What drives you as a person to be
successful at both work and home?
“Motivation comes from the buzz of
being part of the market, getting the
best price and knowing which broker
or venue to trade with and beating
the anticipated cost of the transaction.
Going home after a long day always
feels better with a stack of well
executed trades behind you.
I also love the buzz of the trade; chatting
with the brokers, getting the feel of the
markets and providing market colour and
trading expertise to the fund managers.
People are another reason why I love
the job, I’d much rather talk for 30
seconds on an order, than read 100
IB messages that I have probably
been slow in replying to, but with
the cut backs on trading desks I can
understand the rise of IBs.
Also you have to enjoy what
you do otherwise there is no
way that I could still get up
and do this after 38 years.
I have been fortunate to meet so
many different people from all walks
of life on all sides of the market and
have had the pleasure of working
with some of the best in the business,
and most have interesting stories
to tell and a few have become good
friends which I hope will continue
long after we leave this business.”
What is the greatest challenge you
have had to overcome in your career
thus far?
countries. A few years ago my wife
and I bought a place in France in the
foothills of the Pyrenees and that is
“My challenges ahead include helping the team to think of
smarter and more efficient ways to execute our business, be it
risk block trading, traditional high touch, low touch, Dark and
ensuring that we keep on the right side of regulations."
"At the time of writing we are four
weeks from the implementation of
MIFID II, which brings us to a whole
new ball game, w ith SIs, volume
caps in dark trading and Conditional
venues. I suspect that this could
be bigger than Big Bang. Is this us
trying to get business back to the
Exchanges? Maybe by the time you
are reading this we have a slightly
better understanding of how the new
trading landscape will look, and we
can all look forward to MIFID III.
But if you really want to know my
biggest challenge over the years it’s
still those pesky fractions; is 9/32nd
better than 17/64ths??” a great bolthole. The only trouble is
that virtually all our holidays are spent
there and the first week is usually on
garden maintenance which is not my
forte!
In the last few years I returned to
tennis and after a busy day that is a
great way to get rid of any frustrations
that have built up. I also try to play
golf but my handicap has been
fairly static around 17/20 for the
last 25 years, having the touch of a
blacksmith on the greens doesn’t
help.”
Do you have any hobbies or interests
outside of work and do you get time
to fulfil these interests? “My top 3 qualities for a buyside
trader: Ability to communicate; be
adaptable; have a sense of humour”
What are the top 3 qualities you feel
are important in a buy-side trader?
“Outside of work, I love travelling and
have been fortunate to visit many
Spring 2018
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