Kaleb Knighten's 2025 Summer in NYC

 Blog Post #5: Leadership Leadership is not only very prevalent throughout my experience at Morgan Stanley, but it’s also extremely important. Relative to many other large banks, Morgan Stanley’s leadership stays at the firm for a lot longer than the average tenure. The leaders, managing directors, and executive directors are not only sources of inspiration but also sources of information and help, which came as a surprise to me at first. My initial thought was that the higher-ups would neglect interns as they already are busy with constant meetings and deliverables, but in reality, they are so welcoming of interns and junior employees. Oftentimes, because of how much experience they have under their belt, conversations with the leadership at MS are typically the most insightful, as they always touch on what helps motivate them to continue working hard in the office every day, even after 20+ years .

 Blog Post #4: Equity and Inclusion I’ve seen and really appreciate Morgan Stanley’s emphasis on equity and inclusion, even throughout conflicts with our current administration. One of Morgan Stanley’s core five core values is “commit to diversity,” which is evident in the satisfaction of the majority and minority employees at the firm. I’ve seen this play out personally through networking events held by the company to show the interns the ENGs or Employee Networking Groups, at the company. There are ENGs for a wide variety of groups, including an African American ENG, a Latino ENG, and an LGBTQ ENG, and so on. I have not seen these at any other company that I have worked at or interned for; it was very refreshing to see a company of this scale that prioritizes equity and inclusion.

  Blog Post #3: An Industry of Critical Thinkers These past two weeks, I've spent my time with the electronic trading risk management team within the fixed income division of Morgan Stanley. The team's function is to act as the first line of defense for any trading algorithms and controls that the company's fixed-income traders might use. Being that first line of defense means reviewing market stress testing results and setting notional limits on prices and quantities that the algorithms must obey. I've really enjoyed being with this team, but what I enjoyed the most was my project on the desk that was initiated through my critical thinking skills. Throughout week one of the rotation, my manager took me through the flow diagrams for the algorithms correlating with specific products, and through critical thinking, I discovered a nuance that I turned into my research project for the rotation, which I presented to the team this past Thursday. I also spoke with a lot of the...

  Since my last blog post, I have gone through a week of training and a week of being on desks, and I have enjoyed the majority of every minute of my experience. Interning at a bulge bracket bank with as much of a reputation as Morgan Stanley comes with the challenge and rigor that I have hoped to receive. Much of that challenge of navigating the internship program involves time management and being able to get your projects and tasks done while also networking and meeting new people within the firm. I have made it a point of mine to meet with at least two new people each day, and every day I learn something new. So far, I have met with Morgan Stanley employees ranging from Fixed Income Macro coverage analysts to vice presidents on the strats team. Setting up these meetings and ultimately leading these meetings requires communication to begin on the end of the intern. Being able to communicate is extremely important in the financial services industry because it is a team sport, and...

  Career and Self-Development through my 1st Week in NYC To begin my first blog post, I’d like to start by saying that I don't start my internship until next Monday, June 2nd, but this doesn't mean that my first week of experiences in New York hasn't aligned with the first career readiness competency of career and self-development. I chose to move into my New York apartment a week in advance to give myself time to adjust to being in a new environment alone. I’ve spent this week walking all throughout the city and going on many different “quests,” including visiting the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art), running along the East Side Highway, and even getting my first New York Yankees hat. I feel that challenging myself to step out of my comfort zone has done wonders for my development as a person. I now feel more comfortable doing things alone and meeting all of the new people that I encounter throughout the city. I've spent the majority of my days in this first week exploring ...