Hi,
I was offered a summer internship in Sales and Trading at a BB (Citi, MS, Deutsche, that caliber) in London and I was asked to put down my preferences with regards to rotations. I mentioned I'm more interested in trading than in sales and I come from a more quantitative background (maths econ combined joint honours). Also, my interviewers at the AC were all traders, so HR seems to know I clearly prefer trading.
I'm very interested in macro topics and that is why FX and rates/ government bonds appeal to me. however, I heard FX is often more trend-driven rather than based on the trader's macro view (please correct me if I'm wrong). Is that accurate? and would rates therefore suit me better? I'm quite sure about rates actually, because government bond markets are what I find the most fascinating about finance. I'm just not sure about FX
also, I was thinking about doing a rotation in more micro-focused fixed income trading like ABS and credit. does anyone have any comments on that? like recommendations for one of the two and more importantly why. also I think cultural fit is extremely important. would you say there is a big difference between rates, credit, structured products, fx trading in terms of culture?
thanks a lot for any insights! preferably from people who really know something about it like traders, ex traders, relatives of traders who can share insights. cheers!
Choose what interests you most, so probably rates from what you mentioned. I remember reading some advice from someone else on here a while back when I was doing my rotation rankings. He basically said you should just choose the desk that is most interesting to you because the environment in S&T changes so fast, e.g. what product/desk is currently hot may not be hot anymore when you start FT the following summer. You seem to already understand this, so just try to rotate through rates and fx over the summer.
Regarding the desk cultures, they all vary by product and bank. You should try to find an "inside guy" who will tell you about the cultures, where you might fit, which desks are likely to hire interns, which desks are currently downsizing, etc. Basically stuff HR might not tell you. And yes, cultural fit is extremely important in my opinion. You do not want to be put on a "jock-y" desk if you are nerdy and vice versa.
If you have a good relationship with people at the bank, get on the phone and talk to them and ask their opinion.
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