Interview with interns Floris, Conrad and Sophia

Floris de Widt – Intern within Private Equity Funds

‘You are challenged to think outside the box and develop your own vision at Egeria, but you also know that your colleagues will help whenever needed.’

Why did you choose to do an internship at Egeria?
I chose Egeria because I was looking for a company that offers good mentoring and has attention for personal development – Egeria ticks those boxes. Further factors are the close collaboration with entrepreneurs and the fact that you get the chance to work within a group of young, intelligent and ambitious people. Who are also great company when you go out for a drink!

What is the most important thing you have learned so far during your internship?
For me personally, that is how you – in your role as an investor – examine and analyse every aspect of a company. How you look beyond the financial statements to assess the fundamental role of the people behind the company. And how you develop a vision of specific markets and the company’s position, measure the impact of all the driving factors that really matter and weigh those aspects up against the risks involved in an investment.

How would you describe the culture at Egeria?
The atmosphere is pleasant, open and not all that formal, and you are encouraged to take responsibility. There is a clear focus on personal growth, not only for interns but for all employees, with systematic training and mentoring. The company also organises all kinds of events, including many informal activities. Another plus is that a lot of young people work here. You are challenged to think outside the box and develop your own vision at Egeria, but you also know that your colleagues will help whenever needed.

Conrad van der Klaauw – Intern within Private Equity Evergreen

‘Besides all the learning possibilities, the work here is an opportunity to be involved with companies of a significant size and to experience working with them from a shareholder’s perspective.

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What are your tasks and responsibilities as an intern for the Evergreen team?
As an intern within the Evergreen team, your tasks are very broad-ranging and varied. I work with team members to identify and analyse investment opportunities, and I provide support for our work for the portfolio companies. In the weekly meetings, I present my findings on markets or companies to the team. The Evergreen fund has a flexible investment horizon and actively supports companies with their growth through a buy-and-build strategy (among other strategies). Because of that, quite a lot of your work involves possible add-ons and the associated deal process when this becomes concrete. So the work is extremely varied!

What do you like best about/at Egeria?
Content-wise, I really like the fact that we are not confined to the sectors in which we have invested thus far, so you constantly have the opportunity to explore new markets. There are also several other teams within Egeria besides Private Equity, which ensures that you work and interact with many different people. And you get to meet all those people again at the various get-togethers and during the highlight of each day: lunch!

Would you recommend an internship at Egeria and if so why?
I would definitely recommend an internship at Egeria because Egeria takes your personal development very seriously. You receive training on a specific topic from each team member, and various training sessions from top professionals from firms Egeria works with. On top of that there are regular check-ins to monitor your development. Besides all the learning possibilities, the work here is an opportunity to be involved with companies of a significant size and to experience working with them from a shareholder’s perspective.

Sophia Knauer – Intern Listed Investments

‘Your tasks are highly diverse, continuously challenging, and overall, very interesting. This makes the learning curve quite steep.’

What did you expect to learn from your internship? And what have you learnt so far?
When starting my internship at Egeria, I hoped to be involved in the entire investment process and to become more professional in all of its relevant stages. Working with the team, I have so far learned how to identify and research interesting companies and investment opportunities while analyzing the current portfolio companies. I have gained experience in evaluating the impacts of certain news events, analyzing financial results as well as forecasting and modelling performance. Overall, I believe my greatest learning has been to realize the importance of the truth-seeking component to all my analyses which pushes me to always dive deeper, something that can be quite challenging but also fascinating at the same time.

What will you tell future intern candidates about your internship at Egeria?
Doing an internship at Egeria Listed Investments you will be actively involved in all activities required to manage an investment portfolio, causing your tasks to be highly diverse, continuously challenging, and overall, very interesting. The learning curve remains quite steep, even after a few months into the internship which makes it a really exciting experience. The Listed teams is relatively small at Egeria, and you will feel a part of it right from the start. The team continuously encourages you to share your opinion, to think outside the box and gives you high levels of responsibility. On top of all, you can participate in a lot of different meetings and calls, for instance when Egeria is meeting with the management of multiple interesting companies.

What has surprised you about working at Egeria?
Egeria is a place with a very positive culture and family-like atmosphere on both the team level as well as throughout the entire office, something I believe to be quite unique. I was warmly welcomed and integrated right at my first day, everyone is very friendly and regular drinks and social events with the entire office continue to make the internship and working experience extra special. It is really extraordinary how quickly you feel part of the “family”.