A Day in the Life of Equity Sales Vs Equity Trading

Who is a salesperson?

A salesperson serves as the main point of contact between a customer and a trading floor. His/her role in sales is to meet the needs of the customer by using all of the resources available at the company. A salesperson's additional duties include looking after the interests of the business. This entails cooperation with traders who provide you with pricing so that your clients can transact.

Being a good salesperson entails finding a balance between maintaining a positive relationship with the customer and offering reasonable and fair prices, but also ensuring that you are compensated for the liquidity and service that your traders offer.

Who is a trader?

The primary responsibility of the trader is to handle risk and take positions on the bank's balance sheet. When clients want to trade your product, you must offer fair prices in order to retain a good reputation and win enough business for them to return. Ultimately, the trader’s biggest responsibility is to make money in the trading books whilst facilitating the client business.

How can traders make money whilst facilitating client business?

• Being fully aware of all the factors driving the market
• Understanding where to source liquidity from either other clients or in the inter-dealer market (i.e. other banks)

What are the skills required to be a successful salesperson?

• Powers of persuasion - Being able to persuade a client to trade on an idea, or a trader to tighten up a price is a useful skill
• Public speaking or presenting skills - This may include, pitching for client business, presenting the banks capabilities and roadshows
• Networking - Being connected to many people so you know how to speak to them about any matter, makes you more effective in your role
• Building relationships - This is essential in being a successful salesperson as you need to put people at ease and to build trust

What are the skills required to be a successful trader?

• Analytical skills - Traders need to master their product and be able manage risk with high attention to detail
• Risk appetite - This is a key ingredient for any senior trader. This is not the same as gambling as it is calculated risks that you need to take as a trader
• Handling pressure - In a fast paced and dynamic environment you need to think quickly and execute multiple orders over a very short space of time no matter the pressure you are under
• Control your emotions - Not letting emotions impact your decision making is a key trading skill and takes years of experience to cultivate. An approach that many traders use is to make their trading more rule based and less discretionary, that way it becomes less instinctive and also less emotional

How are trading and sales roles changing?

Technology is changing all sectors, including sales and trading. Since a greater proportion of trading volume is automated and algorithmic, traders must accept technology and be skilled in that field. Coding skills, especially in Python, are becoming almost mandatory for entry-level traders because they enable them to make an immediate impact on trading desks.

In terms of the sales role it is still important to build relationships. Much of the sales job is being focused on selling the company's technology platform, effectively removing the sales component from the transaction. It is more of a relationship manager role, but when a client wants to trade, they do not need to speak with you because the process is completely electronic and automated.

Adapting to the way business is changing is something that we all need to do and typically those that react faster and more aggressively will gain market share. This was even more apparent in 2020 with COVID and the acceleration in technological adoption. The new generation of salespeople and traders need to embrace automation and data.