SQL, Excel VBA, or other suggested skill(s) for trading fixed-income (CMBS or EM)

For the traders out here, what technical skill(s) are you realizing is a game changer and will be a must-have skill for up and coming traders?

Feel free to include skills you too are currently learning, hiring for, or just wish had learned.

I'm currently back office of a firm that manages AUM ~$100B and have found Excel VBA to be more useful than SQL - just one example of many other potential useful skills/tools (ie: tableau, python, ai/ml, etc.). I hope to transition into trading fixed-income and want to improve skills that would benefit my future team and add to my day-to-day duties.

Thanks in advance for your input.

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Class of '29 Sep 2026 Cohort

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Asset Management Mock Interview

“Today’s session was amazing and incredibly useful. My mentor was a massive help with both networking and interview preparation, particularly for my ongoing HSBC programme application. He helped me understand how to approach networking more effectively and gave me valuable advice on preparing for the next stage of the recruitment process. I really appreciate the time and effort he puts into helping me, and I left the session feeling more confident and clear about my next steps. As always, he was very kind, approachable and easy to speak with, which made the whole experience even better.”

Class of '27 Sep 2026 Cohort

5.00/5

Asset Management Mock Interview

“This mentor provided valuable and constructive feedback that helped me better understand how to approach interviews and identify areas for improvement. I learned how to structure my responses more effectively, communicate my strengths with greater confidence, and stop downplaying my experiences and accomplishments. The session also helped me recognize which technical topics and industry-specific questions I need to research further, allowing me to prepare more strategically for future interviews.”

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