Interns do real, supervised work: research that feeds actual client and firm decisions, preparation for client meetings, firm operations, and — with the client's permission — sitting in on plan reviews to see the profession up close. What they never do is give advice, solicit clients, or work unsupervised: every intern task runs under the firm's compliance program.
The work interns own
Research that gets used
Fund and fee comparisons, retirement plan provider research, CalSavers rule changes, background for education pages like the ones on this site. It's assigned because the firm needs it, and it gets read, challenged and used — which is how you learn.
Meeting preparation
Assembling the file before a client review: account summaries, checklists, the questions that need answering. The adviser walks in prepared partly because an intern did the prep — under review, with feedback.
Sitting in, with permission
Interns observe real plan reviews and client meetings only when the client has agreed in advance. Permission is asked before the meeting, never during it, and no is always respected without explanation.
Operations of a real RIA
How accounts get opened, how billing is calculated and disclosed, how records are kept for the regulator. Unglamorous, and exactly the machinery nobody teaches in class.
What interns never do
- No client advice. Interns are not licensed and do not advise anyone — not clients, not prospects, not "just this once." Recommending investments requires registration as an investment adviser representative, which comes later on the path, after the Series 65.
- No solicitation. Interns don't pitch the firm, cold-call, or recruit clients from their own families and communities. That line protects the intern as much as the public.
- No unsupervised client contact and no handling of client funds. Everything client-adjacent runs through a licensed, supervised channel.
Why the bright lines are the point. A registered investment adviser operates under a compliance program, and interns work inside it from day one — supervised work product, defined boundaries, documented training. Learning where the lines are, and why regulators drew them, is not a limitation on the internship. It's half the education.
What you leave with
A worked understanding of how a fiduciary firm actually runs, work product you contributed to, a mentor who can speak concretely about what you did, and a clear answer to the only question that matters at this stage: is this profession yours? If it is, the path continues — analyst, associate, and partner-track.
Ready to do real work?
The application is one short piece of writing. Resume optional.