Buy-side profile
My Word is my
Neil Bond
BOND
Head Trader – Ardevora
Having worked on both sides of the trading fence, Neil shares his personal story from
how he entered the world of trading 30 years ago to where he is now, giving us an
insight on his interests outside of his world of buy-side trading.
How did you get to where you are
now?
Life in the City was not my first choice,
I had been offered a job presenting a
music television program which would
have suited my rock star dreams. My
parents however suggested that if I
took that route I would also need to
find somewhere else to live. Luckily
I also had an offer from UBS Phillips
& Drew on what was effectively an
apprenticeship, which may have been
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the more boring choice but was the
one I took. It turns out that it was far
from dull. It was just after the Black
Monday crash of 1987 and many of
my friends questioned if I was making
a wise choice. My opinion was that I
was getting in at the bottom and there
could not be a better time.
I started in the new issues department
which was buzzing from the sales of
several national institutions, which
appeared at the time to be a fool
proof way to make money fast. After
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that I spent the next 2 years in various
back office departments before being
offered a role as desk assistant on the
European research sales desk, my first
big break. On top of the usual coffee/
dry cleaning/faxing chores I was able
to back up salespeople while they
were away and I picked up some of
their lesser clients who they did not
have time to cover fully. At the end of
six ye