Inside the college investment clubs where students hustle and grind for top jobs in finance
It's a dog-eat-dog world out there for some Singaporean students looking to secure a dream job in finance or a sweet gig at a big bank.
But there's one way to get ahead: Joining clubs that open up exclusive avenues for networking opportunities that may elude the rest of the student populace.
These are the investment clubs, a common fixture among Singapore's three major universities — the National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Management University (SMU), and Nanyang Technological University.
Members of these clubs attend training sessions, covering topics like financial modeling and stock pitching. These sessions are usually taught by senior members. Club alumni and industry professionals also drop in to give talks to members.
Competition to join these clubs can be almost as intense as attempting to secure a top job with bulge bracket banks and investment firms.
Student leaders at the SMU-Student Managed Investment Fund (SMU-SMIF) and its equivalent at the NUS, the NUS Investment Society, say they've seen an uptick in applicants over the years.
Over 200 people per batch apply for a limited number of seats, said Matthew Quek, 25, who joined SMU-SMIF in 2022 and is now the club's vice president.
"Historically, we have taken around 20 applicants," Quek said.
"In recent years, we have upped our intake. Our latest batch has 24 members, the largest we have had so far," he added.
The students Business Insider spoke to said that joining clubs like SMU-SMIF and NUS Investment Society provided them with a platform to brush up their technical skills and build connections with the industry.
Technical know-how and hands-on experiences
Shannon Chong, 21, is a junior at SMU. The accountancy undergraduate said her budding interest in finance was what drew her to the SMU-SMIF.
Chong said she was 17 when she realized she wanted a career in finance after participating in a high school case competition organized by Tiger Global Management, an investment firm.
"I found the mix of qualitative and quantitative analysis rather interesting. I also enjoyed getting to look at different business models," Chong said of her experience with the case competition.
Chong said she wanted a hands-on learning experience. That's when she heard from her seniors that SMIF was a way to get training outside the classroom.
"SMIF has provided me with the training, not only in terms of the technical deck making and financial modeling skills, but also in terms of soft skills like critical thinking and communication," Chong said.
Chong started out as a junior analyst for the club in her freshman year, before climbing the ranks and taking over as club president in August.
Chong has completed two internships, one in investment banking and the other on the buy-side. She told BI that former SMU-SMIF members and seniors also gave her advice and provided referrals when she was applying for those positions.
Quek, who joined SMU-SMIF in the same year as Chong, said the technical skills he picked up were helpful when he undertook buy-side and sell-side internships.
"My first internship was with a public equities firm, so just mainly investing in US stocks. As part of SMIF, you look at all different kinds of stocks from the US, from Europe. So for that internship, I benefited a lot from having the SMIF training," Quek said.
Clubs give college students easy access to a network
Yumo Pan, 24, is a senior from the NUS majoring in quantitative finance. Pan joined the NUS Investment Society in her sophomore year and is now its president.
Pan told BI that joining the club allowed her to gain practical skills, like how to pitch a trading idea. She added that while it is possible for students to break into the finance industry by self-studying and networking aggressively, joining a club like NUS Investment Society will help students to get a leg up over the competition.
"It's not just about the knowledge, but also the community, the network as well," Pan said.
"We have a lot of alumni who have already landed jobs in the space that I am going into. They shared a lot of tips with me. When we are applying, we have friends from the club to exchange information and practice our interviews with," she added.
Pan said she completed three finance internships and has secured a job with an investment bank.
"I just feel that if I didn't join NUS Invest, the information gap would be huge, and I probably wouldn't be able to identify my specific career interests so early on," Pan said.
Pan's vice president, Ansell Chan, said one of his biggest takeaways from joining the NUS Investment Society was the community of like-minded individuals he could turn to for guidance.
"I had a few seniors whom I could directly reach out to within the club to ask for advice, especially when it comes to interviews, how to apply, where to apply, things like that. That has been really helpful for me in my career journey," Chan said.
Chan, 24, said he has completed four internships, two in banking and two from the buy-side. The business undergraduate said he didn't receive any referrals from seniors, though he did ask them for advice on preparing for job interviews.
Heated competition for finance jobs trickles down to investment clubs
Jobs at top banks like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are highly coveted among college students looking to succeed in the finance industry. For most aspirants, starting one's career there is not just about making six-figure salaries, but also the exposure that comes from working on mega-deals and engaging with C-suite clients.
That spurs immense competition among applicants. For one, it is harder to secure a summer internship at Goldman Sachs than it is to get into Harvard. Goldman's internship acceptance rates globally were about 1.5% in 2022. Harvard's acceptance rate was 3.19% in the same year.
Aside from starting early and joining their college's investment clubs, students have also sought to differentiate themselves by doing four to five internships before they graduate from university.
Zhao Yang Wong, 23, who joined the NUS Investment Society as a freshman in 2023, told BI that the caliber of new applicants to the club has gone up in recent years.
"The new applicants are definitely brighter. It's quite surprising to me that some of the year ones already had multiple internships under their belt, which was not very common for my batch and before," he said.
Investment clubs are no silver bullet when it comes to securing top finance jobs
But students who think joining an investment club is a surefire way to land a top finance job should think again.
"This alone wouldn't be enough to create a job offer," said Herman Ko, the head coach and chief program director at Career Hackers, a human resources and education technology startup in Hong Kong.
Ko said the benefits of being part of a club are greater when one is just starting out and has little internship experience.
"Let's say if you are just a freshman, there's nothing on your CV, work experience-wise. So, how can you fill in the blank page as soon as you can? It's by joining these kinds of clubs where you can try to gain some experience and have them as bullet points to showcase your skillsets," Ko said.
Ko said internships remain critical for those wanting to land a job at a top investment bank. Based on his experience coaching students, Ko said applicants will need at least three to four quality internship experiences to make the cut.
Adrian Choo, the CEO and cofounder of a Singapore-based career strategy consultancy, Career Agility International, told BI that employers are more likely to hire members who participate actively in club activities.
"If you are just an ordinary member, that would help. But if you are an organizer or an executive committee member, that would be quite impressive as well, especially if you have organized events. That would set you apart from the rest," Choo said.
Still, there's a major plus point of being part of a club, said Dominic Lee, 27, a former president of SMU-SMIF — and it has less to do with embarking on the golden road to a big banking job, and more to do with the community you become a part of.
Lee, who is now an analyst at a European bulge bracket investment bank, graduated from SMU with a business degree in 2023. He said his job search became far less daunting because he had friends in the SMU-SMIF who were all in the same boat.
"It's like running a marathon. Anyone can run a marathon on their own, but if you join a run club, you get friends to train with, advice on the best gear, and shared training plans," Lee said. "The whole journey is just a lot more enjoyable with a community around you."
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