interest rate derivatives jr. salesman primary dealer questions
hi,
so ive spent the past 3 years at a regional investment bank working in the muni bond department. ive been networking trying to make my way to a fixed income desk and now have a potential opportunity as a jr. sales person on a primary dealers interest rates derivatives desk. i have a few questions for all.
it is my understanding that a jr. sales person has a different set of responsibilities than a sales assistant. at my firm, there are a few people i would consider as sales assistants (who have been that way for years), and i think that this is different than the position i am interviewing for. i imagine that a junior sales person would (at least eventually) be knocking on the doors of investors. i am aware that the title probably varies by firm, but is this a fair assumption?
generally speaking, who are the primary investors who invest in and/or hedge using interest rate derivatives? for munis, it is typically insurance companies, mutual funds, and trusts.
what exactly do interest rate derivative sales people sell? does interest rate derivatives typically refer to agency bonds, interest rate swaps (LIBOR?), treasury bond futures, something else, all of the above?
can an interest rate derivatives sales person taking their skills and apply them to some other aspect within the fixed income world (ie fixed income fund, trading, corporate/muni sales or trading)? will there be future opportunities where i may be able to apply my interest rate derivatives skill sets?
within the fixed income trading world, is there a general hierachy of any kinds regarding the different desks. i understand that this will vary from firm to firm, but in general is there a broad difference between the different desks (my opinion is that a rates desk seems like it is the most cut and dry since it is only rates whereas corporates have a credit risk, munis have a tax risk, agencies have prepay risk?)
lastly, since the firm i am talking with is a primary dealer, would an interest rate derivatives sales person receive any carry over from the auctions? i do not have a strong grasp as to how treasury auctions work. is the carry over from auctions considered "flow"? i'm not totally sure what a flow order is.
any information would be greatly appreciated. thanks a ton in advance.
