A BUY-SIDE HEAD
TRADER'S PERSPECTIVE
The head trader panel at the 7 th annual
Alpha Trader Forum (ATF) Global Summit
held in London on 6 th & 7 th February was
enlightening and thought provoking. The
human element of the trader is often
forgotten within the discussions about the
latest technologies, data and how to act in
the best interest of our clients.
We established the various factors that
motivates traders in their roles and the
lack of contingency measures in place
within some firms for staff absences and
redundancies. The fixed income and FX buy
side reported a significantly higher level
of “burn-outs” within their trading teams
compared to their equity trading peers. A
prominent head trader highlighted that his
firm has stand-in trading personnel to cover
for paternity/maternity leave and holidays.
The buy side and sponsors discussed the
reasons to why only 10% of the buy-side
traders are women and the multitude
of challenges to transform the buy-side
community with a higher level of diversity.
The exquisite head trader panel, consisting
of leading buy-side women, unveiled their
interesting careers and how they operate
their trading teams.
Eden Simmer (PIMCO), Cathy Gibson (RLAM) and Vernita Exum
(Vanguard) at the 7 th annual ATF Global Summit 2019
A big thank you to Cathy Gibson (RLAM),
Eden Simmer (PIMCO), Vernita Exum
(Vanguard), Louise Drummond (Aberdeen
Standard Investments) and Sharon Ruffles
(State Street Global Advisors) for their
contribution over the two day global
summit.
Anita Karppi (K&KGC), Louise Drummond (Aberdeen Standard Investments) and Sharon Ruffles
(SSGA) at the 7 th annual ATF Global Summit 2019
Spring 2019
www.buysideintel.com
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