I grew up in a small town of 1.5 million people in Jiangsu Province near Shanghai and studied at Peking University in Beijing for both undergrad and postgraduate degrees. I studied computer science for a year and then finance for five before earning a master’s degree in finance. I also spent a semester in the United States at the University of North Carolina and became a fan of their basketball team.
I’m a research analyst on the commodities team. Previously I was on the consumer team covering beverage and media stocks in China for the Global Investment Research Division (GIR). My job involves covering companies and writing reports on companies and industry trends for clients.
My summer internship at Goldman Sachs was a very rewarding experience. During my internship I worked on a project with my manager and another team member doing research on an online industry sector in China. We did analyses of market size and structure and key drivers of the industry, and forecasted who we thought would be the long-term winners in the industry. At the end of the summer I presented all of the work I did to senior management of the division. It was excellent preparation for becoming a full-time employee. Studying finance in school was helpful in getting up to speed initially, but it wasn’t a prerequisite for the internship.
One thing that surprised me the most during the internship was how much my manager valued my opinion. My fellow interns had similar experiences with their managers engaging in dialogue about their ideas and recommendations. The internship wasn’t about throwing work at us, it was a valuable opportunity to develop and improve critical thinking.
As it turns out my summer internship forecast turned out quite well. I learned the role of an analyst is not only about forecasting but to keep clients updated on what’s going on day-to-day in the market and industry. The summer project was great for becoming familiar with the job of a research analyst and the process of doing research, writing reports and presenting ideas to clients.
As a research analyst, each day starts with catching up on the news, industry news and data that may have come out overnight, and handling client requests. Later in the day there is normally time to spend on deep dive reports, which can take three to six months to finish.
The culture of the firm and GIR is highly collaborative. We have a weekly meeting in China, where all analysts covering different sectors share their latest views and updates on important data points. Often, one data point of a particular industry sector is relevant to another sector, so we have good discussion and collaboration on what we see happening across sectors.
I participated in Community TeamWorks (CTW) during my training in New York. In Shanghai, I led a project taking underprivileged children to a museum and helping them enjoy the experience. In addition to helping people, it’s a great way to get to better know the people you work with.
My hobbies are not especially fancy ones, but I just love sports—all kind of sports. I play basketball often with my friends and as a fan I follow the Tar Heels. I love the teamwork that’s involved in the sport. I also play table tennis, which is a beloved sport of China.