. I really appreciated the access to senior level executives.
After the first week, each associate cycled through three 3-week summer rotations. I spent my rotations with the CEO, Dallas, and Premium groups. The variety of these experiences helped me get a clearer perspective of the industry. I enjoyed getting to learn from skillful teams with diverse business plans.
What was my favorite experience? Working with JPMorgan’s CEO team was like having a semester of learning packed into one 3-week rotation. The CEO group manages money for many of the country’s wealthiest corporate executives. I had the opportunity to study how investment portfolios use fundamental, quantitative, passive, and structured investment disciplines in the same asset class. I spent the rotation examining how alternative investments can be subdivided into event-driven, relative, opportunistic, and diversified strategies. What I really learned is that Wall Street is about much more than building a portfolio of diversified stocks and bonds.
Outside of individual projects and work, there were many classes for training and development. Our training classes usually began in the early evening and often lasted 5-6 hours. A few highlights of the night classes:
- We opened the summer by writing a one page memo to Mary Erdoes, CEO of the Private Bank. After the training program leader had a chance to critique our writing skills, we read our memos to one another. Class members proceeded to critique each other’s memos. This process was the first of many tests to see how we would respond to constructive criticism. I thought of it as a welcome-to-Wall Street session.
- There were a number of case studies throughout the summer. I was surprised by how often we discussed issues focusing upon logic and ethics. Our instructor did an excellent job of communicating difficult topics. I appreciated learning from one of the top minds on Wall Street.
- Presentations, presentations and more presentations…..I presented twice – once to introduce myself and another time to review JPMorgan’s second quarter earnings report. Nearly every training session started with 90 minutes of summer associate presentations.
Outside of work, there were many social activities planned. A few of the highlights that my class enjoyed over the summer:
- Going to a Yankees game with 30 people! We missed Alex Rodriguez’s 500th home run by two games, but there were four home runs in the first six innings…
- Renting a bar for a martini-making party. Who knew there were twenty ways to make a martini?
- We rented one restaurant/bar on a rooftop overlooking the city! You know a restaurant is popular when you see the summer associates from Lehman and Citi there as well.
- There were some great Broadway shows this summer. JPMorgan took our class to see Spamalot, a British comedy I highly recommend.
- We spent a day working at both a children’s hospital and a school in the Bronx. It was refreshing to help kids not as blessed as some on Wall Street.
So, how do you close out a summer that included exciting weekly events and in-depth work weeks? JPMorgan rented out the world famous Rainbow Room for dinner. The restaurant has a 270-degree view of the city from the 65th floor of 30 Rockefeller Center. The panorama was spectacular! The steak dinner was a fitting end to fantastic summer in New York City.
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