Careers in Trading in 2021 and Onward

I'm an incoming asset management analyst for a top 5 bank and was curious what careers there are in some form of discretionary trading. I'll be doing one year in institutional sales/business development, another year in the investments rotation and my last year will be a specialized focus of my choice. 

I'm currently a funded trader as a contractor for one of those services that fund traders who pass their simulation tests and have been successfully withdrawing money for a couple months now. I know there's controversy behind these types of 'firms', and I don't consider it a real job, but point being I really want to make a future in trading, it's what I've done since 18 and what really got me hooked into finance.

The issue is, as much as I enjoyed my internship and look forward to this full-time job, it's not exactly the part of 'investments' that I enjoy, I realized the business is mainly building relationships and portfolio allocations -- I also lack the pedigree/background in general to make a long-term career in high-finance.

Are there any careers fitting my interests or am I better off aggressively building my capital and trading on my own? I have some contacts in S&T so I'm keeping my doors open, although I believe that business is mainly sales. I've thought about ER but this goes back to the pedigree issue and I don't see myself pursuing a CFA.

Thanks.

3 Comments
 
Most Helpful

S&T but you need to get on a product that’s still interesting. Most equities is just matching buyers/sellers and recycling risk right away. Liquid macro desks that take prop risk and illiquid products that have wider bid/ask are still good places to be. This would solve your pedigree issue as the culture is very much performance> pedigree.

AM is a good spot too, depending on the team. For your next rotation try to get on a team that’s more pure investing/trading. For example, CIO is basically an internal HF

 

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