Ngoc Pham
Sweef Capital Interns Stories Series
At Sweef Capital, our internships reflect our commitment to building inclusive and resilient economies through impact investing. Our interns are typically students or recent graduates who bring diverse perspectives and skillsets to advancing gender equity, climate action, and sustainable growth across Southeast Asia.
Through these internships, we support young talent at the start of their careers, equipping them with the tools, exposure, and mindset to become thoughtful leaders in the impact ecosystem.
In this series, we spotlight our interns and their journeys.
1. Tell us a bit about your background and interests.
I am currently a Business Management student at Singapore Management University, majoring in Finance with a track in Sustainable Finance.
My interests are mainly centered around impact. I am interested in how businesses can grow while creating better outcomes for people, communities, and the environment. Over time, this has made me increasingly curious about impact investing, gender equality, and climate action, especially in Southeast Asia, where businesses can play an important role in supporting inclusive and sustainable growth.
2. What made you join the Sweef Capital internship program, and how did your background and interests connect to its mission?
I joined Sweef Capital because I wanted to understand how impact works in practice, especially in a private capital context. Before the internship, I had learned about sustainable finance in school, but I wanted to see how investors actually assess companies, think about impact, and make decisions in real business situations.
Sweef Capital’s mission felt especially meaningful to me because of its focus on gender equality, climate action, and inclusive growth in Southeast Asia. Coming from Vietnam, I have seen both the tremendous potential there is in emerging markets and the challenges that come with uneven access to capital, resources, and opportunities. This made me interested in learning how investment can support businesses that grow responsibly while creating broader benefits for society.
3. Can you describe a project or initiative you’ve worked on that relates to impact investing, gender equality, or climate action?
During my internship at Sweef Capital, I supported impact investing initiatives and climate-related due diligence. This involved helping the team understand companies, markets, and sustainability-related considerations more clearly.
What I found particularly meaningful was that the work was not only about whether a business could grow, but also about how it grows. I learned to think more carefully about questions such as whether a company’s growth model is inclusive, whether its operations are sustainable, and whether it can create positive outcomes for stakeholders beyond shareholders.
This experience helped me understand impact in a more practical way. It showed me that impact is not just a statement or a separate section in a report, but something that needs to be considered together with the company’s business model, risks, operations, and long-term strategy.
4. What hands-on experiences or mentorship at Sweef Capital have been most influential for your professional growth?
One of the most influential parts of my internship was the opportunity to work across both the investment and impact sides of a deal. I was very grateful that my supervisor trusted me to take ownership of meaningful work, even though I was still learning.
During the internship, I was involved in a range of tasks, from supporting the drafting of investment memos and preparing fundraising materials to assisting with impact due diligence. These experiences helped me understand that impact investing is not simply about evaluating financial performance or impact outcomes separately, but about bringing both perspectives together in a structured and thoughtful way.
The mentorship I received was also very significant to my growth. My supervisor guided me patiently throughout the process and helped me understand how to approach tasks more clearly, ask better questions, and take more ownership of my work. That trust and guidance made the internship especially valuable to me.
5. Could you share an example of a challenge you faced during your internship, and how guidance from mentors or peers shaped your approach?
The biggest challenge for me was my lack of prior experience. When I first joined Sweef Capital, I did not have much practical knowledge of how private equity worked, especially in the context of impact investing. I had learned about finance and sustainable finance in school, but applying that knowledge in a real investment environment was very different.
At the beginning, I sometimes found it challenging to understand the full context behind a deal or to know what details were most important. However, my supervisor was very kind and patient in guiding me through the process. The rest of the Sweef Capital team were also very supportive, which made it easier for me to ask questions, learn from feedback, and gradually build more confidence.
This experience taught me that it is okay not to know everything at the start, as long as I am willing to learn, take feedback seriously, and keep improving. Over time, I became more comfortable with the work and more confident in contributing to the team.
6. In what ways has this internship shaped your perspective on impact investing, entrepreneurship, or your future career path?
This internship strengthened my interest in impact even further, particularly in understanding how private capital can be used to create meaningful change. Before joining Sweef Capital, I was already interested in sustainable finance, but this experience helped me see more clearly how impact investing works in practice.
It also reinforced my belief that companies can do well by doing good. I learned that impact investing does not necessarily mean forgoing financial returns. Instead, strong financial performance and meaningful impact can support one another when businesses are built with the right model, values, and long-term strategy.
This was one of the most meaningful lessons I took away from the internship. It helped me see impact investing not as a compromise between profit and purpose, but as a way to support businesses that are both commercially strong and socially or environmentally valuable.
7. How do you plan to apply the skills and knowledge gained at Sweef Capital in your next steps?
Following this internship, I hope to continue pursuing my interest in impact. The experience taught me to think more carefully about how businesses create value, not only financially, but also for people, communities, and the environment.
I also learned the importance of being structured, analytical, and thoughtful when assessing a business or investment opportunity. Even when the work is impact-driven, it still requires discipline, clarity, and a strong understanding of the business context.
In my next steps, I hope to apply this mindset by continuing to contribute to work that creates meaningful outcomes. More broadly, I hope to support impact-oriented businesses and initiatives, especially in emerging markets where inclusive and sustainable growth remains very important.
8. Fun question: If your internship at Sweef Capital were a cơm tấm order, what would it be and why?
If my internship at Sweef Capital were a cơm tấm order, it would be cơm tấm sườn bì chả (broken rice with grilled pork chop, pork skin and egg cake).
For me, cơm tấm sườn bì chả has many different components, and that reflects my internship experience very well. I had a steep learning curve and was exposed to many different types of work. Throughout the internship, I was grateful to receive guidance, trust, and the opportunity to be meaningfully involved in the team’s work, which helped me grow a lot.