Article about the death of trading
As a former sell-side trader, I related to and felt the same about the points made in this article from efinancialcareers.
Here are some pieces of it:
"If you work in trading now, you should be concerned. First came the algorithms wiping out thousands of jobs, and now large investment banks are unveiling programmes to rapidly downsize their fixed income, currencies and commodities trading businesses.
This isn’t exactly a great advert for fresh graduates looking for their first job on Wall Street, and many of the best and brightest are now seeking jobs in the tech sector.
“There has been a drain of talent into high tech were the rewards can be great if you own the IP,” says Owen Jeff, managing director at Accenture trading services in London.
“Traders are increasingly being replaced by machines,” says Richard Lipstein, a New York recruiter. Trading volumes are going down and with them commissions. Fixed income is already following the automation path set by equities, he added.
“The most dangerous place to be a trader these days is in fixed income. If you have survived this long in equities, you will probably continue to survive,” he says.
It’s no secret that any trader worth their salt these days needs to learn how to code, but there are bigger opportunities outside of the trading floor. Lipstein says that Big Data analytics is the new big thing as investment banks begin to hire in talent in this area.
Meanwhile any trading roles remain over-subscribed. When she places an ad for traders, she is swamped with resumes from laid off sell-side traders. She places occasional buy-side positions, but funds don’t want to hire sell-side traders.
Many have lost their jobs and have a hard time finding other work because trading is not a readily transferrable skill.
“If they were lucky and smart and saved money, sell-side traders can go and buy a business and do something completely different.”
As someone who has been trading for the past 10 years in the fixed income futures realm I agree fully with the article. This year I stopped trading on my own in order to learn programming languages such as python and r. At first it was to attempt to join a prop trading firm again but after interviewing with a couple of 2nd tier firms, my goal now is to land a entry level data analyst role wherever I can. I was never as profitable as some great traders(my best years were mid six figures) over the past ten years so my track record of profitability means virtually nothing to trading firms. Yet some of those same guys have not made the effort to learn how to program like I have. It sucks but I am trying to keep my head up.
yikes. data analyst roles usually top out at like 80k a year at some big insurance companies and maybe ops analyst roles at big banks. kind of a step back , no?
if you want to make the big bucks in data analysis, data science is where the $$ is ...but you need PhD level knowledge for alot of them jobs. or atleast the degree
i agree, a step back but isn't it a good think that i'm making an attempt to increase my data/programming skills? things have changed so much in the futures/options trading field over last 10 years. when i started in trading the goal was to become a member and trade on the floor, now being on the floor is a joke as everything is electronic, not only electronic but automated/programmed.
aside from data analysis roles, i'm also looking at entry-level/mid-level positions in mbs, energy, oil & gas trading/hedging roles as i think i have transferable skills from my futures & options trading experience.
if you have any suggestions i'm listening with open ears.
ive worked at a few big F500 type corporations (insurance and some consumer product goods) and all I can say is being good at excel/vba will put you above most people out there. Also..knowing access is important too and knowing enough SQL to pull data
alot of people hate on access but many departments in big corps that deal with data and numbers rely on it
you'll probably have to take a contract-temp type of job for a year or two to get some experience on your resume but after that you should be good to go.
Repudiandae reprehenderit nihil voluptatem repellendus. Atque consectetur non qui accusamus eum esse. Aut non maiores qui dolorem voluptatem itaque. Veritatis sed numquam explicabo minima dignissimos et. Debitis nostrum et ut molestiae non autem et.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...