Trust me, you’ll want to move in.

We are currently seeking Investment Interns to work with our Stockholm, Helsinki and Zurich-team. You might be wondering, what’s in it for me? And what makes you so convinced I’ll decide to come back full time? We thought these questions are best answered by someone who knows what they’re talking about.

In this interview, you’ll hear from Marit Annink, previous Investment Intern with the Stockholm office, and after working at Morgan Stanley she returned to Altor in 2022. You will also meet Jawad Shafique, previous part time analyst at the Copenhagen office, he returned from Boston Consulting Group to join the Altor team full time earlier this year.

What was your first impression of Altor?

Marit: It may sound silly, but it felt very family-like, they were open and included you in the conversation from day one. I had a very welcoming and positive first impression.

Jawad: I was impressed by the high bar Altor sets for its work.  Everyone is very good at what they do, yet humble, kind, and down to earth. This combined made me feel like Altor would be a good place to develop and learn from very capable seniors.

 

 

Let’s talk about workload, could you balance the internship with studies?

Marit: My internship was part time; this was deliberate from my end as I wanted to deliver on the expectations set in the internship while also studying full time. I was never expected to give more hours than agreed, however some projects were too interesting to stay off. This meant I might stay for longer hours, but Altor was always flexible and responsive to allowing my KTH schedule to come first.

Jawad: The student analyst program in Copenhagen is very flexible and designed to help the analyst balance studies and work. As a part time student analyst you typically work 2-3 days a week alongside studies. However, with great flexibility to either work more during interesting projects or less during exam periods or similar.

 

 

The most important question, what were your responsibilities?

Jawad: Since the position spanned over more than two years, I got a wide exposure to different type of tasks at Altor. This included portfolio work with me assisting a portfolio company on its market study, as well as transaction work ranging from early-stage sourcing to financial modeling. I really liked being a proper part of the deal team where my work mattered to the overall progress.

Marit: I felt very included from the start. If you want to work on a specific sector, people will help make that happen, you just need to dare to lean in and ask. My tasks were relevant and important to the team, I worked on both portfolio and transactional workstreams, and during a transaction I was responsible for the LBO modelling. I met management and went on site visits, and got to know the companies. I was part of the Altor team.

 

 

What would you say to the students looking to apply?

Marit: Do it. There is a place for you. You get to know the company throughout the application process, and I’m convinced many who assume they don’t fit are actually the perfect match. Try and find out.

Jawad: This is a great place to learn. You get exposure to lots of things you wouldn’t get in many other internships; you get to learn about different sectors, companies, and business models in a short amount of time, all while working and learning from other great people.

What made you return to Altor?

Jawad: After having been at Altor for 2.5 years during my studies, I started working at Boston Consulting Group where I worked mainly on commercial due diligences in their Private Equity team. While this was truly interesting and taught me a lot, I missed the ability to follow a company over time and understand it from end-to-end. In other words, looking at all aspects of a business from financial, valuation, to commercial and legal. On top of this I also missed the great colleagues, the culture, and the opportunity to work on impressive deals alongside impressive teams.

Marit: Altor doesn’t hire people fresh out of their studies, so I returned to Morgan Stanley during Covid, this meant working on a record number of transactions. I loved it and gained lots of experience. But I missed what happens after the transaction, imagine yourself becoming really good at selling houses, but you never get to move in – You’re always forced to hand over the keys and leave. I didn’t like that. I wanted to move in. This is why I returned to Private Equity.

 

 

Any last words?

Marit: Well, I missed “moving into the house” as mentioned but it was actually the team that made Altor stand out from its competitors. The brilliant people and the culture are the reasons I returned.

Jawad: I really enjoy how while we work from a very financial perspective you must understand and learn about the business from all dimensions. The breadth of what we do is so big, you need to understand many different aspects of a company quite well and then help drive the company in the right direction.

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Lastly, for what was your background when you applied for the internship?

Marit: I studied Civil Engineering at KTH, and through conversations with friends I grew curious about private equity. I knew that internships are an important merit , so I applied to Morgan Stanleys Women’s Insight Program and then continued with them for a full year as an Investment Banking Intern. I then applied for a part time student internship with Altor’s Stockholm office.

Jawad: I applied to Altor when I was on my Bachelor’s in International Business at CBS. Before that I had gained experience from another part-time job within finance, a consulting internship, and exchange semesters in Hong Kong and USA.