The Intern Journal: Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs is the largest investment bank in the world by total revenue (north of $50 billion), so that's exactly where Aidan Ryan '26 wanted to be. There was just one problem. Goldman Sachs is where a majority of finance majors want to be. Ryan needed an "in" - so the women's panel was worth a shot.

Goldman Sachs Ayco hosted a women in finance panel last year at its local office in Cohoes. Ryan enjoyed the panel, but he was mostly interested in making connections after the panel.

"I started networking with one of the women in human resources. I talked to her for 20 minutes. As it turns out, she knows my mom and her daughter plays lacrosse with my sister. Sometimes to get your foot in the door, you either need to be a genius or you need to make a connection. I was able to make a connection."

That connection earned Ryan an invitation to "Superday" - a series of three interviews within a matter of hours. Ryan aced the interviews, and the two that would follow, and scored an internship this summer. He even earned his first choice placement - private wealth management.

During COVID, Ryan traded stocks in high school during study hall on E-Trade. His dad set him up with a small sum of money in an account and challenged Ryan to make it grow. When GameStop's stock went to the moon, Ryan doubled his money.

"I remember thinking, 'This is sick!' I probably lost of all the profits pretty quickly, but I was hooked."

Private wealth management exclusively manages investments for clients with portfolios of at least $25 million. This summer, Ryan performed some mundane administrative tasks, but he also met frequently with advisors to learn the business.

As an intern, he's not managing multi-million dollar accounts. Well, except for one - and the stakes couldn't have possibly been any higher (below).
The client is a former CEO at Apple with a net worth of $100 million. He's shopping for a $3 million jet, and wants to donate $1 million to charity. His specific risk tolerance as well as other pertinent information is in the file. Ryan's assignment, in collaboration with a fellow intern, was to build out a portfolio strategy tailored to the client's specific needs, and then pitch it to him, in person, with more than 70 people from the firm watching.

The client was played by a Goldman Sachs advisor. So the money wasn't real, but the stakes certainly were. This end-of-internship pitch would demonstrate just how much Ryan had learned over the summer and his ability to do the job professionally.

"That was the most nervous I've been in my whole life."

After the pitch, the "client" was quite pleased. One week later, Ryan got a call while on vacation in Cape May, NJ. The private wealth management team wants him back, full-time, starting next July.

"I started college as a finance major at Bentley, but I transfered to Siena after a year and a half. I didn't love the culture there. You walk around on a Friday, everyone's door is closed. Here, it's completely different. Plus, the education I've gotten prepared me to take advantage of the opportunity at Goldman Sachs. The materials, the presentations, it all made a huge difference when it came to that final pitch."

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