Spending the Summer at Blackstone: Meet Some of Our 2022 Summer Analysts
In June, Blackstone welcomed Summer Analysts, Associates and Senior Associates to participate in our internship program. Learn more about their experience.
Blackstone’s 2022 Summer Analyst class spent 10 weeks in our New York, Miami, London and Shanghai offices developing technical skills, participating in career development events and networking across the firm. Our program aimed to give the Summer Analysts hands-on opportunities to hone their talents – entrusting them with the types of responsibilities their full-time counterparts take on day to day.
The summer internship program reflects Blackstone’s conviction that people are our most important asset. “The intern process is essential for the firm because we get to meet some remarkable people and give them an introduction to the business,” Blackstone Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder Steve Schwarzman said.
Click through to get to know some of the interns who spent their summer with us:
Andersen Gu Legal & Compliance – BAAM, New York City
Location: New York City Team: Legal & Compliance-BAAM School and Major: Columbia University, Political Science
Tell us about your team this summer.
I’m on the Legal and Compliance team, with a focus on legal and product structuring. I help manage due diligence, which means that I sift through preliminary fund documents and distill that information for my managers. My team also helps tailor fund structures to support the needs of investors.
How would you describe Blackstone’s culture?
Everyone at Blackstone impressed me with their collaborative mindset and willingness to support me. I’ve met so many fascinating people and learned so much from them.
What advice would you give to someone applying to Blackstone?
Be open-minded in learning about all that Blackstone has to offer, not only in terms of career development, but also from a personal growth perspective. You’ll stand out if you prioritize learning all the nuances of how the firm does business.
David Obwaya
Location: New York City Team:Credit School and Major: New York University, Math and Economics
Tell us about your team this summer.
In Credit, we manage a large portfolio of companies and screen potential investment opportunities through research. We try to get the full picture of a company to determine whether it’s one we want to invest in.
What does your workflow look like?
I jump on every type of call imaginable, including investor presentations, lender presentations and earnings calls with the management team. My team gave me substantial responsibility from the start, like helping to prepare the presentation for a major deal.
What advice do you have for those applying to Blackstone?
The best thing you can do is reach out to as many people as possible. You learn so much about not only the firm and finance, but about navigating the broader workplace. One managing director became my informal mentor — I would have handled a lot of situations differently without his guidance.
Eeshma Narula
Location: New York City Team:Strategic Partners-Flagship Team School and Major: University of Virginia, Finance & Computer Science
Tell us about your team this summer.
I’m on the Strategic Partners team. Strategic Partners purchases secondary interests in private funds from investors seeking liquidity. For our summer project, we ran a demo deal where we priced a portfolio and pitched it to our senior leadership.
What does access to Blackstone senior leadership mean to you?
Being this young, it’s very intimidating but so rewarding to present to executives. Receiving thoughtful feedback and questions from senior leadership is super valuable. If I walk into a meeting and have something to add, people are listening to me.
How would you describe Blackstone’s culture?
The generosity, knowledge and ambition I saw in my group characterized everyone I met across the firm. Blackstone tries to recruit and retain kind people, and that’s really important to me.
Asset Management focuses on operating and improving our assets to generate returns for our investors. I take on a variety of tasks, from presenting to Real Estate executives to financial modeling to on-the-ground work at an asset.
How has Blackstone surprised you?
When I first joined Blackstone, I was afraid to ask my team questions, but I found that they were super open to helping me, which was unexpected considering their seniority.
What advice would you give to someone applying to Blackstone?
Reach out to people at the firm before joining. It’ll help you learn more about the culture and figure out if it’s a good fit.
What we do in Strategic Partners is price an investor’s stake in a private equity fund when they want near-term liquidity on what was intended to be a longer-term investment. We then give that investor money, and Blackstone enters an investor in the fund.
How are you helping the Strategic Partners team this summer?
I analyzed the stakes our clients want to sell, and the Analysts and Associates used my analysis to negotiate pricing with the client. It’s incredibly empowering to see my work have a clear impact like that.
What is your workflow like?
We have a variety of transaction types involving companies across sectors like IT, industrials and business services. This has been a great opportunity to work on many different deals.
Sarah Lua
Location: London Team: Infrastructure School and Major: University of Cambridge, Environmental Science
Tell us about your team this summer.
My responsibilities as an Infrastructure intern involve looking at frontier technologies by conducting market study research. I’m not just picking up leftover work no one wants — I’m really contributing to the team, and my work has an impact on deal flow.
How has your work at Blackstone intersected with your area of study?
Solar, wind and other sustainable assets are considerations for our team, which fits well with my environmental science studies. I’m able to take my scientific knowledge, apply that to market studies and see how it looks from an investment standpoint.
What surprised you about working at Blackstone?
I never realized how truly integrated the company is. For example, every Monday the firm has BXTV — a firmwide webcast with updates from senior leadership – and Infrastructure has weekly calls that include the entire team across all global offices. This really makes a difference from a cultural and social perspective.
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Tulsi Chandan
Location: New York City Team: Corporate Finance-Treasury School and Major: Rutgers University, Finance & Data Analytics
Tell us about your team this summer.
I’m interning in Corporate Finance, specifically with the Global Treasury team. Treasury handles loan seasonings, bridge financing, cash forecasting and credit facility administration. As part of my internship, I’m working on two Tableau projects to help centralize data and automate Treasury processes.
What connections have you made at Blackstone?
The Analyst on my team supported me so well this summer. She helped me understand every process and taught me about the team on a granular level.
What advice would you give to someone applying to Blackstone?
Don’t be scared to apply for roles you think are beyond your reach. If you get the job, go into the summer and see if the role is for you. It’s not a bad thing to explore outside your comfort zone because that will only help you grow.
Vivian Lu
Location: New York City Team: Private Wealth Solutions-Sales School and Major: Columbia University, Economics & Political Science
Tell us about your team this summer.
I sit on the private and individual management side of Private Wealth Solutions. My summer project is strategizing how we can use a data-driven approach to promote Blackstone products to financial advisors and their clients.
How is your passion reflected in your role?
I love to travel and just got back from studying abroad. I really enjoy learning about how people from different cultures think and approach decisions. This cultural consideration helps enable mutual understanding and form solid relationships – an integral part of working with financial advisors and the individual investors PWS serves.
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