Every summer, students from around the world join us to work alongside many of our teams at Point72. We sat down with four of this year’s interns to hear about their backgrounds, what drew them to the firm, and what they’ve taken away from their first few weeks on the desk.
Tell me about yourself and your background.
Julia: I’m originally from New York City and am a rising senior at Brown University studying economics and entrepreneurship. This summer, I am working on the Strategic Implementation team, a function that helps launch and scale new firm-wide initiatives.
Owen: I’m originally from Norman, Oklahoma, and I study finance at Southern Methodist University (SMU). This summer, I’m working as a Point72 Academy intern, where there is a mix of classroom learning and rotations with an investment team.
Henry: I’m from Westchester, New York. I just graduated from MIT this past May with a degree in computer science focused on artificial intelligence and a minor in finance. This summer, I am interning with Cubist Data Services.
Matthew: I’m from London, and I’m studying Economics and Management at Oxford University. Outside of academics, I split my time between rowing and running Capitox’s live fund, which is the investment society in Oxford. This summer I’m interning with the Point72 Academy in London.
How did you first become interested in this field, and what ultimately led you to Point72 this summer?
Julia: I was introduced to consulting through a club at Brown where I served as a project manager for international clients, but I found myself wanting to see our recommendations through to execution. The Strategic Implementation team offered the work I loved, but without the gap between idea, execution, and outcome. I was drawn to Point72 because of the parallels between the culture here and at Brown, which both have hard-working and ambitious people who are also creative and curious.
Owen: An upperclassman at SMU introduced me to public equities investing, and I found it fascinating. I then got introduced to Point72 through a stock pitch competition. A few friends and I had been in other competitions, and we knew the Point72 competition was our goal. It was touring the office and meeting different folks across the Academy team that made me want to apply.
Henry: Across every internship I’ve done, from software engineering to quantitative research, data has been the common thread. It shapes the decisions I make and the systems I design. That’s what pulled me toward a data-focused role in an industry where the work has real-world impact. Point72 stood out for its culture of excellence. The firm doesn’t only set a high bar, it also gives employees the tools and mentorship needed to surpass their goals. Talking to full-time employees, I could tell the firm invests in people who are genuinely passionate and curious about their work. It felt like the right place to grow.
Matthew: It goes back to 2019, when a few friends and I entered the UK Student Investor Challenge and ran a simulated portfolio for four months. Since then, I’ve continued to analyze companies and seek out opportunities to learn from the best, which is exactly what drew me to the Point72 Academy. Having competed in stock pitch competitions judged by Point72 investors, I got a glimpse of the unparalleled learning opportunity firsthand. You quickly realize you don’t know what you don’t know, and I think the Academy is the best place to find that out.
What is one word that you would use to describe the culture here at Point72? And where have you seen it in action?
Julia: Collaborative. I found that everyone at the company is not only willing to talk, but also really willing to help. They make the time to go out of their way and speak to you and give you advice. In such a short amount of time, I feel like I’ve been able to develop relationships not only with people on my team, but with people across the company.
Owen: Communicative. My investment team has really poured themselves into me, and they’re super willing to help. Their style is over-communication, so I’m constantly talking to my analyst and checking in with my PM every day. They’ve been willing to sit down with me and teach me things, making this summer a really rewarding experience.
Henry: Passionate. Everyone here has a genuine interest in what they’re doing, and they’re all very passionate and willing to talk about the nature of their work. My mentors are very supportive, and I think also, very importantly, they’re willing to listen to my feedback on projects and ideas or directions that I think might be interesting to explore.
Matthew: Mentorship. Point72’s focus on talent development and education extends to every single employee at the firm, regardless of division or seniority. I’ve always felt encouraged and able to reach out and form genuine friendships and learn from anyone across the firm.
What do you hope to walk away with by the end of your internship?
Julia: Since my team works across several Investment Services functions, I want to familiarize myself with many aspects of the business and understand more about the teams we work with on a daily basis. Doing so will help me build the context and cross-functional perspective needed to contribute more effectively to my role and anticipate the needs of the stakeholders we support.
Owen: I’m hoping to get more efficient every day at the job. Even just in the first week on the desk with my PM team, I’ve felt myself making progress. I now know what questions are worthwhile, what to spend time on versus what not to focus on. I’m still learning so much every day.
Henry: I want to better understand what the full lifecycle of a data set looks like in practice, from where it comes from to how it ends up being used to inform investment decisions. Being able to see that full process would help me better connect the technical work we’re doing with the broader impact it has across the firm.
Matthew: I hope to walk away with a durable ramping process that I can apply to any stock to understand the drivers of the business and what the key debates are. More importantly than this, however, I hope to take away the ability to ask the right questions and have conversations as insightful as those I hear every day at Point72. Even in my first couple of weeks, I am learning so much from every conversation I hear, and it’s shifted my internal dialogue already.
Can you share an interesting fact about yourself that we would not learn from your resume?
Julia: Before going to Brown, I took a gap year where I had the opportunity to travel to many countries including Morocco, India, Spain, and Turkey. It brought me a new appreciation for different cultures and reinforced the importance of clear communication, which I’ve found to be essential in my role. I also love playing Mahjong with friends and family in my free time!
Owen: I really enjoy going to the OU Texas football game every year in the Cotton Bowl, and I think it’s one of the best sports rivalries there are.
Henry: I was a varsity fencer in college. I’ve been fencing since I was eight years old, and in 2024, I qualified for the NCAA championships.
Matthew: Back when I was sixteen, I summited Kilimanjaro with my dad, and at the 6,000-meter summit, where air oxygen concentration is below half of normal, I decided to do a 100-meter sprint. It’s never been harder to get my breath back, but it seemed like a good idea in theory. It felt like I was breathing through a straw, but it was a cool experience.