Ian Gray is a rising junior at LMU pursuing a dual degree in finance and economics. He’s also a Presidential Scholar, a member of the University Honors Program, on the Dean’s List and Bloomberg Market Concepts certified.
Ian spent the summer as a member of the first remote group of investing interns at The Motley Fool. He says it was an incredible experience that gave him confidence in his ability to work remotely and meet deadlines.
“The Motley Fool is really an outstanding company, and I think more LMU students should know about it and seek to work there,” said Ian.
In Ian’s own words, he summarizes his main responsibilities at The Motley Fool:
Researching Stocks
During the summer, I made two stock pitches to the entire investing team. These were 15-20 minute pitches with a subsequent Q&A session. I prepared a slide deck and an accompanying analyst report for each presentation. I researched financials, valuation, proxy statements/management, and company strategy. In addition to these formal pitches, I participated in researching and writing short-form reports on over 20 stocks.
Participating in Podcasts/Livestreams
I had the opportunity to join an episode of the popular podcast, Market Foolery, as an analyst. We talked earnings on Twitter, Microsoft and Chipotle, and shared a stock on our radar. Listen to the podcast. It was a bit of a surreal experience. I’ve listened to this podcast for a few years now, and it has had an immense impact on my investing life.
In preparation for the podcast, I reviewed the quarterly reports, past trends and the earnings calls. I distilled that information and took notes to help me succinctly share my analysis in a way that was accessible for the average listener.
I also joined two members-only livestream shows. For the first show, I did a quick 5-minute stock pitch, shared my experience from the internship, and answered live Q&A from the audience. The second show is on daily and called The Rundown. It involves two analysts debating nine topics from the news of the day. These public-facing opportunities enabled me to practice my public speaking skills and conduct thorough research in order to be confident in my analysis.
Investor Development
The Motley Fool has an extensive Investor Development Program. As an intern, I got to take over 20 classes taught by analysts at The Motley Fool. The topics ranged from financial statement analysis of SaaS companies to behavioral economics. It would be hard to overstate how beneficial these classes were to my business and investing education.
