I never ever played politics. And I was on the sell side before I traded purely prop at banks and hf.i did pay a price for not engaging in politics, but only initially. People respected me for my integrity and confided in me because they knew I don't ever participate in gossip of any sort or betray such trust. My bonus was always earned purely based on my performance and it allowed me to comfortably run my own show from 2011.
You can of course choose to disbelieve me if you are so inclined. But i am telling you that it works also with pure and utter honesty. The reason I switched to prop was not only because that was what i ultimately always wanted to do and suited my skill set but also because I could for most part escape the BS and politics that plays out on sell side trading floors.
You can of course choose to disbelieve me if you are so inclined. But i am telling you that it works also with pure and utter honesty. The reason I switched to prop was not only because that was what i ultimately always wanted to do and suited my skill set but also because I could for most part escape the BS and politics that plays out on sell side trading floors.
How else do you get paid? Since you talk to clients, I have to assume you are on the sell side. Good for you. On the sell side you only get paid if you know how to play politics. Even if you made a ton of money for the firm, the actual payout in that good year will vary with the quality of your lipwork. I will be first one to admit that I have kissed my bosses ass, with varying degrees of success - for example, in my best year ever I was told "we have some good news and we have some bad news".