CJ Brooks '10
RenMax Week 6 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
Wow it is already the end of the sixth week and I have no idea where the time has gone! This weekend was fun as I had the opportunity to hang out with Maria, her cousin, and the three Juans. It is so funny, there is this ride in a little theme park called the Mambo. It basically spins, stops, and rocks back and forth while “Cumbia” plays in the background. It is crazy because people stand up and dance while this thing is spinning!( This includes Juan Manuel who has proclaimed himself the best at it). Whenever we hang out we usually end the night with a ride on the mambo and it is always a blast!
As for the work week it was particularly short as we had Monday off leaving only four actual work days. However, well rested and relaxed the remainder of the week progressed relatively well. I stayed busy with the usual modification of the daily reports and worked on a few projects. The first project I worked on was updating a cash flow and balance sheet document. I stopped half way through that to work on a more high priority task, which involved manipulating a large document tied to one of the real estate development projects. When I completed that I went back and finished the other task I had at hand. There were a sprinkling of other little tasks that I completed during the week as well, such as updating the format of a document. I am currently working on a monthly report to stockholders that another intern from Germany started and I will be enhancing.
One interesting opportunity I had this week was to have a brief conversation with one of the managing partners in the fund Frank Cherry who is visiting here from the big apple! It was really cool because he has visited Cornell before, which made me realize how small the world is. Even more interesting was the fact that before moving back to the states he had lived and worked many years in Brazil. Although our conversation was brief I hope to get another chance to speak with him soon.
I also had fun during the week as well! The highlight of the week was when some of us from work went to the apartment of Luciana and had dinner. Dinner was great and the games we played after were super fun. Let me tell you I have never had so much fun playing Pictionary! It was boys against girls and the heat was on! We won of course but it was by some kind of miracle (or a little cheating) as the game was in Spanish and I wasn’t of much help. We also played a card game and I literally thought someone was going to get killed! It involved grabbing a spoon and if you didn’t get one of them then you lost, at one point Maria literally dove across the room to get one!
That is all I have to report this week. I am looking forward to tonight as some of my coworkers and I will be going out for chivitos! (Which if I haven’t already explained is typical food of Uruguay). I am already preparing my stomach as they said they were ordering me the “T.N.T” which is double everything! Till next week!
RenMax Week 5 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
Last week I realized that Uruguay is my temporary home and this past weekend I fell in love with it. As I mentioned in my last post I took a weekend trip to Punta del Este which is a resort town west of Montevideo. Although it was lacking its normal A-list celebrity visitors due to off season Punta del Este was amazing. I spent the whole weekend relaxing on the beach and swimming in the ocean!! I now am sporting the darkest tan I have had in quite some time. In addition to Punta del Este I also visited Jose Ignacio which since I rented a car was only a short drive. This small town was absolutely breathtaking and makes the list right beside the emerald coast as one of the best beaches I have ever visited.
Besides just the weekend being exciting the work week was also full of stuff to do and I seemed more busy than usual. A new twist was given to my usual updating of the daily market reports as I was charged with the task of giving it a new format. Due to the fact that these reports have been in the past mostly utilized for internal purposes they have been created in such a way that is functional but not necessarily appealing. With the launch of the new fund, however, many of these daily reports are going to start becoming available to clients and thusly need a professional appearance. It took me a little while to structure the first one but after I created that one it was easy to apply the same format to the others. From a marketing standpoint I think that unifying the format of the documents helps to showcase the qualities that RenMax all ready posses some of which are organization and professionalism.
In the same vein I also got to work on a price list for a real estate project that we are working on, a spreadsheet that is customized for customer visits, and cash flow/balance sheet spreadsheets. Most of these were not assigned till very recently so I will have more to report on them next week.
Well I am going to go. This weekend will hopefully prove to be another adventure! We have Monday off for “Desembarco de los 33 Orientales” which is the mayflower landing in Plymouth rock and also is the independence day of Uruguay. With the extra time off I am thinking about going to Colonia which is a small town in Uruguay that is supposed to be “untouched by time”. So till next time “hasta luego”!
RenMax Week 4 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
It’s good to be home! This is the phrase I thought to myself after I returned back to Montevideo having had a fun and exciting four day excursion to Buenos Aires. This thought was a little surprising to me as when I thought it, I came to the realization that I no longer feel like a visitor to Montevideo but instead a resident. No matter how temporary it may be Montevideo is indeed home.
Returning to work on Monday was little hard as the weekend left me tired from all the traveling, site seeing, and shopping that I had done In Buenos Aires. After a few shots of espresso the day and the rest of the week progressed with a little more vigor. As always I continued my daily updating of the financial documents. I am getting faster and faster at completing them which is good as it frees up more of the morning for other projects. In order to help me streamline the process I have created a couple of templates that make data collection easier. As much of the data that I am looking for everyday comes from different databases and websites it helps having something to keep the information organized!
Having completed the track record that I had worked on last week I moved on to a new project which was the creation of a statement of account. As RenMax is moving forward with its new fund it is going to need a variety of different statements that help keep investors informed. One such form was the track record but even more importantly is the statement of account which shows the investor how his money is being spent and where he is making his returns. Building on one of the portfolio documents I created a form that gives a snapshot of the portfolio showing and investor his diversification by financial instrument, currency, and in addition lists the investments. I liked this task as it mixes finance and data management with marketing which has been the focus of my last two internships.
That is all I have to report to on from this last work week. I am very excited however for the weekend because I am travelling to Punta del Este! And as If the fact that I get to go to lay on the beach all weekend wasn’t exciting enough, I also get to drive for the first time in a month!!! I don’t know why but I think that having a car is the thing I miss most about the states.
RenMax Week 3 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
This week was a short one as we have Thursday and Friday off in observance of the holy week. Although it was short it wasn’t lacking in content as I took a “fieldtrip” on Tuesday to the blueberry farm. It was really cool to get a sense of the operation there. Although I haven’t really had any direct involvement in this project, I have had exposure to it through various Berry Center sponsored activities. If you would like to read more about Cornell’s involvement with the blueberry farm Click Here. First I was given a tour of the packaging facility and the machines that make sorting and weighing an easier task. After viewing the packing house we drove around to the assorted fields that make up the operation. There were many different varieties and different plots had different plant dates so there was a range in the size and characteristics of the crop. Overall it was an amazingly peaceful experience as the birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and the sky was blue.
Other activities during the week included the continuation of the track record I mentioned last week. This project saw some bumps as there was a lack of some necessary documents. I also continued to conduct daily monitoring of the market through the creation of the daily briefs.
Well that concludes the post for this week. I am super excited about the long weekend! Since I have the extra time I am travelling to Buenos Aires. Everyone here says that it is a great place and should be full of hustle and bustle as many people travel there during this four day weekend.
RenMax Week 2 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
Well it is already the end of week two and time is seeming to fly by! This week was cool as I began to feel really at home in the office and with some of the daily tasks I am responsible for. I spent a large portion of my week working on a financial track record that will help to chart the performance of some of RenMax’s largest clients. Eventually this form will be adapted so that it shows RenMax’s overall performance. Upon semi-completing a first draft it was decided that it needed to include different information, so this will be a project that carries over to next week.
This week also marked my takeover of daily brief creation. As stated last blog this was a task that was previously done by another intern/my teacher the first few days, however she successfully completed her internship this week .Thusly the responsibility shifted to me.
In addition to these things I also helped out a lot with the fund creation project. For the most part this consisted of evaluating and correcting various PowerPoint’s and briefs that focus on marketing different properties. It is funny that me being an American is actually a benefit in this task as Pablo pointed out that some of these projects are targeted at American investors, thusly me checking these things from an American mindset is a value added.
Besides just business I also had some fun outside the office this week. Monday many of the people from the office met at Juan Manuel’s apartment where we had a fondue party on the roof. It was so fun! It was the first time I had fondue and it defiantly won’t be the last! Ooh and the desert was AMAZING! Besides eating the view was also remarkable, it was cool getting to see the city at night from such a high vantage point.
Well the weekend is calling and I am not going to keep it waiting any longer. I am very thrilled as tonight I will have dinner with Pablo Sitjar, who in case I haven’t mentioned is the creator of RenMax. It should be a great time!
RenMax Week 1 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
My trip to Montevideo began with a massive bang as Murphy’s Law reared its ugly head. Sitting at my gate waiting for my plane to board something made me check my bag for my wallet, surprise surprise it wasn’t there. As I made this revelation the plane began to board and it was too late to go back and look for it. As I boarded I thought about how terrible this was going to be, going to a foreign country with absolutely no money and no way to get any. Luckily though a few minutes later the flight attendant tapped me on the shoulder and told me that they found it. With a crisis avoided and a long, cramped flight behind me I arrived in Montevideo and was greeted by the warm South American sun. After surviving the frozen tundra that has been Iowa the last few months, I almost cried tears of joy as the warmth rushed over me. The rest of the weekend was spent resting, unpacking and getting to know the area around my apartment.
Monday began the first day of my internship. I found my way there by cab and enjoyed seeing some sites by car on the way in. The office is located in a rather cool part of town and since I had about an hour before I was scheduled to arrive I walked around and viewed the large statue of Artigas. (See picture). After walking my nerves off I went in the office and was greeted by Juan Rendueles and Juan Manuel who gave me a brief introduction into what finance mechanisms RenMax operates and some of the areas I might be helpful in.
One such area is creating and updating daily reports that are used by the trading desk as well as the clients of RenMax. To learn how to create these reports I was introduced to another intern Marianne. Marianne in the time she had left for the day showed me the various documents that I will soon be responsible for. They include things like a Informe Diario (daily brief), Rendimiento Local Mercado, as well as others. Marianne showed me the many places that I would need to look for the new up to date information and what needed to be refreshed. She was super nice and patient and helped me as I took notes. After having a nice lunch with some of my coworkers I spent the rest of the day introducing myself to the Montevidean economy and fixed income investing by reading articles and books that Juan had found for me.
In the middle of the week consisted of easing myself into the report creation process by making reports alongside Marianne. After I completed my version of the document she would then check my version to ensure that there were no errors. I will be taking this task over completely at the end of the next week.
At the end of the week I had a meeting with Juan and Juan Manuel to discuss a new endeavor that RenMax and its larger parent are initiating. This project is a new fund that is in the works, the two Juans told me that I was going to help in creating and marketing this new fund and we discussed where I could be of assistance. During the rest of the week my work on this project consisted of reading and familiarizing myself with the initial prospectus, reading and polishing PowerPoint materials that will be presented to investors, and later on I will be reviewing the structures of similar funds.