Samuli Sistonen, WH ’27, Helsinki, Finland
This past summer, I had the privilege of joining Fredericks Michael & Co. (FM&Co.) as a Summer Analyst in their Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) internship program in New York. At FM&Co, I was part of the Nordic Countries Coverage Team, focusing primarily on prominent Nordic companies and their M&A needs. As an international student from Finland, this was an incredibly unique opportunity to combine my geographical background with professional work here in the US.
Much of my day-to-day responsibility focused on the core technical skills of investment banking; e.g., building precedent transactions and comparable company analyses, conducting detailed industry research, and preparing background materials to support live deals. I reviewed company filings, analyst reports, and trade publications to extract insights into specific target companies and overall market trends. Due to the small size of the boutique, I worked closely with everyone from fellow interns to managing directors. This was great, as I had an opportunity to really get to know everyone: Whether I needed help with an assignment or just wanted to grab a quick lunch with someone, there were always people I could reach out to. Due to this tight-knit environment, it is unsurprising that many of us got close to each other, making great friendships along the way.
Overall, this internship was both challenging and inspiring to me. It gave me the practical experience of what it is like to be a successful investment banker, but more importantly, it made me realize what I want from my future career. I could not have been any happier with these 2 months and would not trade this experience for anything else. However, I cannot end without addressing something important: everything I have mentioned comes with a significant cost. Due to how my internship was structured, I would not have been able to cover all expenses associated with this experience. By getting summer funding through Penn, I was fortunate not to have to stress about how I would make ends meet, but instead, focus on what made me apply to my internship in the first place. Your contribution made a huge difference to my summer, and I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity.
This is part of a series of posts by recipients of the 2025 Career Services Summer Funding Grant. We’ve asked funding recipients to reflect on their summer experiences and talk about the industries in which they spent their summer. You can read the entire series here
