Lovro Nevidal, our 2nd-year student at ZSEM, recently had the incredible opportunity to take part in a one-week internship at Bank of America’s Global Markets division in Paris. During this immersive experience, Lovro gained valuable insights into the fast-paced world of investment banking, from trading and sales to risk management and market-making. In this interview, Lovro shares his journey, the skills he developed, and the lessons he learned during his time at one of the world’s leading financial institutions.
I took part in a one week internship program at the Global Markets division of Bank of America in Paris. The Global Markets division plays a vital role in financial markets, focusing on key functions such as market making to ensure liquidity and investment opportunities, providing trading and sales services, helping clients invest or raise capital by connecting them with investors, designing risk management solutions and many more. The goal of the internship was to give us an insight into all of these services and the infrastructure behind them.
The teams at the firm are separated primarily by their roles into Trading, Sales, Structuring etc. and those teams are further separated by the asset classes which they cover: Fixed income, Credit, Commodities…
On the first day I was placed in a Sales team covering clients in CEE, Middle East and South Africa across all asset classes. The Sales teams work essentially as a bridge between the traders and the bank’s clients. Their main responsibilities are: building client relationships, providing the clients with insights into markets and offering them risk solutions. I went from desk to desk to sit down with each member of the team and discuss their day-to-day and their roles within the team. I was also invited to sit in on a few meetings and client calls.
On the following days I was given the liberty to choose which other teams I wanted to go to. I ended up spending most of my time with the trading teams. The trader’s job is to execute client orders, provide market liquidity, and develop strategies to manage financial risks and maximize profitability. They explained to me the different strategies they utilise and showed me their application on the market. I was also given insight into different algorithms that traders and “quants” developed to help them execute trades. The one I found most interesting was developed specifically to trade cocoa. It was also interesting to talk to FOREX traders and discuss the impact of the potential Trump victory on the strength of the dollar (I was there just before the election).
I also spent some time with people from structuring which was I found as the most technically challenging role but also perhaps the most interesting. The role of structuring in BofA consists of designing and tailoring financial products and solutions to meet clients’ specific needs. This includes creating derivatives, risk management tools, and innovative investment strategies that address complex financial challenges which are almost always completely unique to that client. As a result of this, a single trade these teams make can often take a few months to complete.
To conclude, I got the chance to see what its like to work in different segments of a large investment bank. I personally found this experience very useful because I knew I would like to work at an investment bank but I never really knew what kind of role would fit me best, nor did I really know the day-to-day of working at a place like that. This internship has given me insight into both of those things and has made it easier for me to focus on getting there one day.
Additionally I was able to take some time to explore and enjoy the beautiful city of Paris, visit some of it’s iconic landmarks and experience the French culture and cuisine with my family.