Exotics Bookrunner

K

klyveld

Hello guys,

May I ask whether an Exotics Bookrunner position (for IR products) which is classified as being in middle office , be a useful stepping stone towards exotics trading positions?

Furthermore if anyone could give more insight to what such a role requires, I would be extremely grateful.

Thank you for your time
 
I recommend you ask your question at http://nuclearphynance.com/. 95% of the people here are those who never made a full-time career in finance, hence you will invariably get a lot of stupid advice from those who claim to understand the industry but who do not.

I worked on the exotics rates side before. Depending whether you express interest in a) flow products or b) the less liquid "exotics" the required skill set is very different. When I say flow products I mean caps/floors/swaptions/CMS/... because those are part of the exotics rates group at most ibanks.

a) quantitative mind set, firm understanding of probabilities and statistics, fast number cruncher, people skills and sales negotiation skills. Most likely you spend more time talking to interbank dealers and your sales force than crunching numbers. But you still need to have a firm grasp at how to re-calibrate vol surfaces/cubes.

b) heavily reliant on mathematical and statistical concepts. Advanced knowledge (meaning at minimum good advanced Master's or Phd degree) of mathematics, especially measure theory, stochastic calculus. But also advanced knowledge of probabilities and statistics. Programming skills come secondary but are still important to have as most of your applicant peers most likely know C++, Python,...

The position you mentioned can definitely be a stepping stone, I have seen people transition onto the front office multiple times. All you need is the required skill set (as detailed above) and a keen willingness to learn and curiosity for the products and market. What works IMHO the best is an honest approach such as admitting you don't know much about how such products are traded and hence ask a trader to spare some of his time after hours to walk you through in exchange for you wanting to make his life easier via project or programming work on the side. That is much better than being pretentious with a big mouth but getting exposed as a know-nothing.


Hope this helps...good luck...


klyveld said:
Hello guys,

May I ask whether an Exotics Bookrunner position (for IR products) which is classified as being in middle office , be a useful stepping stone towards exotics trading positions?

Furthermore if anyone could give more insight to what such a role requires, I would be extremely grateful.

Thank you for your time
More...
 
volpunter said:
I recommend you ask your question at http://nuclearphynance.com/. 95% of the people here are those who never made a full-time career in finance, hence you will invariably get a lot of stupid advice from those who claim to understand the industry but who do not.

I worked on the exotics rates side before. Depending whether you express interest in a) flow products or b) the less liquid "exotics" the required skill set is very different. When I say flow products I mean caps/floors/swaptions/CMS/... because those are part of the exotics rates group at most ibanks.

a) quantitative mind set, firm understanding of probabilities and statistics, fast number cruncher, people skills and sales negotiation skills. Most likely you spend more time talking to interbank dealers and your sales force than crunching numbers. But you still need to have a firm grasp at how to re-calibrate vol surfaces/cubes.

b) heavily reliant on mathematical and statistical concepts. Advanced knowledge (meaning at minimum good advanced Master's or Phd degree) of mathematics, especially measure theory, stochastic calculus. But also advanced knowledge of probabilities and statistics. Programming skills come secondary but are still important to have as most of your applicant peers most likely know C++, Python,...

The position you mentioned can definitely be a stepping stone, I have seen people transition onto the front office multiple times. All you need is the required skill set (as detailed above) and a keen willingness to learn and curiosity for the products and market. What works IMHO the best is an honest approach such as admitting you don't know much about how such products are traded and hence ask a trader to spare some of his time after hours to walk you through in exchange for you wanting to make his life easier via project or programming work on the side. That is much better than being pretentious with a big mouth but getting exposed as a know-nothing.


Hope this helps...good luck...
More...

Hello volpunter,

My apologies for the late reply, and thank you very much for sharing your insight with regards to my question.

I was initially worried it would be like a trade support or settlements function, but after reading you're post in conjunction with some other fora, I dedicated my time to preparing for the interviews.

As it turns out, you're completely correct (not that I ever thought you were misleading) and luckily having completed my postgrad in Quant Finance has helped so far. I've a few more hurdles to get by, but your post as well as talking to all the interviewers, has given me more clarity about the positions I should be aiming for.

I thank you very much for taking the time to post, I do greatly appreciate it:)
 
glad it helped. And thanks for your feedback, not often on this website, most people here are just takers or pretending to stuff they are talking about without much topical knowledge. Good luck in your journey.

klyveld said:
Hello volpunter,

My apologies for the late reply, and thank you very much for sharing your insight with regards to my question.

I was initially worried it would be like a trade support or settlements function, but after reading you're post in conjunction with some other fora, I dedicated my time to preparing for the interviews.

As it turns out, you're completely correct (not that I ever thought you were misleading) and luckily having completed my postgrad in Quant Finance has helped so far. I've a few more hurdles to get by, but your post as well as talking to all the interviewers, has given me more clarity about the positions I should be aiming for.

I thank you very much for taking the time to post, I do greatly appreciate it:)
More...
 
volpunter said:
I recommend you ask your question at http://nuclearphynance.com/. 95% of the people here are those who never made a full-time career in finance, hence you will invariably get a lot of stupid advice from those who claim to understand the industry but who do not.

I worked on the exotics rates side before. Depending whether you express interest in a) flow products or b) the less liquid "exotics" the required skill set is very different. When I say flow products I mean caps/floors/swaptions/CMS/... because those are part of the exotics rates group at most ibanks.
More...
Bullsh1t, both of these paragraphs...
 
please provide detailed information and backup why what I said is bullshit.

This is exactly what I mean, there are people with almost 7000 posts running around and if you look at their past posts you see they realm pretty much every petty chat and economic thread and they sound like as if they have 5 PHDs. They contribute very little to help others (but a lot to appear schooled) but can shoot down those who help with 5 word rants without a single factual backup. Beware whom you listen to.

Martinghoul said:
Bullsh1t, both of these paragraphs...
More...
 
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