Buy-side Perspectives Issue 14 Special edition | Page 48

Please tell us more about yourself. How
would you summarise your career and what
career recommendations do you have for
your industry peers?
“I have worked 17 years in electronic
trading. I came into the bulge bracket world
somewhat through the back door as I was running a small
start-up DMA company as General Manager when I started
to make the transition to a bigger firm. At the tender age of
28 years old, I was probably too young and inexperienced
so I wanted to make a change and surround myself with
people I could learn from. I have seen the evolution of
electronic equity trading from its infancy. I have been
fortunate to get to know and learn from phenomenally
talented people along the way. I started my previous
employment at Credit Suisse in the beginning of 2007 and
was Co-Heading Sales for AES in EMEA before I accepted my
current role at Barclays as of September 2018.“
“Looking back, my clearest and hardest memory on the
trading floor is October 7 th 2008. That was a crazy time
for all of us in the industry, but that specific day was
when a number of Icelandic institutions were placed into
receivership. Having done a lot of business with Icelandic
banks up until that point, seeing how things unfolded that
week, is something I will never forget.
What happened during those weeks and months was
something a whole generation of traders had not really
experienced before, the atmosphere across the dealing
floor was hard to describe.
My fondest memories probably go back to the first firm I
worked at in this industry, where I started my career, and
the friendships I gained helping to grow the business. Sadly,
one of those friends passed away in the summer and it was
a hard reminder to me of how close we became whilst we
started that business up. It wasn’t necessarily glamorous,
but we had the spirit and determination to make it work.“
48
“My motto for myself and the team is “how do we help our
clients to do their job better?”
“Great relationships go a long way to open doors and help to
grow a business but it is not enough on its own. Credibility
and trust are hugely important in this highly automated
electronic world. Sales traders today still need more than
these characteristics to become successful and a key mind-
set that I feel has helped my career is an open-minded
attitude, accepting that I am constantly learning. I still recall
myself in the very beginning of my career, assuming that I
needed to project a perception of importance when I met
senior and more experienced people. I learnt a long time
ago that approach never works and will not help you to gain
anyone’s trust. Being honest and entirely yourself is the most
valuable asset any of us have.”
“Balance is the key in trying to manage your career, family
and interests. I just happened to be very fortunate in recently
spending more time with my children as I had some time
between jobs in the summer. At weekends I dedicate a lot of
time to my family and I try to get home at least twice a week
in time for my kid’s bath time and stories. We are in a very
happy place at home and it helps from our perspective that
we live a varied family life, spending a lot of time outdoors
together. We actually have two Shetland ponies, five
chickens, two dogs and two cats - in addition to the three
kids!!
In addition to being with my family, I play golf and I love
mountains, beaches, spending time in Cornwall and pretty
much anything that involves being outdoors.”
www.buysideintel.com
Global Summit 2019