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Hear from a Bentley student who shares information on their summer internship experience with Loomis Sayles! Loomis Sayles is an investment management firm helping to fulfill the investment needs of institutional and mutual fund clients worldwide.
Andrew Jaroncyk, Data Analytics Major, Class of 2020
Technology Intern
What did your role entail?
At Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P., I was a Technology Intern for Summer 2019, working directly with the Head of U.S. Investment Management Technology. I had 2 major projects this summer:
- Conducting Beta Research of two betas within the Bloomberg Global Aggregate, Credit Index across 7 years (2012 – 2019), specifically determining how well a particular beta model (Beta 10) already in place was performing relative to a short term proprietary beta model (Beta DTS). What I found is that Beta 10 for the most part is performing as expected and as intended, but there were minor flaws in the construction of the model itself. Also, Beta DTS was proven to be a better short-term predictor of observed returns given expected returns over this seven-year period. I presented these findings regarding Beta 10 and Beta DTS to Senior Product Managers on the Global Asset Team, suggesting improvements to the model that could better enhance both models.
- Collaborating with 3 other interns for the summer researching the sustainability of 3 of the most dominant/popular social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat, and whether millennial’s decision-making regarding joining these platforms are significantly affected with the rise of privacy concerns and data breaches. We worked with Subject Matter Experts on the subject as well as conducted our own individual research regarding this topic. This 8-week long Summer Research Project culminated in presenting our findings to Loomis Sayles employees.
How did you come across this opportunity?
The specific opportunity I found this summer was found on LinkedIn Jobs. They posted the position a couple of weeks into October, but I was told I was the first applicant to apply in mid-November. Also, I contacted a Bentley student regarding the role, and although she couldn’t speak to the role in particular, she encouraged me to apply. Over Winter Break, I was lucky – it only took 2 phone interviews in late December before I got the Offer Letter in early January!
What specific skills did you acquire from class that you utilized on the job?
For my Beta Research Project, I utilized a lot of programming coursework, specifically R, Python, and SQL to find the data and conduct the proper calculations on it. I also used a lot of Microsoft Excel to calculate over 10,000 ratios and to pull in the proper data from Loomis’s SQL server. Bentley’s hands-on approach to teaching Data Analytics students like me the programming languages to conduct this analysis in is something I will never take for granted. The Data Science and Database Management Systems courses, in particular, had so many practical applications while on the job – I wouldn’t have been able to get the job done without engaging in these courses.
However, there are other soft-skills that Bentley taught me that aided me on the job this summer. Collaboration on group projects in classes directly translated to collaboration with Software Engineering Contractors and Principal Machine Learning Analysts regarding my Beta Research. Curiosity in the classroom translated to better understanding the financial mathematics behind Fixed Income. Most important, Bentley taught me to be passionate with what I was doing – it was so difficult to remove myself from work every day since every day had something new and insightful to analyze further. Especially with this type of job, it’s hard to really dig into the semantics of the profession if you aren’t interested in the first place. The same passion for the topics I was learning in class directly transferred into having 8, 9, sometimes 10 hour workdays fly by so quick! I simply lost track of time and was so intrigued with what I was finding.
What advice would you give to other students considering a similar path?
The most important thing I can tell students getting into this profession is to make sure that their values are in line with the role they are intending to pursue. Salaries, benefits, and prestige drive too many people over finding a role at any organization that is in line with who they are as a person. The role may be a financially attractive role, but if you don’t like what you’re doing, then what’s the point of doing the job? Sometimes, that search for a role is very short, and other times it’s a very long search – don’t get discouraged if what you think is a dream role doesn’t play out the way you want it. Over time, things work out, but it’s also important to identify in your job or internship search what you don’t want! Bentley’s Career Services does a great job with it; my Career Advisor, Jen Graham, made sure I knew exactly what I was getting myself into before applying to every role available – it can save a lot of headaches and time!
Also, stay hungry. What I mean by that is stay curious. Don’t settle once you get that role. Find a way to improve or learn your programming skills, especially in open source languages like R and Python. So many companies are looking for people that can leverage data analysis in these languages into actionable analysis, so I personally think it’s important to ensure that you understand how to use these languages as well as you know the back of your hand. These languages sometimes have concepts that require more time to understand and practice with, but you’re young – you have way more time on your hands than you think; use it wisely! Stay connected with your career passions, as well as your personal passions, and when you align the two, work doesn’t feel like work!
