Jean Lin, WH ’27, Camas, WA
This summer, I had the privilege of interning at HOPU Investments, a private equity firm in Asia with over $20 Billion AUM. I was able to immerse myself in the alternative investment space and gain hands-on exposure to how private equity operates in one of the most dynamic regions in the world. For someone deeply interested in private equity, working directly with portfolio companies and collaborating closely with the finance team was both challenging and rewarding.
When I first joined the team, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. I knew I’d be working with portfolio companies, but I didn’t realize how much responsibility I would actually be given. Early on, I was asked to help pull together financial highlights of portfolio companies, digging into their 10-Ks, reviewing private company data, and condensing everything into slide decks for the investment team. I quickly learned how important it is to present information clearly. My job was to make sure the team could easily understand what mattered most about how a company was performing and what potential red flags to watch out for.
A big part of my summer ended up being focused on one portfolio company in particular. Over several weeks, I worked on analyzing its competitors, the products they offered, what value they brought to customers, and in which spaces our company might stand out. I worked closely with my mentor on this project, who challenged me to think about problems in different ways, and was a great resource to understand more about the Chinese consumer landscape. The project culminated in a buyout presentation I put together, where I combined my analysis with an operating model, DCF, and LBO analysis. What made it especially rewarding was tying together my classroom knowledge of U.S. companies with what I was learning about the Asian market, and seeing how the two perspectives could complement each other.
Beyond the technical side, what stood out most to me was the access I had to senior leadership. I never imagined that as an intern I’d be sitting down with a managing director who had over a decade of private equity experience, or even speaking directly with the firm’s Co-President. Those conversations provided a lot of insight into a long-term career in finance, how to build one’s career, and the importance of maintaining a strong network.
This summer gave me a better sense of how private equity really works in practice. I saw firsthand how firms balance analyzing numbers with understanding markets and people. And I also got to experience what it feels like to work in a fast-paced, global environment, something I hope to continue in my future career.
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
