I work in IB sell side and cannot buy stocks due to internal policy except for indices.
I love following the public markets and feel like I am missing a lot of fun as I cannot buy stocks and have my own portfolios / risks.
I feel like owning stocks will let me have some skin in the game and forces me to follow the markets even closer.
Anyone who likes to buy stocks but cant buy due to working in IB? How do you get around that
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I asked HR about this. She said that I just have to get the trades approved before I put them thru.
How long does it take for your compliance’s approval?
Should go through compliance department not HR... but typically approval is same day, and expires at the end of that trading day. Not a complicated process.
Handled it by moving to a buyside shop that doesn’t have such restrictions. Not a huge fan of ETFs.
Don't recommend trying to get around it... look up Bill Tsai for some context
Is the policy ETFs only? There are some pretty specialized ETFs these days. And aome firms will let you buy single names on a very limited basis.
Bill Tsai is an extreme case though because he was literally trading options based on a deal his group was actively working on. That’s a lot different from day trading stocks not in the same sector.
Totally agree but my point (that I guess I never made lol) was he had a "hidden" Robinhood account under a different name and they found him easily. Not a good idea to try to day trade on an undisclosed account thinking they won't eventually track you down.
do you work at a BB? doesn't sound like - most BBs / MMs / EBs allow single stock trades with the exception of your coverage group if in a coverage group.
So if you own FAANG stocks in college then go work for a TMT group, would you be required to liquidate them before starting?
Nope, you just couldn’t make new trades.
No, but be careful, there could also be selling restrictions that might lock you in.
I was in this situation and had to
I was in this situation and did not have to liquidate (BB) but obviously no trading
We have to get all trades run through our compliance department (with the exception of Mutual Funds, ETFs and Index Funds). Unless you are making a huge trade, usually the compliance department OKs the trade pretty quickly.
I work at a LMM firm.
Are options on ETFs subject to approval/holding periods?
Options would need to be cleared.
Although crypto does not need to be cleared compliance.
I've never heard of not being able to buy stocks and being restricted to index, most firms you just need to clear each trade with compliance before making it because many firms have a list of restricted securities that cannot be traded by employees due to the firms relationship with various companies and having potential inside information. Talk to compliance (not HR) to get direct clarification from them but whatever you do, do not try to "get around" any restrictions.
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