I was a Cash Equity Sales Trader. The clients I served were mostly traders with institutions i.e. mutual funds, hedge funds, insurance companies, sovereign funds, etc, and helped them execute their trades in equity markets throughout Asia but primarily in Taiwan and Hong Kong. I used to work at CLSA, Sanford C Bernstein and Deutsche Bank.

My typical day

Wake up 5-6am, get to work anywhere between 6-7am depending on where I worked. The minute I get into work its cram as much information in my brain as possible. There is also a morning meeting every morning shortly after I get to work to hear news from around the region/world and hear from our analysts. Then try to make contact with as many clients as possible and impart some value on them whether it’s to highlight some of our research calls or how the news will affect the market or certain stocks.

After the market opens we’ll continue to monitor the news and watch their trades and look out for any strong moves or strange moves and keep clients updated on it. Once the market shuts, we’ll take care of some post trade stuff and then some admin and then off work.

Pros

• Money was good, it was like playing video games, trading stocks that is, as you are measured against certain benchmarks and you would always try to beat those benchmarks thus the gamification made it fun.
• You also get pretty good at analyzing news, political events, etc and their impact on the world and economy. For the most part, once the work day ended, it ended (no overtime really), although it is not like that for everyone as some people had to make calls to US colleagues in the evening.
• Almost never had to work weekends unless it was traveling for a business trip. I made some fantastic friends who were either former clients or former colleagues.

Cons

• Chained to the desk, I could never tuck out for lunch unless it involved a client. Didn’t have time to go outside for a bit to get some fresh air or sun. Going to the bank or doctors or running errands all had to be done right after the market shut which doesn’t leave much time.

Cryptocurrency Trader – Stefan Ateljevic

My typical day can be either incredibly stressful or really relaxed depending on the movement in the crypto market. The day usually starts with waking … Read More