Bank Electronic Trading Desk

Nearly all banks have their own 'electronic trading' desks. Algo traders and programmers work on these desks. These are a total different breed, and what they do remains widely unknown to their colleagues on the regular S&T desks.

Out of curiosity, I'm wondering how is the prestige and pay structure different on an electronic desk or algo desk from other desks? Seems to me that the algo traders rarely interact with others on the floor.

Any comment is welcome :)

 

i know a fair few people in sales and one guy in algo sales at a BB. a large element is relationship building which can include the activites you have mentioned but what people fail to understand is that sales people must know the product range inside and out, also the business needs of their clients and the capabilities of their firm. its not as easy as it sounds. plus you have to be outgoing all of the time and if you don't sell, you're canned.

 
Best Response
darety:
i know a fair few people in sales and one guy in algo sales at a BB. a large element is relationship building which can include the activites you have mentioned but what people fail to understand is that sales people must know the product range inside and out, also the business needs of their clients and the capabilities of their firm. its not as easy as it sounds. plus you have to be outgoing all of the time and if you don't sell, you're canned.

Thanks. I thought a good thing about sales is you get to know a lot of people on the buy-side. However I'm not sure how easy the transition will be from sales to HF, as a lot of your skills on sales are not transferable. What do you think of the exit opportunities of algo sales? Can you at least get into sales at another desk?

 

I can't speak specifically for MS but at my firms "electronic trading" refers to the online trading program that clients use for vanilla equities and small volume FI trading. The "electronic traders" manage the "book" for their particular product rather than dealing with phone clients.

 

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