Established in 1863, Davenport & Company LLC is one of the oldest employee-owned, independent financial services firms in America. Headquartered in Richmond, VA, the firm offers a complete range of investment services, including comprehensive stock and bond brokerage, investment management, research, financial planning, insurance, public finance, and corporate finance.
On Tuesday, November 17, Chazzo Habliston ’13 will join us on-campus to share information about the public finance internship with Davenport. Andrew Pope ’16, participated in this internship during the summer of 2015 and answered a few questions for us. If you are interested in applying to this opportunity, visit the full description in Handshake. Applications are due November 28 at 11:59pm.
Economics major
How would you describe Davenport’s work environment to someone who doesn’t know?
The vibe in the Davenport offices really exemplifies some of the pros of working at a smaller firm. Primarily, this was shown through the interdepartmental relationships that Davenport employees have with others at the company. During my internship specifically, I was working in the Public Finance division, but was urged to spend time in other parts of the firm in order to really understand the way a financial services firm works.
In terms of my work with the Public Finance group, I was given a chance to really fulfill some of the jobs that the full time analysts were expected to complete. I started my internship a few weeks before they on-boarded a new analyst and our learning processes and responsibilities were very similar. The faith that they showed in my abilities was extremely important in learning to take some pride in what I was doing. Senior bankers were always asking how the process was going for me and offered their help with any questions that I may have.
What did an average workday look like?
I usually got to work around 7:45am and spent the morning working on the long-term project that I was given for the summer. Around 10, the Associate or Analyst that I was assigned to for the week would come to my desk and talk to me about the project that they were working on at the moment. Usually these projects were financial analysis for clients about refunding bonds or a quickly approaching issuance of new bonds. The banker I was working for would then explain what they would like me to do over the next couple of days and give me several tasks to have completed by the end of the week. From that point on, I worked closely with the associate assigned to the project until it was completed.
What advice would you give other Davidson students interested in applying to Davenport?
I recommend getting in touch with people at the company. They can give you a realistic expectation of what a full time opportunity with the company looks like. I would also recommend practicing any technical skills you have so that you can complete any work that they give you in a timely manner. Lastly, attention to detail is something that is taken to the next level at a company that stresses quality service like Davenport does.