Today marks Andrew White's last day as an Intern at South Street Securities. We wish him the best of luck as he returns to Fordham University for his Junior year! Check out what he has to say about his summer experience:
What did you enjoy most about your internship?
My favorite part about this summer has been interacting with the employees at South Street Securities and its affiliates. They taught me many valuable lessons like how to present myself in a professional workplace. Every day, the team openly shared their knowledge and experience in the capital markets industry, providing me with invaluable advice that will be critical for me as I continue to pursue a career in finance. Many employees took it upon themselves to teach me things, ranging from how to act during a meeting to understanding what a specific graph or rate meant for the business. I can only hope that in the future people will view me the way I viewed my colleagues this summer.
Who did you work with? Tell us about your mentorship experience.
I worked most closely with Florian Jaze and Jose Vega this summer. When I began my internship, I had never touched a financial model. Working alongside Florian helped me feel comfortable analyzing various models, enabling me to not only identify and correct mistakes, but also find new ways to improve them. I enjoyed helping him prepare and attend various investor meetings too. In terms of furthering my education, Jose went above and beyond. For instance, he taught me what was going on with the Fed throughout this historic summer and its impact on the Repo market. He assigned me tasks that were meaningful and he even took the time to sit down with me, on multiple occasions, to make sure I was understanding the content he was sharing with me. I am very grateful for the opportunity to work alongside Florian and Jose this summer, along with the rest of the team.
I also wanted to mention Karsten Berlage, Colleen Judge and Stephen Mellert. Their commitment to helping me succeed and willingness to dedicate time to help me grow personally and professionally, played a major role in my internship and mentorship experience this summer.
What was one of the most valuable projects you worked on?
As I reflect on the summer, I believe the most valuable project I worked on was analyzing and developing financial models with Florian Jaze. Not only did I learn about the role of internal accounting, but also how every part of a model ties together. I enjoyed this project because it challenged me in the best way. It required me to learn how to problem solve to ensure the model was accurate. Since the model would repeatedly present a new problem, I have grown more comfortable with experiencing unexpected errors and correcting them accordingly.
Andrew is entering his Junior year at Fordham University and is studying Finance in the Gabelli School of Business.
He is currently working as a Finance Intern at South Street Securities, concentrating on Repo, the company’s financial model and brand development initiatives.
