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Mike Poole has good manners
Jupiter ’ s new head of trading tells LAURIE MCAUGHTRY why execution trumps automation , why relationships are top priority … and why he minds his Ps and Qs when it comes to trading etiquette .
Jupiter Asset Management , the London-based , LSE-listed investment manager with assets under management of around £ 47.4 billion , recently promoted former head of fixed income Mike Poole to run its trading desk . He sits down with The TRADE to discuss his career to date , his strong feelings about the future of trading – and the direction in which he ’ d like to steer the firm he has called home for the past 17.5 years .
Learning the ropes Poole joined Jupiter back in March 2005 as a lowly dealing desk assistant . “ We ’ d just taken on our OMS for the first time , so it wasn ’ t quite paper tickets , but we weren ’ t far off .”
His job was to help the equity traders sort out queries , listen in on phone calls , and assist them with the organisation of elements such as IPOs and secondary offerings . “ We used to have a big white board in the office , and I would put up all the information to make sure the fund managers could see . A collaborative effort has always been a big part of the trading floor here , and my job was to grease those wheels .”
He saw quickly that the two-way communication between traders and fund managers was vital , and as a desk junior without any real execution experience , just wanted to take it all in . “ It was information by osmosis . When it comes to trading , you listen in , you learn how it goes , and you learn the etiquette . That ’ s the key thing about a place like Jupiter – it ’ s all about the etiquette . How you ’ re seen , not just by internal stakeholders like fund managers , risk , compliance , but by external parties : sell-side , brokers , ultimately clients . For example ,
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