Internship Spotlight: Chisom Amaechi ’18
What are you doing this summer? We asked rising second-year MBA students to check in from their summer internships, where they are applying the lessons of their first year at Yale SOM.
Chisom Amaechi ’18
Internship: Citigroup – Global Power & Utilities, New York City
Hometown: New Haven, Connecticut
Favorite Yale SOM class: Financing Green Technologies and Macroeconomics
My role as a summer associate has varied depending on the project I’m working on. At a high-level, summer associates’ main role is to execute on the strategy the managing directors and directors have pitched to a client and then to complete the work to close the transaction or activity. We prepare the pitch, determine the changes to the financials in an Excel model, and work with the client and their various businesses to execute the transaction, etc.
My main project has been working on a live transaction, which has been an exciting experience. I’ve gained experience valuing a business and its assets, as well as working on presentations for board meetings and engaging with clients. Other projects I’ve had include creating case studies for recent transactions in the industry, understanding the strategy behind the transaction, the nature of the business of each company, and the individual and pro forma financials. I also have a group project where we have to provide a fairness opinion for a utility company’s portfolio of distressed assets. The project team consists of three summer analysts and two summer associates, and the deliverables include four different types of valuation methods. So far, I’ve learned so much about the industry, from regulated utilities to renewable energy.
Citi is really great with sprinkling in a near-weekly activity that helps us connect with our intern class as well as to get to know more about the bank’s culture through interactions with current bankers and senior leadership through themed activities. We had a school-themed networking event where current bankers of all levels joined us and we were able to interact with alums from our school and across schools; a women’s breakfast and networking night; a diversity panel, diverse intern networking event (there were also similar events for other affinity groups); a fireside chat with the head of investment banking, Mike Corbat; a Met’s baseball game; casino night; a private showing of an art exhibit by critically acclaimed architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron and artist Ai WeiWei; a night of classical music played by current Citi associates and analysts at the Lincoln Center; and a final end-of-the-summer intern gathering. Additionally, my group, Power & Utilities, has had four separate events. All these events have really helped me get to know my colleagues better and envision how I could fit in at Citi.
I’m very fortunate to be both at Citi and in such a great team at Citi. My colleagues in the Power group are incredibly smart, down-to-earth, accessible, and fun. They are the main reason my summer experience has been so rich, memorable, and positive. Investment banking is known to be really intense, and it is, but it’s also very interesting and you get to work with great people and have fun at the same time. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with my first experience working in finance and I’m grateful I took full advantage of my SOM experience to stretch myself and pursue a career that wasn’t initially on my radar but turned out to be a great fit.