Dec 30, 2011

Credit Trading or Credit Research

Hey Guys,

First off, I just want to say thanks in advance for answering these questions. I've been coming to this site for two years now and the help I've received has been incredible. I don't know where I'd be without you guys.

To the topic at hand,

I've heard from a lot of people (buyside, sellside, traders, researchers, etc.) that credit researchers have an easier time of moving to an idea generating (as opposed to execution) role on the buyside relative to credit traders since they are more likely to do the deep dives necessary to fully understand the product and the risk associated with it.

My first question is: Is this true?

My problem is that my ultimate goal is to end up in the buyside in an idea generating capacity and I'd prefer to do it through trading.

Which brings me to my second question which is: If the answer to the first question is yes, are there credit products where a trader has more of an advantage in going to the buyside? Ex: Is a HY trader going to have a harder time going to the buyside in an idea generating capacity than a CDS trader or CDO/SIV trader, etc.

I love following the markets and I trade actively through my interactive brokers portfolio. While I've generally been interested in macro products (and I've been trading these actively), I've recently picked up the Fabozzi handbook and become interested in credit. I don't want to do L/S, Special Sit., PE or basically any of the exit opps that come from banking and banking itself holds no appeal for me.

While I'm sure that I can perform well in the role of a Junior Credit Research Analyst, I believe that I'm more suited for the role of a Trader (I work better when I can synthesize lots of information and act on it, I love following the markets, I enjoy the fast pace of the job, great at mental math, and lots of other reasons)

What do you guys think? Should I just aim for trading a macro product or are there credit products that would suit my end goals?

 
Best Response

I interned at a top BB and the SAs hired for full time in Credit Trading all were expected to put in 2-3 years as an analyst before they were able to trade anything. You need a deep understanding of the product before you can jump into trading it, so I think that if you go through the range of products, Credit traders are able to dive deeper than many other traders in other asset classes. This is only my own experience and interpretation, so take it for what it's worth.

Not sure about research vs. trading and the ranking for jumping to the buyside.

 

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