Darla Moore School of Business

"Coming in as a sophomore to the program, I was unsure what to expect from the experience, but eager and motivated to work with the team at Relational Wealth. Upon speaking with Gabriel, I was blown away by how much he cares about the experience of everyone on the team, especially the interns, and he works tirelessly to foster a welcoming and enjoyable work environment.

The program offers a wide variety of hard and soft skill trainings to prepare the interns for whatever future roles and career paths they plan to pursue. It has been an invaluable experience to intern at Relational Wealth and the program can help any aspiring young professional develop important skills for the financial industry!"

“Coming into the Relational Wealth Management office on the first day, I was a bit anxious. However, Gabriel introduced himself to all the interns and it became clear that he deeply cared about everyone’s success. Gabriel works tirelessly to make sure all the interns communicate and network with one another, while managing to work around busy academic schedules.

Over the course of the internship, I learned many skills that are useful in any business-related career. The interns learned and completed training in financial advisor applications, such as: E-Money, Morningstar, and Docuspace. We gained knowledge of certain market sectors, securities, and the importance of having diversification in assets. My favorite task received was to create conservative growth models to generate the highest possible returns. By turning it into a friendly competition among the interns, Gabriel was able to get us to put our best efforts forward. Aside from learning a wide variety of software programs, I improved my soft skills and networked with professionals in the finance field. My time at Relational Wealth Management was crucial in my development as a young professional, and I cannot wait to take the lessons and skills I learned and apply them to my next position!”

"My time at Relational Wealth was full of learning.  I improved and gained skills in so many new areas.  In particular, I spent a lot of time polishing up on my communication and relationship-building skills, both of which will help me in the future. 

At Relational, I developed sales skills and broadened my ability to work with spreadsheets.  I learned more about Modern Portfolio Theory and had the chance to design several of my own portfolios and add them to the company system.  The Moore School prepared me with a lot of the hard skills I needed to hit the ground running at Relational, but it was here that I picked up the soft skills that will carry my career forward." 

"Over a few months working with Gabe and the other interns, I made strides in both my personal and professional skills. Gabe challenged me to pursue personal growth through educational lectures and discussions that opened my mind to multiple different life and business philosophies. A wide variety of skillsets are required to meet the dynamic workflow meaning that everyday I could expect a new task. The internship was not exactly what I expected, but in the best way possible."

"Working alongside Gabriel and the entire Relational Wealth Management team was incredible. I not only gained clarity on the tasks surrounding a financial advisor but also received professional and personal advice that I will be able to use throughout my entire career. These valuable lessons and skills I developed in the four months of the internship program will be a great asset to me in my future work environment. I am now confident in my ability to lead with passion and determination, while still being able to listen to others consciously and selflessly. "

"From cold calls to Morningstar, the Relational Wealth internship will challenge you to grow your technical skills as well as your soft skills. I left this internship more confident in my ability to communicate with people in my personal life and potential clients as well as gaining some insight on the personal wealth management industry. Gabriel also did a fantastic job adjusting the internship to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. "

"My time interning with Waddell & Reed provided me with valuable experience and knowledge about the financial services industry. I learned about a lot of the elements that financial advisors do and manage on a day-to-day basis. More importantly I became a better communicator as well. Gabriel Penfield was a great person to work with and taught me that in the financial advisor business, helping people and doing the right thing should come before making money for yourself."

"From the first moments of starting my time as an intern at Relational Wealth I felt like my position had value. Before this, I had not had any internship experience. I was going into my senior year so this, along with my lack of experience, made my prospects look bleak. Luckily, Gabriel Penfield saw some value in me and gave me the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience working in a professional environment. During my time at the internship I learned about modern portfolio theory, nonviolent communication, and allocating a client’s funds properly. I’m happy to say that my experience as an intern provided me with large components of information on working in the Finance Field, as well as reinvigorating my passion for what I’ve been learning so long in school.

The schedule I worked was extremely flexible but still demanding enough to be engaging. Most importantly, I was provided the opportunity to network with some of his other former intern and friends who have already established themselves in the business world. I would encourage any student regardless of grade level to apply for the Internship position at Relational Wealth."

"When you graduate from college it is important to have challenging and valuable work and internship experiences under your belt, and my experience at Relational Wealth Management was exactly that. This internship was unlike many internships that college students end up taking. We weren't sitting on the phone all day or doing menial tasks. We were actually challenged to think for ourselves and solve problems that could be difficult at times. My favorite task was when we had to research and build mock portfolios that maximized client portfolio growth all the while taking risk into account. Along with that, we learned the ins and outs of what goes on in the daily life of a licensed financial advisor. Our group of interns learned so much information ranging from portfolio management programs, to how to obtain and keep clients.

Not only did we learn about wealth management, but we were able to learn useful techniques like the Wolf of Wall Street Sales process and Non-Violent Communication that can be used for the rest of our professional careers. Over the course of the internship the interns were able to collaborate and compete on projects and have interesting discussions. A lot of days were fun and we had some good laughs. Overall I found this internship to be a huge resume booster, but more importantly I left it feeling more knowledgeable in finance and more confident as a person."

"My experience at Relational Wealth Management was transformative. Not only did I learn more about the wealth management industry, but I also learned the skills necessary to make long lasting connections- both in the professional world and outside."

"The Relational Wealth Management Internship experience is second to none. It provides both in-depth training and hands-on experience in a plethora of topics. At the beginning of the internship, there was a large emphasis on training in highly technical programs used within the world of finance. However, soon after I was sprung into completing real projects for real clients and began to apply and refine all the knowledge I had gained from training. I also developed a considerable understanding of both how Relational Wealth Management and the wealth management industry as a whole operate.

All throughout the internship I was highly engaged in personal development and improving my soft skills, examples being how to best communicate with clients or how to work effectively on a team. While these skills are very useful in a finance career, I even found them helpful in my own personal relationships. Ultimately, Relational Wealth Management puts the intern first and tries to provide them with the most valuable experience possible."

"Over the course of the semester I learned not only financial lessons but also gained invaluable life lessons about moving on from this chapter of my life and into the next one.

Through the occupation I learned the importance of having proper diversification in assets and how that relates to a given investors aggressiveness when it comes to accumulating funds. Additionally, I was able to gather knowledge about certain market sectors and securities that I previously did not have a solid understanding of.

The use of our collaborative documents to keep things organized allowed me to gain practical experience working with spreadsheets in areas such as applying filters to large data sets and manipulating cell functions.

Aside from the business aspect, I learned about the reality of what it would be like to work as an advisor and about the relationships essential to succeeding in a position of this nature. Gabriel was able to uncover thoughts about my future and the considerations I would be required to deal with on a daily basis after graduation.

In addition, understanding his perspectives resulted with a change in my own. He encouraged thinking and challenged me to think in different ways than I had before."