Moving To Buyside Trader Role After Hedge Fund Trader Support Role ?

Have an offer to work as an operations analyst at a hedge fund administration firm.

"The position will expose the Junior Operations Analyst to all financial markets and products traded globally, including highly complex derivative instruments."

During the interview the directors said I will be learning about the most complex new derivatives being created and traded by large investment banks and hedge funds and learning how to price them. As opposed to just being a typical boring operations role booking trades and that everyday is different.

Will this give me an opportunity to make the move over to a trader role after 6 months/year since Ill have knowledge of all these products and I'll have experience talking to traders ?

Or is it a dead end where Ill be booking trades for the next decade.

 

unfortunately....it is highly unlikely that this role will lead to a risk taking role. It can be a very nice operations role...but its very rare to transition from operations to trading these days.

20 years ago, yes. Today, sadly...no.

However, if you are a quant (or have the math chops to get a quant degree) then you might have a shot.

just google it...you're welcome
 
want2trade:
unfortunately....it is highly unlikely that this role will lead to a risk taking role. It can be a very nice operations role...but its very rare to transition from operations to trading these days.

20 years ago, yes. Today, sadly...no.

However, if you are a quant (or have the math chops to get a quant degree) then you might have a shot.

Even with a level I CFA and financial modelling skills ?

I am going to email my contact in PE for some guidance too.

Thanks for the reply

 
Most Helpful

nobody has ever been hired as a trader just because they passed the CFA exams. It helps with being a financial adviser and PWM...but that's not the same thing as trading.

Financial Modeling Skills? lol...again, got nothing to do with trading. Might help you get a job on a research or portfolio management research team....but again....not "trading". You won't be the guy deciding "buy at 75"....that is a different path. There are very few actual risk taking roles, where you are taking risks with other people money. The BBs have summer intern programs where they try to whittle down a list from 100 kids to 10 to decide who they will spend another 6-12 months taking a look at, to decide if the bank is willing to let some kid risk their money. Same thing at the asset mgmt firms. However, if you can transition into research (which seems more plausible) then you might be able to transition from research into trading...but that is a long path to take.

The most common path to trader these days is quant --> trader

just google it...you're welcome
 
want2trade:
nobody has ever been hired as a trader just because they passed the CFA exams. It helps with being a financial adviser and PWM...but that's not the same thing as trading.

Financial Modeling Skills? lol...again, got nothing to do with trading. Might help you get a job on a research or portfolio management research team....but again....not "trading". You won't be the guy deciding "buy at 75"....that is a different path. There are very few actual risk taking roles, where you are taking risks with other people money. The BBs have summer intern programs where they try to whittle down a list from 100 kids to 10 to decide who they will spend another 6-12 months taking a look at, to decide if the bank is willing to let some kid risk their money. Same thing at the asset mgmt firms. However, if you can transition into research (which seems more plausible) then you might be able to transition from research into trading...but that is a long path to take.

The most common path to trader these days is quant --> trader

Ok I see.

I made a mistake above, I never meant to say I would go straight into a trader role but rather an analyst first doing research and then a trader.

 

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