Bloomberg, Bonds, and High Finance

As a business student focusing on Eastern European trade I am oftentimes frustrated with the opportunities for study in this area available to me in California. So, when I was first offered the opportunity to intern at Blueberry Capital, a 200 million dollar capital management firm based in San Francisco, I was somewhat dubious about its benefit in terms of my long term goals. However soon after arriving there I found that I would be learning skills that would be beneficial to me regardless of what country I plan to work in.
Although my internship with the company only lasted a week, it was definitely a week well spent. Because Blueberry Capital is a small firm, which focuses on high-level municipal bond investments for private wealth management funds, it usually does not take on interns at all, so I was fortunate to benefit from knowledge and experience that is accessible to few of my peers.
On my first day, I arrived at the office, in the middle of San Francisco’s financial district, and stayed only long enough for introductions. The office makes extensive use of the Bloomberg terminal to make investment decisions, so I was immediately sent to Bloomberg’s west coast headquarters for terminal training. The office’s dedicated representative, Nina Bari, was there to greet me on arrival. Having been told of my background in Journalism, she was gracious enough to give me a quick tour of Bloomberg’s television studio and facilities, which were small, but new and utilitarian. Then came a surprise meeting with one of Bloomberg’s Executive Editors and Technology columnist Rich Jaroslovsky, a long time family friend. Then we got down to business. The training itself consisted of an hour-long whirlwind of keyboard commands and financial codes. While attempting to master the intricacies of the system I came to realize that the terminal is really the Avid of the financial world – complicated to use, but also an incredibly powerful tool. I believe this knowledge will be useful in the future.
Back at Blueberry Capital’s office in the afternoon, I was given a crash course in the parallels between the business and legal worlds. My duties included analyzing extensive Bond prospectuses and credit ratings. I was also asked on several occasions to use Bloomberg to research the financial situations of the various underwriters and LOC issuers. Owing to my background, this was not very new to me. As a business reporter if often reported on the pros and cons of various market sectors and investments. However, at Blueberry I also was asked to use the information to make judgment calls regarding the actual quality of an investment. While at first I found this challenging, I began to gain an understanding of how to distinguish between investment qualities during the internship. I also learned how concepts taught in the classroom, can be used in new and unexpected ways. For example, I learned how mandatory put and call provisions can be used as the mechanics by which variable rate municipal bond can be reset to par value each week. In short, this was a great experience. I will never forget the exhilarating feeling that results from hitting the “accept” button on a multi-million dollar bond purchase. The skills I will take away will serve me well as I continue to work toward my ambitions of an Eastern European business career.