Brandon Mavleos

University:
Villanova

Degree Subject:
Finance

Desk:
Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities and Interest Rate Options

During my internship the brokers made every effort to give me tasks that were both challenging and beneficial. I was able to interact with all the brokers on my desk and get to know them both professionally and socially. Interdealer broking is both team oriented and fast paced. Every individual on the desk has a specific role that enables their desk to succeed. At ICAP I really enjoyed how entrepreneurial actions were encouraged and opportunities for leadership always came up.

The most challenging aspect of my desk rotations was learning how to keep up with the fast pace of the transactions on the desk. At first I was not familiar with much of the jargon the brokers used. It took a while before I could understand what they were talking about and how it related to the changes on the screens. However, after gaining some experience I found the transactions to be interesting and I developed a lot of questions regarding the product and desk to ask the brokers.

Coming into ICAP I envisioned the brokers to be extremely serious and difficult to approach. However after working at the internship for 8 weeks I learned that they are all very much like myself and are here to help us learn more about the products and the company. The brokers made every effort to get to know me and they liked to see that I was interested in their desk.

I enjoy going out and meeting new people all the time. I believe that this helped in my internship at ICAP because as an intern it is essential to network and get to know all the different personalities at the company. . Learning what the brokers are interested in, inside and outside of the office is important in building relationships and finding your niche at ICAP.

My favourite part of the internship at ICAP was getting to know all of the other interns in the program. Throughout the program we were given various projects that allowed us to learn about the industry and grow as a group. Knowing that the other interns in the program may be your future co-workers was exciting.

The world of interdealer brokering is fast and successful brokers are those that enjoy coming into work knowing that every day will be different than the last.