BioChem to Oil Trading
I was just wondering how exactly this would happen.
Alex Beard, head of the Crude Oil department at Glencore, only has a degree in BioChem.
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is no degree for trading..... smart, focused and willing to take a little risk
Does having a specific degree help?
I don't see how he could have been directly recruited into trading with such a degree, albeit my knowledge is limited. I would've thought BP would be more inclined to place him R&D type roles.
If this logic is true, could an MBA also be a catalyst to trading (spec. energy/commodities) with a non-finance/economics related undergrad?
You have to realize that he started at BP over 2 decades ago, if someone wanted to get in trading it was much easier if you were aggressive enough. There are stories of guys with only high school diplomas working as traders at Goldman, Salomon, Merrill, and pretty much every other firm on the street back in those days.
If you want to get into energy/commodities trading you don't need an mba. Your better off doing well in you undergrad program whether it be math,dance, art history etc., and just networking like a mad man and try to get a spot on the desk.
FYI if you go on LinkedIn and look up the traders at Glencore came from non traditional backgrounds and non-target schools. That should give you an idea about what type of people they look for.
agree with Monty09 above. Also Marc Rich the king of oil was a university dropout. If your talented it doesn't matter what degree you have.
There is no trading specific degree at all. At best, some MFE/MSF programs might be considered to be 'specific' to quant finance, but that's about it. Otherwise, there isn't a specific thing you're going to learn in school that's going to help you day-to-day. A finance/undergrad business degree means absolutely nothing.
why would they hire an mba?
Most energy traders have degrees in history, economics, accounting and philosophy. I would say a BioChem degree is 100x more useful than anything I learned in my marketing classes.
You really don't need any special degrees to push a "green or red button", believe it or not.
That said, MBAs and certain MFEs are the programs most shops recruit from. We prefer MBAs from certain schools.
You don't need any specific degree for physical trading.
I see that many current traders don't have MBA. Does the new generation need one to get moved up to trading?
It had nothing to do with his degree--BP saw that he was smart and hired him. You don't need a tailored degree to get into physical trading, just be smart, hungry and well networked.
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