A Strategic Location for Finance

Jason Chen

Investment Banking Associate, William Blair

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Class of 2019
BBA in Finance

Member Of: Alpha Kappa Psi, Beta Alpha Psi, Chinese Students and Scholars Association

Where are you interning this summer?

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

What made you decide to attend Pace University/Lubin School of Business?

In short, the location, the people and the ability to do anything. Being in the center of the Big Apple, Pace University is geographically located in a very strategic location for aspiring finance students. This is super corny, but the people of Pace University is what makes it such a unique school. Everyone, from the students to faculty members embrace and promote a diverse and inclusive culture that allow everyone to be heard. The "ability to do anything" doesn't mean that you can literally do everything, but it's the endless opportunity that comes with Pace University.

Being in the center of the Big Apple, Pace University is geographically located in a very strategic location for aspiring finance students. Everyone, from the students to faculty members embrace and promote a diverse and inclusive culture that allow everyone to be heard.

What have you been working on at your internship? Has it sparked an interest in a career you hadn't already thought about?

I'm on the asset based lending team, which is a very unique group within the scope of wholesale credit. I support credit portfolio managers and work mainly on financial sponsor deals. Therefore, I was able to gain exposure to major private equities such as TPG, Apollo Global Management and Bain Capital. This internship has definitely open doors and sparked my interest in capital markets, leveraged finance, restructuring and investment banking coverage. Given the design of my summer analyst program, I'm also given the opportunity to possibly rotate into a different team when I start as a full time analyst.

How does this internship fit into the puzzle that is your Lubin experience?

To me the Lubin experience is about "Opportunitas." The internship has definitely open more doors and provide me with more "Opportunitas." The analytical and technical work that I did over the summer is directly related to the finance class that I'm taking at Pace University. It allows me to look at numbers and financial modeling not just through the academic lens but put it into real life practice.

Do you believe your internship experience has helped to prepare you for your future?

Throughout the internship, I was able to gain exposure to many different parts of the bank. Banking in the end is a people business and the ability to interact with all sorts of people is a crucial skill that was enhanced through this internship. The soft skills that I acquired during the summer will definitely better prepare me for the future.

In a few words, how do you define your #LubinLife?

Optimistic, Outperforming, Opportunitas.