Louis Dreyfus Trader Trainee Program or Commodities Trading in General

Does anyone know about Louis Dreyfus Trader Trainee Program?

I have a few questions:

- How long does it take for you to actually start trading?

- What are some future exit opportunities? Into BB S&T?

- How is bonus calculated for 1st year?

- Change location?

I appreciate any contribute! Thanks!

 

The third question is actually new I think. It is almost impossible to find any total comp (esp bonus) numbers on these programs. Very little info on hours too. It would be good to know what to expect.

As for the rest, well, check out the related content box at the bottom of the page...

 

For Physical trading it typically takes a longer time. You need to work in middle and back office roles sometimes for years before you are allowed to trade. I know a person who spent 4 years at a shop similar to this who never made the move ahead.

Two of my friends made the jump to S&T after, but this was after a few years and some luck was involved. Bonus I am not 100% about but I have been told the pay is lower than that of a bank and is more of a learning experience. There is a good change you'll need to change location at least at some point during your program. Let me know if you have any further questions and I'll do my best to answer.

 

pay is lower, most bb s&t guys would love to go to the phys shops, not other way around. pay at shops for these program is "very low" compared to what you guys expect, the amount you learn is huge and the future payoff is pretty big. to my knowledge most of them are focused more on generating managers than traders though.

 
Best Response

Physical shops...

1) Really depends could be 2 years to 4 years to never. Totally depends on your performance and the skills you bring to the table. 2) Already mentioned the only exit opportunity you should be looking for is upwards within the firm. 3) Your bonus should be max 25-50% depending on the group, firm and performance. That said the gap between banks and physical shops has tightened, not many banks pay 120+ to first years these days. 4) Yes, very easily. These programs basically make you apart of the global talent pool and you should be able to look at any position globally if you manager agrees to help you.

Hours...Again depends on you and how much you want, I would say minimum 50hrs, but if stuff needs to get done more hours is good. Also you should be learning, studying, etc on your off-time/down-time there is tons of internal resources the firm will give you onus is on you if you want to become a trader or not.

 

May be a little late to help you here, but my guess is the answer is a definite yes. I saw the news today that one of JP Morgan's funds just bought an undisclosed amount of Louis Dreyfus. From what I've seen maybe 1/2 of the top commodities shops hire people from "industry", i.e. non-banks....

 

Louis Drey is a very very respected firm in the industry.

the compensation is probably just as great as a BB and the name is just as respected when it comes to energy. Probably even more respected when compared to newbies like Bear, Deustche, Lehman, Citi, or JPM.

more and more banks are trying to crack into the physical market. L.D. has been in that field for quite some time.

Rather than entering a BB, most people look into getting into a hedge fund (or the more successful, start one).

 

Wow, i never even considered LD for a job like that. This is promising as my family has a good friend who is a VP there... im gonna have to look into it.

...interesting...

 

if you're considering LD, make sure trading is what you want to do and specifically in the commodities field. it'll be hard to make the move from commodities to fixed income products.

i wouldn't take the job at LD unless you know for sure that you will be on the desk.

 

One was VP of quantitative research. The other was also in research but did not have any cards so I am not sure of his title. He was either a VP or an Associate. They were very technical. Started with an easy fit question of why energy markets? Then they grilled me on energy statistics….What’s the annual world consumption of oil? What’s the US’s daily consumption of oil? What’s the annual world consumption of natural gas? What’s the US’s annual consumption of LNG? Where is the largest natural gas reserve in the world? What percent of power generated in this country comes from coal, gas, and nuclear. I also got asked some Black-Scholes questions and a logic question. I knew some of the statistics they asked, but not many. I think they were trying to make me very uncomfortable before asking me the logic question to see if I could think under pressure. I got the logic question right, but left the interview feeling like I was never going to get a final round. I got a call back and sent thank you emails to both guys. The guy that was grilling me responded that “It was great to meet you too and that he thought I would really be happy at LDHE”. I hope the next round is more easy going and more fit.

 

LD commodities is a good place, you'll learn well, but know that you'll probably be in commodities permanently. However there is good opportunity to go to other buyside/merchant companies.

LDHE is trying to reinvent itself as an energy hedge fund and is less of a good place to learn than LD Softs - they mainly want experienced people and have been paring down headcount for some time now. This could take you to a bulge bracket or hedge fund - great energy name. But good luck getting a job with no experience.

 

yes. not necessarily a business case in the common understanding of that term. more of just a general understanding of the life cycle of a commodity from the producer --> middlemand/broker --> end consumer

And so it goes
 

I interviewed with the cotton trading arm of LouisDreyfus in Memphis. The first round of interviews was four brain teasers. I got through that because I had interviewed with them as an undergrad and failed it, but then I interviewed again after grad school and I guess they didn't remember me. They asked the same questions and I got an invite to Memphis. In Memphis, they gave me a 30 question brainteaser test and gave me an hour to do it. The CEO of this piece of the firm went through it with me and I completely bombed it and obviously wasn't hired.

 

Hi,

I have an interview scheduled with LD Commodities and they told me te be prepared to 3 business cases and one excel test. Do you have any idea of what kind of excel requirement they are looking for and any advice for the business cases?

Thank you guys

 

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