Stella Obeng-Darko, a senior quantitative economics major from Accra, Ghana, interned with JP Morgan Chase & Co in summer 2021. Stella was an Investment Solutions Analyst and was based in the New York City office.

She received $2,500 from the endowed internship program in the Economics and Business Department to help cover living expenses.

Stella worked with specialists in the wealth management field to research, analyze, and develop global investment opportunities for clients. Her team focused on fixed income securities such as bonds and preferred stocks.

Stella explains, “Some of the days involved scraping data from Bloomberg to provide suggestions on potential investment opportunities that will have lower spreads and interest rate risks for primary and secondary market trading. Other days included researching macro-economic trends and analyzing current Federal Reserve policy to determine proper distribution of long-term and short-term securities that will help to improve clients’ portfolios.”

The internship was both a learning experience and opportunity to meet many new people in the finance world.

“I learned how the Federal Reserve’s policy is able to shape the financial markets and the economy as a whole. I also got a broad understanding of the fixed income market - the types of bonds (e.g. High Yield and Investment Grade Bond), how these bonds are traded, how bonds are syndicated before a new issue, how they are priced on the market, the importance of preferred stocks in a bank’s capital and determining the rate of return of an investment.”

The work environment was supportive. Stella notes, “Everyone was very warm and welcoming. My co-workers were always willing to help you understand and teach you something new. I also did not expect to have to do so much networking! But I had fun meeting people and connecting with them.”

Overall, the summer internship with JP Morgan Chase & Co reaffirmed Stella’s interest in finance, and she plans to pursue opportunities in finance after graduation. Congratulations, Stella!