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Some athletes head off to the islands, other spend time putting together record labels, but for Panthers receiver Steve Smith, he's been spending his offseason as an intern. For the last few years, Smith has garnered a heavy interest in the world of financial planners. He's been studying the ins and outs of the industry and in an interview with the Charlotte Observer, he said that his current offseason job as an intern with investment firm Morgan Stanley has been a huge learning experience."I wanted to absorb all I could," Smith told the Charlotte Observer. "My wife (Angie) said it consumed me. I just wanted to feed my appetite for the knowledge of what a financial planner does, not necessarily from the investor's standpoint, but more for the fundamentals of it." Smith is actually a Morgan Stanley client and approached local vice president Derek Copeland if he could get down. Smith works two days a week in the office and even went to the New York Stock Exchange last month to meet with some of the company's executives. Smith is basically going through the same program that any new financial planner has to go through.
"It's a pretty tough class," Copeland said. "At the end, he has to give a presentation to a board, like a mock client presentation and run through his financial plan, speak to hypothetical clients. The board gives you a pass or fail. There's not many well-known athletes that put on a business suit in the offseason, but people around the office really respect him. It's kind of funny. He's a large client and he's going through the internship program. Steve is an intense guy and he brings that same level of intensity into his work. It's been fun to see."
Looks like Smith is already gearing up for his post-NFL career. Not a bad choice.
Comments: (5)
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By: Demillicent on 5/25/2008 8:08PM
That's good news. It gives me great pleasure to see a young person take an interest in something so vital to fiscal survival. I hope he keeps a keen interest in that field. That's an area that so many young people seem to be totally ifnorant of.
Having money is great. But knowing how to manage money is more important. We have seen so many rich and famous people go bankrupt due to a lack of knowledge of how to manage their finances.
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By: JAMES on 5/24/2008 3:05PM
GOOD JOB STEVE
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By: ETB on 5/24/2008 9:02PM
Why are there so many comments in other stories that are negative, but here we have a black athlete doing very well and we have one comment of support so far? Yea, good job Steve.
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By: rickcwell on 5/25/2008 12:50PM
Great job Steve. Class act.
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By: Jack Sutherland on 5/26/2008 11:27PM
I have been a huge Smitty fan since the beginning of his career, and let me tell you this guy is one of a kind! He came into the league looking like the typical cocky know-it-all NFL rookie... fighting with teammates, and complaining that he was selected too low in the draft. But somehow he learned to take a step back and channel that aggressiveness into pure determination on the field. Now we know that attitude was not just another spoiled rookie, this was a guy who was determined to whatever to win.
Today he is an inspiration to the entire city of Charlotte, NC. We have watched him make one handed catches, break 5 tackles at once, lead Carolina to two championship games, have a stomach virus on Sat and still play the entire game on Sunday. In the off season when other players are out partying, he is toting his family around in the mini-van. He takes 100's of inner city children to theme parks, will be the last one at a charity event one night and still be the first at practice the next morning. All these things while playing at a high level.
To learn that instead of throwing his money away like other athletes do, that he is learning, not just how to invest it... but how to be an investor, was no surprise. This guy has his act together. Don't be surprise if this guy owns Morgan Stanley one day... or maybe the Smitty firm!
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