In this latest edition of our Intern Spotlight Q&A series, we're pleased to highlight Verger's spring 2024 investment interns. We hope you enjoy learning about Nick, Andrew, and Clare, what brought them to Verger, and what they're taking away from their experiences.
Meet The Interns
Nick is a rising junior at Wake Forest University, from Gibsonville, NC. Growing up he always knew he loved business, math, and people. But it wasn’t until he got to Wake Forest and applied to the Pre-Wall Street Career Track that he realized the finance industry is a place where all three passions fit together. On campus, he is involved with the Pre-Wall Street Career Track and is involved in leadership for a couple of the campus ministries. He also loves reading (especially CS Lewis), running, and trying out new coffee shops.
"I chose to apply to Verger after hearing about it from a previous intern at Verger. After hearing about her experience, I thought it would be an awesome chance to learn from a great team on how to allocate assets across different strategies in finance. I'm so glad I did because one thing I learned was the importance of providing liquidity for clients and being able to protect against downturns in the market, which was a viewpoint I hadn't been exposed to in a real way before."
Andrew is from Rumson, New Jersey, and is a rising junior at Wake Forest. He intends to be a Finance major with a minor in Entrepreneurship. At Wake Forest, he is in the Pre-Wall Street Career Track and in the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He enjoys participating in charitable work and being involved in what Wake Forest stands for as a community. He also loves to watch and talk about all sports (especially baseball), as he has played his entire life until college.
"I was really first introduced to the world of finance through Wake Forest’s Pre-Wall Street Career Track program. Once I got into the program and started to learn about the world of finance, I was hooked and knew I wanted to pursue a career in that field. Then this last summer I worked as a Valuation Analyst at Elevate Valuation Advisors, where I was really exposed to how a company’s assets are valuated for various financial and tax reporting reasons. But then I wanted to see how these companies grow and what makes a company and how they fund investments. One thing led to another and my passion led me to Verger."
Clare is a rising senior majoring in finance at Wake Forest University. She grew up in Fredericksburg, VA and recently had the opportunity to travel around Europe during a Fall 2023 study-abroad program in Barcelona, Spain. She has experience in a variety of job roles, serving as a hostess, food runner, lifeguard, pool manager, and Project Leadership Intern at Parexel. On campus, she is a tour guide and a member of Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity. She likes to play tennis, experiment with new cooking recipes, and solve sudoku puzzles in her free time.
"I stumbled upon Verger while reading an edition of the Wake Forest Weekly Scholars Newsletter during my study-abroad program in Barcelona. I knew it would be a special opportunity to pursue an in-person internship during the school year – something that most students are unable to do. As a junior finance major, I was looking for a chance to apply my studies in a real-world context, and I was interested in learning more about investments and asset management."
What was your favorite project?
Andrew:
For me, my favorite project that we worked on was the Intern Capstone Project. As interns at Verger, we got to sit in on external manager meetings and help analyze the funds that Verger is invested in. The Capstone Project allowed us to not only do all of those, but it took it even further by allowing us to pitch our own investment to Verger’s investment team. We were given a universe of fifty real estate funds and had to narrow our recommendation down to one. We did so by running various quants on eVestment and scheduling manager meetings with these funds. This was an amazing experience, as it allowed me and my fellow interns to take control of and run our own project. I learned so many things from how to value/read these funds while also gaining experience in a professional environment. This project was everything that I had hoped for and more.
Clare:
My favorite project during the semester was Verger’s philanthropy event at City With Dwellings, a local non-profit that serves un-housed community members. I had so much fun cleaning, organizing, and moving furniture with the team as they prepared for an event in their space. It was a fulfilling day and the perfect way to celebrate Verger’s 10-year anniversary. As an intern, I felt incredibly included in company culture, and our matching t-shirts were a fashionable bonus.
Nick:
My favorite project I worked on was the Internship Capstone Project. We worked to make an investment recommendation from a universe of fifty managers, by looking at performance, in depth quantitative analysis, and ultimately speaking with some of the managers. Pitching our recommendation to Verger's Investment team and working alongside the other interns was a cool experience.
What did you learn about workplace culture?
Andrew:
Everybody who works at Verger is super nice and genuinely cares about each other’s wellbeing. One of my favorite events that highlighted Verger’s culture was their 10-year anniversary celebration. They hosted a dinner where they invited both current and previous interns to join them to celebrate this milestone. Everyone there was super nice and I am glad to say that I have been a part of the journey thus far. Verger has highlighted exactly what I want my ideal workplace to be like, and I hope to carry these core foundations with me wherever I go next!
Clare:
I was presented with the opportunity to study Verger’s culture through a semester-long project I had in my organizational behavior class. Verger allowed my project team to interview members of their Investments, Operations, and Client Relations teams, and I learned something new with every conversation. From hilarious Halloween costume contests, traditions they have to recognize staff contributions, and the individual "why" that brings each person to work, there are so many aspects of Verger that are deeper than surface-level observations. Asset management is intriguing, and I learned so much from the investment team, but the environment at Verger is ultimately why my experience was so rewarding.
What skills are you taking away from your experience?
Andrew:
I feel like I learned countless things during my experience at Verger. One thing that I will always carry with me is the experiences I was able to gain in a professional environment. Regardless of where my future takes me, there will always be environments where I will have to carry myself professionally. Being able to be a part of conversations and real-world situations at such a young age was more than I could have asked for. Not only that but being able to then follow up and see how the investment team does their due diligence and research when making portfolio decisions has been something I will also always carry with me.
Nick:
Through the Internship Capstone and conversations with the Investment Team, I now know the role that manager due diligence and in-depth research play in making allocation decisions. I didn’t realize the number of factors that play into performance, and what is important for asset managers to look for until the internship. I’m excited to take what I’ve learned to the rest of my experiences from here.
Clare:
While I have learned many financial concepts and equations during my time at the Wake Forest Business School, I had limited knowledge of asset management and investing before my internship at Verger. Previously, I pursued internships in the STEM field, and my role last summer as a clinical trials intern was completely unrelated to finance. Finally, I was able to “connect the dots” between financial terms and real-world needs – something that was very insightful during my time at Verger.
Thank you Nick, Andrew, and Clare for your many contributions!
For more information about Verger's Internship Program, including how to apply, please visit our Careers page.