During my summer internship, I was placed on a team tasked with devising strategies to improve gross margin performance in Target's online business. Specifically, I uncovered opportunities for an estimated $3 million in gross margin improvement in the critical hardlines category.

In my first position out of college, I worked at a $300 million long/short hedge fund, Slater Capital. We focused on fundamental analysis, generally from a value perspective, with a fairly strong long bias. I developed and executed investment ideas primarily in the consumer sector—retail, restaurants, media, gaming, consumer products— as well as select special situations and non-public investments.After the demise of Madoff Investments in early 2009, I returned to Slater Capital in a similar capacity.

In order to gain direct responsibility for a portfolio's PNL, I joined the proprietary trading desk at Madoff Investments in July of 2008. I managed a $10 million carve-out of the firm's $50 million consumer discretionary portfolio. Over the next six months, I implemented a deep-value, balance-sheet oriented investment strategy within the context of a neutral exposure portfolio. During the financial crisis of late 2008, this strategy was quite successful.After the demise of Madoff due to the fraud that took part in the Investment Advisory, I returned to Slater Capital in an analyst and trading role.