Goldman FICC FX Structuring Strats

I got an email this morning saying I was selected for an interview with Goldman FICC FX Structuring Strats. I don't know how I got selected as I never applied for such a position, but since it's still GS and I don't have a job lined up yet obviously this is something worth pursuing.

My question then is what exactly does this group do?

I tried looking at the GS site, but their securities division is broken up into more specific desks and I can't find anything called 'structured strats.'

Is this a trading role or more of research/analytics?

How should I prepare for such an interview? (both for this first phone round and going into the future assuming I get through that.

Thanks in advance

 

Strats Structuring is generally a very complicated area of structuring. I believe it is structuring algorithms (the strategies being the algorithms) to take advantage of market situations. Something like this...

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&HL=en&q=UBS+carry+trade+strategy&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=40c8a906aa80097c

Go down to third result, this is what you would be working with

 
Inept Speculator:
pardon op for i dont mean to crash your topic but awm55 are you in fx desk for i want to throw fx forward contract question your way. Do let me know please. Thanks

i work on a structured rates desk

 
Inept Speculator:
pardon op for i dont mean to crash your topic but awm55 are you in fx desk for i want to throw fx forward contract question your way. Do let me know please. Thanks

What do you want to know?

Jack: They’re all former investment bankers who were laid off from that economic crisis that Nancy Pelosi caused. They have zero real world skills, but God they work hard. -30 Rock
 

This might be pretty obvious but people in structuring/strats roles all come from very quant backgrounds e.g. Ph.D/M.S. in Physics, CS, (at least at GS, but I'd expect the same at other places) since that's what the role demands. So I'd expect a fairly quantitative interview... Sorry if that's not much help.

I don't accept sacrifices and I don't make them. ... If ever the pleasure of one has to be bought by the pain of the other, there better be no trade at all. A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud.
 
ah:
This might be pretty obvious but people in structuring/strats roles all come from very quant backgrounds e.g. Ph.D/M.S. in Physics, CS, (at least at GS, but I'd expect the same at other places) since that's what the role demands. So I'd expect a fairly quantitative interview... Sorry if that's not much help.

This really is not true. No amount of schooling will prepare you to be a macro structurer. I know plenty of structurers with econ backgrounds. Strats is definitely more quant than macro structuring, I will give you that.

 
Best Response
awm55:
ah:
This might be pretty obvious but people in structuring/strats roles all come from very quant backgrounds e.g. Ph.D/M.S. in Physics, CS, (at least at GS, but I'd expect the same at other places) since that's what the role demands. So I'd expect a fairly quantitative interview... Sorry if that's not much help.

This really is not true. No amount of schooling will prepare you to be a macro structurer. I know plenty of structurers with econ backgrounds. Strats is definitely more quant than macro structuring, I will give you that.

haha thanks for the correction, understand that was probably a gross over-generalization. Just speaking from what I've seen, obviously very limited, but no one else was offering any input...

I don't accept sacrifices and I don't make them. ... If ever the pleasure of one has to be bought by the pain of the other, there better be no trade at all. A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud.
 

Not familiar with it personally. I have a good friend who works in GS credit and speaks very highly of the FICC program. Also know someone from my college who is starting FT in FICC after she graduates. I know it must be a top notch program, because she has 3 internships all at GS, the last one in S&T. She is incredibly bright and her mentor is in PE at GS.

but again, no personal knowledge. Just sharing anything I know about it.

 

Great program from discussion with friends. Of course, your experience is highly dependent upon the desk you get placed on. If you join FICC for the summer, my advice is to express your interest in IBD and try to set up shadowing days with the bankers. Then try to either spend an extra week in IBD after your FICC internship ends or set up an interview for FT before you leave NYC.

 

Hello Sportycricketer, I am exactly in the same situation, I am currently doing a master of mathematics at warwick university and I have applied for a summer internship at GS for the securities division, and I received an email for a first round interview for a quant/strats summer internship, so I wanted to know how you deal with this and how goes your interview and everything regarding this, because it was not your first choice of position.

Thank you very much for your help !! best regards, Stephano

 

Depends on desk and individual performance.... $100k to $150k base for a 1st year associate is realistic with Trading > Sales > Research.... Bonus can be anything really.... but $150k to $300k is the range for a performing associate.

 

I didn't apply to this program but now wish I had. Know someone who did it, intense program but you learn a lot (classes, group projects, job shadows).

If you do well you get an offer to come back as SA. I think they took 2 kids from my school? No idea how many applied, but I imagine it's extremely selective.

 

^ agree with the above. If you get an offer and you're in the rotational program then you'll have the chance to rotate onto desks within both FICC and Equities. In my SA class, most people in the rotational program wanted to be in FICC in like commodities or rates but equities has some sick desks too.

 

Fight, they are going to be doing all three things for each asset class, but I am just looking for some clarification as to what the finance people do. I trying to decide if I should apply for the Sales and Trading Rotational program or the Finance/Investing Placed Program. Both are in the Securities division.

 

i also have an engineering bg and have been told repeatedly that they won't ask you technical/fin/accy stuff unless there's something on your resume to indicate you should know it. (my first bb superday is friday so take it with a grain of salt, this is just what i've heard)

however, i imagine it would probably be good to know the basics (which i've been cramming). e.g. how to run dcf and comparable valuations, basic outline of income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow, how bonds are priced.

Besides the normal vault/wetfeet guides I've found corporate finance: A Focused Approach by Ehrhardt and Brigham to be insightful. It's fairly quantitative, comprehensive, and concise (well, concise relatively speaking ... it's around 650 pgs, but it contains as much material as like 3 other normal books). And, best of all, you can dl it from a lot of torrent sites online

gl

 

The responses that you will get on this forum are likely to be entirely incorrect. You will probably hear responses like "be a math genuis," or be the #1 student at H/Y/S. The reality is that you should definitely have a good math background, and go to a decent school. But most importantly, you should mesh with your interviewers, have knowledge of the economy, have substantiated opinions as to wherer you think the economy is headed, etc. Just my .02. Alot of the people on this board post utter crap, so I think this will be a welcome change.

 

uiniversity of illinois? what were there approx gpas if you have them? just curious about how it works in s&t. people say you can have a lower gpa so maybe it is mostly in the interviews, how to answer global market and quant qs.

 

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