People & ideas at Deutsche Börse
Release date: 31 Jan 2023
In our “Inter(n)view” series, our interns, trainees, and students share their insights into Deutsche Börse Group. Meet Francesco D'Agostino, who joined our Business Strategy and Merger and Acquisition team in December for six months. He talked to us about his motivation for doing this internship, what his grandfather has to do with it, about his admiration for our headquarters’ office building and what he enjoys most about his internship with us.
After your studies in Rome and Moscow and your internship in London, what made you decide to do this internship at Deutsche Börse Group in Germany?
I have always loved to travel and explore new cultures, but the biggest motivation to come here was the fact that my grandparents used to live in Bad Nauheim with my grandfather working in Frankfurt. Since I was a child, I dreamed about retracing his path and working in Frankfurt as well. Furthermore, I like to set myself big goals, and working for an exchange organisation is the greatest ambition that a finance graduate can have. It is the best way to get to know the financial markets and investigate them from behind the scenes. And since Deutsche Börse is one of the most important exchange organisations in the world, I only had one objective: get into it.
What does your team do and what are your main tasks?
The Market Data & Services department, that my team is part of, provides technology-enabled services helping clients to digitise their businesses and navigate financial markets with increased agility and insight. We also help our external cooperation partners, which include major Asian, Latin American and some European exchanges, to market their information. In my team, we create mid- to long-term strategic growth plans for our segment, including evaluating organic and inorganic growth opportunities. My main tasks are the qualitative and quantitative analysis of companies, competitors and markets, in order to assess strengths and weaknesses.
What do you enjoy most about your internship?
Apart from the financial topics, I love the team culture and diversity: you can meet people with very different backgrounds and stories, everyone helps each other and is considered equally. The atmosphere is just amazing. Something that I really like, too, is that the company cares a lot about inclusion and networking. That’s why meetings and lunches for interns are a constant where you can always get to know new people. Finally, I really enjoy working in the headquarters: The Cube is marvellous and it is the first reason to come to the office every day.
How does this internship contribute to your personal and professional development?
Personally, it helped me to always do my best and deliver even in stressful situations, and to overcome my shyness thanks to all the networking programmes. Professionally, this internship is giving me many insights about the functioning of financial markets – something that one couldn’t even imagine from the outside. Here, I’m gaining very technical knowledge – not only about financial topics, but also about IT and management, among other things. It is a 360-degree experience.
