2016
Internship inception
17
Interns to date
The Investment Office offers paid part-time internships to University of Kentucky undergraduate students. Two distinct internship programs are available:
Traditional Internship
The primary internship is structured across two years with a student starting in the fall of their junior year and concluding in the spring of their senior year. This allows for intern staffing continuity for the Investment Office, and also allows for the student to learn from an upperclassman in their first year of the internship, and then to gain training and mentorship experience in their second year.
Summer Internship
Recognizing the need for students to obtain hands-on experience in their early years at UK, the Endowment has opened a summer internship targeting underclassmen students. Similar to the primary two-year internship, the role offers a way for students to interact directly with the UK investment staff, develop financial writing and Microsoft Office skills, and participate in exercises crucial to the ongoing management of the portfolio.
Real-World Experience
Standing at over $2.5 billion, the UK Endowment relies on many different professionals for its management and success. Our endowment interns have a front-row seat to the many groups that work on the portfolio. These include internal UK staff, external money managers across various asset classes, and UK’s investment consultant, among others. Student interns are exposed to manager diligence and selection, investment and portfolio monitoring, peer benchmarking, and market commentary and review. Given the fast moving and dynamic nature of the investment industry, ad-hoc projects and research are common.
How do I apply?
Recruitment for the endowment internship is competitive and is expected to occur between January and March. The internship is targeted toward students interested in exploring endowment and/or investment management career paths.
Students majoring in finance, economics, and/or accounting most often have the needed educational background to be successful in the internship. Critical skills include timeliness, accuracy, accountability, attention to detail, organization, and a proactive and collegial communication style.
Select candidates are extended an interview invitation that is conducted with all full-time staff members of the UK investment office. We suggest that applicants review the UK Endowment website and familiarize themselves with endowment investing ahead of their interview. Questions are welcome and encouraged during the interview, both about the role and the broader industry.
Each year, typically in January or February, the endowment internship job posting and instructions for applying can be found on the Handshake platform through the Stuckert Career Center.
Current UK Endowment Interns
Kate Carris
Kate Carris is a Senior at the University of Kentucky studying Finance and Accounting. In addition to her work with the Endowment, Kate also has experience as an intern with Dean Dorton Wildcat Advisory Group and serves as a tour guide with the University of Kentucky Visitor Center. Kate is highly involved on campus, maintaining active status in the Wall Street Scholars and Global Scholars programs. Kate is set to join Bain & Company in Chicago, Illinois in Summer 2026 as an Associate Consultant Intern.
Carson Vidra
Carson Vidra is a Junior at the University of Kentucky studying Finance, Accounting, and Economics. He has also worked as an M&A intern for Dean Dorton's Wildcat Advisory Group. Carson is involved on campus as a member of the Wall Street Scholars Program, Chicago Scholars, and is the co-chair of Gatton Select. Carson will join William Blair in Chicago in Summer 2027, as an Investment Banking Summer Analyst.
Past UK Endowment Interns
Past interns have successfully leveraged their experience into full-time careers, many of them in the investment management industry. A few of the firms our former interns have gone on to join are listed below:
What Our Interns Have Experienced
By far, the greatest lesson I learned throughout the internship was the importance of humility in investing. Of course everyone is hoping for great returns, but it is the character of the managers and the investment team during losses that speak the most. While sitting in meetings with external managers, I could see the direct impact honesty and accountability has on relationships. It became easier to discern between the dishonest managers and those who truly advocated for their investors. The investment team is also incredibly humble, despite their great performance year after year. Not only that, but the team warmly welcomes interns and creates an environment that promotes these themes of transparency and accountability through their willingness to share with students in the information sessions, in the Investor Committee meetings, and even day-to-day with the interns.
The three words I would use to describe the internship are insightful, refreshing, and fostering. I really enjoyed reading the quarterly manager letters from a niche group of hedge funds, allowing me to better understand the process behind their investments and gain exposure to non-traditional investing strategies and asset classes. Working at the Endowment Fund encouraged me to evaluate the markets, investments, deals, and companies from multiple different perspectives. I developed an understanding of the nuanced and rigorous manager selection process, which challenged me to think from the perspective of a Limited Partner. Throughout my time at the Endowment Fund, the whole office has been deeply committed to my growth as a student and young professional, providing countless opportunities from sitting in meetings with renowned investment firms to presenting in Investment Committee meetings for my undergrad Student Managed Investment Fund class. I am forever grateful for my time at the Endowment Fund.
It’s difficult to come up with just one thing that was the most useful to me. At the Endowment Fund, you are given the opportunity to work on so many different pieces. With the new educational series, I was able to take a deep dive into a few of our different Growth Equity managers, as well as source new managers to potentially partner with in the future. With the summary of manager letters, I’m given access to some of the most unbiased and educated views on the market that I’ve read, compared to the news that you see on a day-to-day basis. Throughout this semester, I’ve been able to use AI to help make some of our workstreams more efficient, which has made me much better in those programs. I would recommend the Endowment Fund internship program to anyone. There couldn’t be a better internship program on campus.
I really enjoyed a front row view into the minds of so many reputable and impressive asset managers. Over the course of the internship, I was able to read hundreds of manager letters, seeing first hand their thought process and insight into their investment decisions. I also learned a great deal from UK’s investment team and greatly valued not only their experience and financial insight, but also their mentorship over the past two years. I gained exposure to many different industries and asset classes, distilled opinions, and have been able to develop my own perspective on financial markets. I couldn't be more grateful for the unique opportunities and experience working at the Endowment has provided me!
The biggest overlap from the internship and the Endowment was being able to see how concepts learned in class, such as how investments are evaluated, translates into the “real world” of asset management. I remember one time a position I assessed for class was also evaluated by a manager, and it was really interesting to see how a finance professional approached evaluating the same thing I did. It helped me to understand how finance professionals think outside of an academic setting.
Interning with University of Kentucky’s Endowment has been a terrific experience and certainly the best internship on UK’s campus, in my opinion. During my time as an intern, I was exposed to many projects, meetings, and daily tasks that have better prepared me for a career in finance. I would say the most useful part of the internship was the opportunity to improve my professional skills in a supportive environment. The office is a friendly environment in which I was able to connect well with the investment team and learn from their experience in the field. The use of different programs in my various tasks improved my efficiency in Excel as well as other commonly-used programs. I also gained a much better understanding of the broader investment universe in terms of different asset classes and portfolio construction. Overall, I could not ask for a better experience with UK’s Endowment as I gained many skills and experiences that will benefit me in my career in finance.
The internship was a great experience for me. Most people think “investing” only involves the stock market, but the hundreds of management letters I had the opportunity to read proved otherwise. You can invest in anything from music royalties to water infrastructure to Apple.
My favorite project during the internship was the monthly market commentary that the interns would create for the University’s Investment Committee. Each month, we were asked to create a one-page review of what transpired throughout the global economy during the prior month. We would analyze how multiple indexes performed, and were asked to provide thorough research and commentary as to why these indices performed well or poorly. This ongoing project required us to constantly examine the equity, fixed income, and alternative investment markets, which in turn inspired me to strive to grasp the dynamics of the aforementioned markets’ dynamics. I learned endless new financial terms and topics by reading published reports that were made available to us by the Endowment. Finally, the internship enabled me to hone my researching, reading, and professional writing skills, which benefited me both in the classroom and in my career. It solidified in my mind that Finance was passion that I wanted to pursue as a career. I am forever grateful for my time spent interning at the University of Kentucky’s Endowment Office, and I know all future interns will cherish the experience as much as I did.
The ability to analyze the current economic environment and adapt to new and unprecedented conditions is invaluable in understanding the next level of financial proficiency, beyond what can be read in a book or online article. The Endowment allows for the unique opportunity to not only grow your intellectual curiosity, but to do so while learning from the best in the industry and acting as an integral part of the team with a wide array of responsibility.
My experience at the Investment Office gave me an inside look into institutional investing through access to research and insights from a variety of investment managers, which has provided helpful perspectives in my roles in investment banking and private equity.
The opportunity to work with the UK Endowment was one of the most beneficial opportunities of my undergrad experience. Notably, the ability to meet with or review managers across so many asset classes provided the chance to better understand the opportunities available in the institutional asset management space very early in my career development.
The internship with the UK Endowment provided a unique, on campus experience that allows students the opportunity to apply financial concepts learned in the classroom to a real world setting. The internship opens your eyes to how large the investing universe is and introduces you to a wide variety of asset classes that may not be covered in depth throughout your coursework. Getting up to speed on a variety of investment managers and their processes while gaining experience in portfolio monitoring and benchmarking was invaluable experience as I began my career.