We caught up with Gabriel, Specialised Products Department intern, to learn more about his time at the firm.
I chose to do my placement at SMBC Group because…
currently study BSc Business Economics and Finance at university and felt that spending my placement year at a top tier bank such as this one would be a great opportunity to showcase the knowledge/skills attained from my course thus far. My goal for this year is to absorb as much as I can from my peers in a way which can be beneficial to my future career in financial services.
My job involves…
Supporting SPD (Specialised Products Department) where I primarily focus on Real Estate Finance. However, I also get involved with both Subscription Finance and Securitization. My role is split between Originating Deals and Portfolio Monitoring where I support Directors and Vice Presidents on both sides. Within origination I primarily work on credit applications, market research, cashflow modelling, grading new deals, site visit reports and initial deal reviews. On the other hand, within monitoring I assist with tracking covenants, insurance certificates, financial statements, compliance certificates as well as credit risk and heat map analysis. Majority of these skills were learned on the job, and I have already seen exponential improvements from where I started.
On a typical day…
We can have up to four or five meetings within the team or with our clients. We also have various trainings relating to different aspects of the role. Usually, I coordinate my day to spend 50% of my time on origination and 50% on monitoring tasks mentioned previously. Additionally, team members may ask me to complete extra tasks such as looking into companies’ financials or looking into recent news which may affect our deal stakeholders.
What I enjoy most about my internship…
The overall culture at SMBC in which everyone is really open to help and support us placement students through our experience. Social events such as the SMBC football/table tennis tournaments and team drinks allow us to build meaningful connections within our teams, other departments as well as with our intern cohort.
Top tips for future interns considering a placement at SMBC Group…
- Make sure your CVs highlights key skills which may be transferable to the role.
- Research the role/bank in detail as you may be asked about both.
- Be yourself, show what you are passionate about don’t just say what you think interviewers want to hear.
- Work on general skills such as excel, presentations etc. as they will be beneficial
- Having a planner highlighting tasks helps with managing time.
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