Structured trading exit opp

I'm a junior structured/exotics trader at a US BB. Recently thinking about exit opps (while not planning to move in the near future).

What are the exit opps? I feel like this is quite limited vs flow derivative.

What do you think about the opportunities for staying in structured trading? US banks are more flow focused, so it seems like our European counterparts value/promote structured traders much more. My manager for example, is never getting promoted while his equivalent in flow was made MD years ago.

Keen to hear your thoughts!

4 Comments
 

Could you talk about your role as a junior structured trader? Curious to hear about your responsibilities compared to a flow desk.

 
Most Helpful

I've never done flow trading, so probably won't know the whole picture there.Main difference is that your product is a lot more complex, less intuitive and has more moving parts. A flow trader might spend 3 seconds giving a 2 way price, and you might be spending 30 minutes pricing your product.Your product is non linear so hedging is also less intuitive, for a complex transaction you may be thinking for 3 hours post market close on how to hedge effectively, while your flow colleagues are grabbing a beer.You will get a good sense of the whole market, for example for an equity linked note, obviously you will have equity and fx (quanto) risks, but your depending on the payoff, a lot of times it'll move more with rates and credit spreads (especially this year).Obviously your day will be less intense in terms of client flow, but market moves just as fast, so watch your risks!

 

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