Derivatives - Do iBankers need to understand derivatives?

This is going to sound very ignorant (especially considering I got through any interviews), but do IBankers (IBD) need to understand derivatives? I realised that the lecture after my last lecture on Mondays is a final year Finance & Accounting course called Derivatives. I've been sitting in on these lectures this term (i know, very sneaky....hehe). It's the only way I can get any intro to finance, so I don't really care whether it's needed for IBD, but I can't figure out whether it might come in handy. I'm also reading The Money Machine - How The City Works, by Philip Coggan, which is quite an interesting read. Again, probably not directly relevant, but the more general knowledge, the better, right?

So, do IBD folks ever do anything with derivatives (must sound really stupid at the moment....).

Cheers.

9 Comments
 

yes...,for example if you pitching a bond issuance, you may get slides from the corporate derivatives ppl to explain some hedging ideas. they'll do most of the talking/explaining, and the concepts aren't that hard if explained properly.

 

agree with Jimbo. I've been in a deal where the derivatvies solutions gp within IBD proposed using derivatives to hedge currency risk....it was a bond issuance transaction. wud be useful if u understand the basics...too much detail may not be necessaryfor IBD...

although if u get proficient with it...then u can mess with those badass traders/sales guys

 

"although if u get proficient with it...then u can mess with those badass traders/sales guys "

riiight.... i had a banking friend tell me he did his first swap back in the day, pretty standard bermudan callable, didn't understand the first thing about it.

 

Oh, that sounds pretty interesting, actually. I guess a bank wants to offer all its knowledge and experience and services in one. Can't pitch a bond issuance without some risk management.

So, do bankers usually get slides from all sorts of places, and then just do their best to explain what in the world is going on?

Is banking really about having a working understanding about "everything", and being able to explain any concept in a pitch? No need for really, really indepth understanding, but the more you know, the better you sound....that the idea?

 

in my experience bankers do not really understand derivatives in any kind of in depth sense. nor do they need to. they know what the price is, but they wouldn't know how to hedge a bermudan option for instance. or even why it's called a bermudan.

now i've never been on an ibanking pitch, but usually the corp derivs sales guys will go with them if things need to be explained.

 

it's fine, feel free to pm...the rate environment is very tough right now for that segment, but its a good place to learn the biz depending on what the ppl in the group are like.

 
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