Last summer, I attended a 10-week internship at Credit Suisse’s Markets division in Hong Kong, which was a highly fruitful experience. First, I learnt a lot about the structured products that the bank offers, such as equity linked notes and credit derivatives, which are much more complex than what I was taught about them at school. I also gained a deeper understanding of financial markets through tasks such as preparing informational material on market updates. Second, this experience deepened my interest on the aspect of selling. The company organised many guest lectures, in which managing directors were invited to share insights into their businesses. I also spoke with many full-time employees across the trading floor to get a better understanding of what their teams do. Moreover, the cross-cultural environment enabled me to improve my interpersonal and communication skills. Because Credit Suisse is an international investment bank, I had the opportunity to interact with people from diverse backgrounds during the internship. At the end of my internship, I delivered a final presentation to full-time employees and answered their questions.

 

The RMSC curriculum helped me to secure this opportunity and stand out during the internship. The well-balanced curriculum equipped me with the necessary knowledge of statistics, finance and programming. The RMSC courses also provided me with fundamental knowledge of derivatives and their pricing. In addition, the one-credit courses sharpened my presentation skills.

TAN, Jiun Wei
BSc in Risk Management Science
Deloitte

I pursued an off-cycle internship at Deloitte (Advisory) as an actuarial consulting intern in the Deloitte Actuarial and Insurance Solutions department. During my time there, I primarily assisted the project team in facilitating clients’ implementation of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 17, and also improved implementation processes within the internal system.

The client servicing with regard to the IFRS 17 implementation included tasks such as data mapping, establishing a modular IFRS 17 in alignment with the recommendation of the auditors, asset-liability model development and the back-testing of actuarial programme scripts. In terms of hard skills, the VBA and Python coding courses helped me immensely in tasks such as testing and checking the in-house system’s actuarial programme scripts, which required the knowledge of coding in Python and R. Due to the nature of the new standards, the methods for calculating asset-liability development and cash flow recognition were adapted on a case-by-case basis. I learnt about the various factors that must be considered to accurately categorise and accommodate various approaches such as the Premium Allocation Approach. The theoretical knowledge that I acquired from the actuarial science courses offered in CUHK helped me to understand the conceptual reasoning behind the breaking down of future cash flow, the time value of money and risk adjustment measures of non-financial risk.

Throughout this internship, I was able to gain a holistic experience in terms of both soft and hard skills. My daily tasks relied heavily on effective communications with the IT division in Shenzhen and Chongqing, and I met many aspiring colleagues from diverse backgrounds during my internship. I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to work in this multicultural department.

CHAN, Rita             
BSc in Quantitative Finance and Risk Management Science
Goldman Sachs

The QFRM programme offers unique and competitive opportunities for students seeking to build solid financial knowledge, technical skills and professional networks. Thanks to the support and training provided by the programme, I was able to maximise my internship experience as a Market Risk Summer Analyst at Goldman Sachs. During my internship, I worked in equities and one of my key responsibilities was to analyse trading strategies to identify the associated key risks. I communicated and assessed risks using various risk measures, including Greek letters and value at risk (VaR). The QFRM programme has equipped me with the technical knowledge that is critically important in everyday business practices.

CHENG, Jason
BSc in Quantitative Finance and Risk Management Science
Goldman Sachs

The QFRM programme provides a unique blend of finance and statistics, while also allowing students the flexibility to take electives/minors based on their own interests, which for me was computer science. My 6-month internship at Goldman Sachs was one of the best experiences I could have had as a student. Seconded to the Equity Derivatives Sales team, my daily work included option and structured product pricing and workflow automation using programming languages like Python and VBA. The knowledge I had acquired in QFRM enabled me to position myself as leader and to succeed and grow in this competitive environment. This training will continue to support me as I pursue a career in the financial industry.