Student Spotlight: Maya Westerlund (MSFS ’27)

Below, Maya Westerlund (MSFS ’27) from Cary, North Carolina and Haugesund, Norway reflects on her time abroad in Stockholm, Sweden interning at SEB as a member of the 12th Cohort of the Wallenberg International Fellows Program.

Q: What was your summer internship and what type of work did you do?
A: This summer I was a part of the Wallenberg International Fellows Program. As a part of this program, I spent the summer working in Stockholm as a Corporate & Investment Banking Intern at SEB, working on the Strategy & Macro Research team for FICC Markets. I was able to take responsibility for many exciting projects, as well as leading daily strategy meetings, writing morning market alerts, and building models.

Q: What was your favorite part about the internship/were there any particular stand-out projects that you can share?
A: My favorite part of the internship was getting to sit at various desks on the trading floor and getting to know lots of different people. I was able to learn more about macroeconomic analysis and all the areas in FICC; fixed income, currencies and commodities. One of my favorite projects was working to build a forecasting tool for central bank rate decisions. I also really enjoyed being able to spend some time at the Oslo office.

Q: How has your experience in IBD thus far prepared you for success in this position?
A: IBD helped prepare me to be able to think critically about markets, and how it is important to combine both quantitative skills with geopolitic understanding to be able to make informed decisions. Investing in Emerging Markets with Professor Senyuz was especially helpful, as I was forced to take a stance on a country’s performance based only on market information I had access to in the moment, much like what I did with the trading strategists this summer. This helped prepare me for my internship, where the work was very fast paced and changed from day to day (and minute to minute).

Q: What’s one fun summer activity you did outside of your internship?
A: This summer, I visited several islands in the Stockholm Archipelago and spent lots of time watching the World Cup, cheering on Norway from Stockholm. Here I attended a Norwegian watch party on the island of Södermalm in Stockholm.