Name: Brooks Young
Class Year: 2019
Title: Leveraged Credit Analyst – High Yield
Organization Name: Hartford Investment Management Company (HIMCO)
1. In one sentence, what does your job entail?
My team analyzes high yield investment opportunities across companies’ capital structures to achieve excess returns for our portfolio clients.
2. What planned and unplanned events connected you to your industry and your first employer after Holy Cross? How did you learn/decide it was a good fit?
Through Holy Cross (and with help from the career center!), I was fortunate to participate in multiple summer internships across the financial services spectrum that allowed me to sculpt and narrow down my interests. When assessing full-time opportunities, I put a premium on finding a high-quality learning experience where I would be able to develop a strong skill-set. I was introduced to HIMCO through networking, and once I met the credit team, I was convinced it would be a great learning opportunity.
3. What were you involved in when you were on campus?
My most active role on campus was being a peer career assistant(PCA) in the Center for Career Development.
4. What was your major and how did it affect your career decisions?
I was an economics major, which enabled me the platform to think about many different career opportunities from an economist’s lens. Classes like Monetary Theory and Industrial Organization & Public Policy had a profound impact on my interest in the financial services industry.
5. What are one or two skills that you developed at Holy Cross that you use in your work?
It may be cliché at this point to say, but communication is vital to my work, and I believe the human capital skills I gained at Holy Cross give me a leg up every day. Whether it is interacting with my boss or presenting an investment idea to the group, the soft skills go a long way.
6. What advice do you have for students on campus today?
My advice is to be persistent and stay positive. I think this rings even truer now with the global pandemic. I am sure there are many of you feeling a bit lost, and it can be easy to get down on yourself when it feels like more doors are closing than they are opening. All it takes is one email/phone call/ coffee chat to open another door – so more you put into it, the more likely you are to get something out of it.
