Product Development Intern at China Construction Bank Principal Asset Management Co., Ltd., Beijing, China
It is one of the five largest fund management companies in Mainland China and is a joint venture and the only business of Principal Financial Group there.
What types of skills did you need to obtain the internship?
- Understanding of major financial markets and products (e.g. equity, fixed income securities, derivatives etc.)
- Good writing skills for research reports
- Chinese-English translation
- Proficiency in Excel and Power Point! (This was the main part of on-site interview to test all the skills above.)
What tasks or accomplishments did you complete?
- Finished a research on the global Exchange-Trade Products (ETF, ETN etc.), focusing on commodity ETF.
- Generated initial plans of developing commodity ETFs in Chinese market. There is a big opportunity, because that Chinese market has only four commodity ETFs that are tracking gold price.
What knowledge or skills did you learn on the job?
New knowledge:
- Maturity of Chinese financial industry
- Distinguishing the main players (institutes) in the global financial market
- Deeper understanding of Exchange-Traded Products, commodity futures market
New skills:
- Use of information terminals, like Bloomberg, Morning Star, Wind
- More familiarity with Microsoft Office
- Amusing staff of Chinese SEC
- Avoiding spills when buying 12 cups of Starbucks for my bosses' round table meeting
Would you be interested in working for this company after graduation?
Yes, I am really willing to work for a buy-side institute like CCB Principal or even Principal Financial Group. But, a position in the front office will be better, like trading, equity research. I was a product development intern, which is a middle office job. My dream job is portfolio manager.