When and why did you move to the
buyside?
the desk. Despite the challenges,
presented itself at Royal London
this has been a real opportunity for
Asset Management - RLAM were
RLAM. If you look at the life cycle
embarking on the roll out of a
of a trade, given how compressed
Central Dealing Desk (C.D.D) model
In 2016, I decided to make a change
returns have become over recent
for Fixed Income. The company was
and move to the buy side. It was
years, execution is becoming
thriving with AUM having grown
something I’d been mulling over
increasingly important and more
from £53bln in 2013 to £115bln in
for a while, I wanted to be closer to
integral to the success of a trading
2018, with a large focus
strategy. Be it early involvement in
on
fixed
income.
The
RLAM were embarking on the roll out of a
the investment process, trade idea
position
itself
encapsulated
Central Dealing Desk (C.D.D) model for Fixed
generation through to locating and
everything
you
could
want
Income. The company was thriving with
sourcing new pools of liquidity - any
from a senior buy-side
AUM having grown from £53bln in 2013 to
additional edge we can get from
trading role; the ability to
£115bln in 2018, with a large focus on fixed
a Centralised Dealing Desk can be
help build a desk, a close
income. The position itself encapsulated
leveraged to maximise returns and
knit and well established
everything you could want from a senior
achieve the best outcome for our
investment team, a diverse
buy-side trading role
clients.
suite of products and a
desire to treat the roll out
of the C.D.D as real opportunity to
real money and ultimately see the
What has changed for the fixed
add value for the client. The chance
benefits of my work feeding through
Income trader?
to join at the ground level was too
to the underlying client. So, I took
the opportunity to move to Deutsche good to miss!
When I originally joined the trading
Asset Management to help set up
desk back in 2005, my manager
a new Fixed Income trading desk in
at the time offered the following
What were the biggest challenges
London. DeAM were branching out
you faced since your move to RLAM? advice.. “the secret to being a good
from their main execution hubs of
trader is not to mess up!” (not his
Frankfurt and New York and were
Rolling out a Central
looking to expand into London. This
Dealing Desk is
was an exciting opportunity, the role
We need to be close to the investment process,
certainly a challenge
combined the process of building
be on top of markets, manage relationships
in terms of bedding
out a new trading desk but was
with
our counterparts and ensure we extract
down procedures
also focused on bringing execution
maximum value for our clients. However, to
and processes, but
closer to the investment process
really go the extra mile we need to be at the
there were solid
through seamless integration with
cutting edge of the industry
foundations in
Portfolio Management. I really
place which meant
enjoyed the move, however, in 2018
exact words!). While this still holds
we could focus on really shaping
an even more exciting opportunity
true, the modern buy-side trader
has to be multifaceted. Dealers are
now expected to wear many hats
so the required skillset needs to be
much more rounded and complete.
For example, we need to be close to
the investment process, be on top
of markets, manage relationships
with our counterparts and ensure
we extract maximum value for
our clients. However, to really go
the extra mile we need to be at
the cutting edge of the industry;
understanding and anticipating
changes or developments in the
regulatory environment, driving
market structure change, pushing
advances in efficiency & technology
- we have to react and evolve quickly
Kevin Flood at the 1 st ATF Cross Asset Derivatives 2018
and this is a very different balance.
32
www.buysideintel.com
Winter 2018