Is it possible to move into S&T at a BB with power trading experience?

Question

A bit of background: I interned at a MM investment bank and had a trading internship at a private power trading firm (think Enron minus the fraud) on the West coast. I got offered a Real-time trading position here and I think I’ll take it. It’s hard to pass up a little over 6 figure salary and the work-life balance offered right out of undergrad. How difficult would it be to move to sales & trading at a BB with this experience after a few years?

mswoonc · Accepted Answer

You're right. Majority of trading at banks are market making now. Ability to take exposure is significantly lower. I was talking to a rates vol trader who sits close by to me and this guy is smart, obviously. Went to Columbia and got an MFE. So I had a  interview for a vol trader job for an arg major down in texas and I asked him what his strategy was  so I can prepare mysel and he pulled out a sheet showing me a some charts of the vol curve and he told me he trades mean reversion with a feeling to it (Wasn't very helpful).

azer · Answer

Agree with previous posts - BB banks focus mainly on market making on the curve. In order to get this job you would have to first move to prompt trader or term trader role. You would also have to be pretty damn good to get a seat in a bank.

The caveat here is that by the time you're pretty damn good enough to get a seat at a bank, are you going to make that much more money when weighed against the low job security? If you're working for a utility then 'yes', you can get double the base and a much better bonus.

Pussy galore · Answer

It's considered part of the operations division (as scheduling / logistics is as well for natural gas), but you can eventually move into trading. Having worked at GS/MS commodities, I would however be careful with their long-term commitment to the physical business.

Cash is Trash · Answer

The impression I got from the BB was that they’re mainly just market making nowadays. I interviewed at a few top commodity houses and I met a lot of guys that used to work on BB commodities desks (places like GS/MS) and they all said that the bank presence in the space is dying because of all the regulation (e.g. MS sold their physical business). I think you’re in a better spot long term in terms of career prospects and comp. Not to mention the kind of trading you’ll do in your current role is a lot more interesting (in my opinion) than market making at a bank.

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Is it possible to move into S&T at a BB with power trading experience?

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Is it possible to move into S&T at a BB with power trading experience?

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