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Most Bond Traders Don’t Like Their Jobs – Greenwich Associates 

Full Article: Greenwich Associates

Most respondents who were negative about the sell-side trading role were positive about other parts of financial services. Moving from the sell side to the buy side was mentioned more than once, as there is more opportunity for growth with less stringent regulations and a debatably steadier stream of recurring revenue based on assets rather than transactions.

Comments
  • Slider
    SliderSeptember 29, 2017"Jester, come on. Bond traders just might be in the second most overpaid job in the world, right behind bond salespeople. If they aren't happy, sure, go look for another career but the vast majority don't have a skill set easily transferable into the new world. Just look at what happens to older bond traders and salespeople that either didn't make enough or spent too much when they were in the same position, scrounging around trying to hang on any way they can at whate…"
  • Charlie
    CharlieSeptember 29, 2017"Not surprising given that traders think tactically, not strategically. Their optimization period is now to next bonus, or, at best, next promotion. If they were thinking about their careers over the next 10 years+, they would realize that we are probably at peak regulation. Someone thinking of joining compliance now is buying a top. Someone thinking of getting into trading is buying closer to the bottom. The upside certainly appears lower today, but I think the prevai…"
  • Jester
    JesterSeptember 29, 2017"Is this article really news? Bond trading on the sell-side has become an exercise in dodging bullets for some time now. If you aren’t blowing yourself up standing in front of toxic flow, you are constantly being told to reduce the size of your book. That combined with the fact that 90% of the days now feel like "Summer Fridays" due to lack of volatility, makes for a pretty bad seat. Finally, another aspect not mentioned in the article is the growing practice of paying…"
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Jester
Jester
6 years ago

Is this article really news? Bond trading on the sell-side has become an exercise in dodging bullets for some time now. If you aren’t blowing yourself up standing in front of toxic flow, you are constantly being told to reduce the size of your book. That combined with the fact that 90% of the days now feel like “Summer Fridays” due to lack of volatility, makes for a pretty bad seat. Finally, another aspect not mentioned in the article is the growing practice of paying a large % of your annual bonus in stock…stock that vests over several years. Not… Read more »

Charlie
Charlie
6 years ago

Not surprising given that traders think tactically, not strategically. Their optimization period is now to next bonus, or, at best, next promotion. If they were thinking about their careers over the next 10 years+, they would realize that we are probably at peak regulation. Someone thinking of joining compliance now is buying a top. Someone thinking of getting into trading is buying closer to the bottom. The upside certainly appears lower today, but I think the prevailing discount rate is too high.

Slider
Slider
6 years ago

Jester, come on. Bond traders just might be in the second most overpaid job in the world, right behind bond salespeople. If they aren’t happy, sure, go look for another career but the vast majority don’t have a skill set easily transferable into the new world. Just look at what happens to older bond traders and salespeople that either didn’t make enough or spent too much when they were in the same position, scrounging around trying to hang on any way they can at whatever firm they can, otherwise real estate agents are turning into a new career. And you… Read more »