One of our favorite traditions at SJS Investment Services is when students shadow us for a week. Many current SJS Team members first learned about SJS through shadowing, so it brings back good memories for us. Additionally, it is an opportunity for us to teach the next generation of investors some of what we have learned, as well as learn from them.
From May 10-14, 2021, three graduating Seniors from St. John’s Jesuit High School - Max Bruss, Theodore Gothier, Nicolas Conway (in order, pictured above) - shadowed the SJS Team in Sylvania, Ohio. Throughout the week, they did activities including:
Learned about the importance of investing, as well as different ways of investing
Learned about retirement and other investment accounts (ex. IRA, 401(k), 529, HSA, etc.)
Created a LinkedIn profile (Max, Theodore, Nicolas) and resume
Read The Investment Answer by Daniel C. Goldie and Gordon S. Murray
Helped create financial presentations and simulations
Pitched an investment idea for the SJS Team to consider
We asked each student to write a 2-3 paragraph summary of what they learned during the week, which we share below. We thank Max, Theodore, and Nicolas for spending the week with us, and we wish them well as they embark on their college journeys!
Max Bruss
My experience at SJS Investment Services has been very beneficial for me in learning about many aspects of working in the real world. The sense of community as well as team efforts stand out tremendously here. Everyone combines their intelligence and diligence to keep the ship sailing. This allows for agreement on good ideas one may have that others aren’t thinking of, among other things. All colleagues here have something different to offer in a different aspect of the business. I would say the group of people working here is quite optimal for the business and they all fit into their positions quite well.
One reason I say they fit well here is because they all were able to educate us on everything that goes on here and who has which responsibilities. Mr. Schaetzke taught us about the connections with clientele and how new clients come to the firm for their services. Mr. Adusumilli taught us about how to decide which investments may be right for us. He also showed us how you can approach different situations including getting employed, treating people right, doing research on your investments, making pinpoint decisions based on your research, and starting early on your investments.
We spoke to Mr. Ludwig and he gave his expertise on bonds and how mass adoption changes the world constantly. An important lesson Mr. Savage gave us was his experience with running a business and making mistakes to get to where he is today. Another thing he presented to us was how important it is to have mentors to guide you in the right direction in becoming extremely successful. After all, if something has worked for someone in the past, it may work for someone else in the future. That, of course, applies to having success in running a business. I would love to include my experiences with all of the extraordinary people I have talked to over the past week but this was just meant to be a brief overview of my experience here. There was a lot of knowledge handed to us; it was quite an interesting experience to have shadowed here. I will be taking the things I have learned during this experience for the rest of my life and into the financial world.
Theodore Gothier
The opportunity to shadow at SJS has provided me with much more than I expected. Not only did I gain real world insight into the professional world but I was able to learn from everyone at the firm about what they do and how they tie in the needs of their clients to their constantly developing philosophy, MarketPlus Investing. Each individual of the team provided me with knowledge about investing and financial planning that I believe will be very beneficial for my future in finance. They even taught me things to potentially help me better handle my money for the long term prosperity of it, whether that be planning what to invest in retirement accounts or learning to choose a diversified portfolio in a market that is hard to predict.
Spending time with everyone exposed me to different sides of finance, like client facing as well as analytical, which really opened my eyes to the opportunities that exist and how each person plays a different part in the investment world but often work together to benefit the same client. A lot of the time spent was with Bobby Adusumilli, the main point of contact for this experience, who prepared me well to fully immerse myself with this time through planned presentations and a schedule that allowed him to educate us in the multiple facets of equities such as through mutual funds or ETFs, retirement accounts like a Roth IRA, or even bonds of which I was unfamiliar with until I came here. After this, I got to sit down with different SJS employees who each specialize in a different part of the business to learn more about what they do. I was often given resources to do more research and to help guide me. With each person at SJS, employees and in management, I felt like wisdom was passed down that will stick with me. I feel like this was not just a professional experience, but an educational one that will make me better prepared for my future endeavors.
Nicolas Conway
My time here at SJS has been something I will come to remember. Having the opportunity to shadow here has helped create the first step into a field I believe I will enjoy. I have gained a lot of knowledge on lots of aspects related to investing, as well as other things that have stood out about working in the real world. Learning from and listening to many different people throughout SJS has provided wisdom and can serve somewhat as a guide for the future. Through meeting everyone and seeing the different roles they play, I see the knowledge that comes along their strong interests in investing.
With Bobby as the main person talking with us and scheduling our days, he provided a lot of helpful knowledge that can greatly support my money managing when I get older. Through a lot of our talks and discussions, I learned about different types of investment accounts which can potentially help maximize returns over time. Starting to invest early is one of the biggest things for someone like me in order to help me potentially maximize my returns and be financially stable for the future. We also learned about different ways that someone can invest money through the different types of investments like stocks, bonds, real estate, etc., depending on the volatility that someone is willing to accept. All things together, I enjoyed shadowing here, as they showed me a lot of different aspects of the workplace environment and gave me an overview of the finance field.
Important Disclosure Information:
There is no guarantee investment strategies will be successful. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Diversification neither assures a profit nor guarantees against a loss in a declining market.
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