[ MEET THE DESK | RBC BLUEBAY ASSET MANAGEMENT ’ S LONDON FIXED INCOME DESK ]
Future synergies As a hybrid product that bridges equities and bonds , it is likely an area where the desk could see more synergies following its absorption by RBC . Now sitting on the same trading floor as the equities desk , the two teams are able to collaborate more on cross-product client strategies . Convertibles typically trade in smaller size in comparison with credit but this makes relationships equally as important , says Steel . “ I would rather rely on my relationships and my own maths to make sure that we ' re getting the right execution . Talking to someone , I can get a better execution than putting it on a blank screen . But on those days , where I ' m incredibly busy , those electronic trades really come in handy because if I ' ve got 180 trades to do , realistically , doing them all manually , I could probably give my all to 50-60 of them ,” he says .
“ Prices on runs generally work in about two million a side . I know that if I ' ve got a 30 million trade to do , I can work out the best price without having to ask anyone and then ask one of my best relationships to get me that price in the size . The trust is a big thing because problems occur if they come back and say they can ’ t do it . Then I either have to let them
“ There tends to be three prices in every trade - where the PM thinks it is , where I think it is and where the bank thinks it is . It ’ s very rare those are in line .”
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“ They ' re integral to the investment decision making process and they are working side by side with the senior PMs that lead those strategies .”
BEN THOMPSON
STUART CAMPBELL
work on it or open up to someone else what I am doing and that isn ’ t something I want to do . Letting them work on it might mean we do 10 million and then I have to pay more for the next 10 million and then more again for the final 10 million .”
Newest to the developed markets trading team at RBC BlueBay Asset Management is Anita Kaur who covers investment grade credit , FX , rates and repo alongside Silk and Grimstead . Kaur joined the firm seven years ago , moving onto the trading desk four years later . As a jack of all trades , she covers most developed markets products . For her , it is the ability to consume information and communicate effectively that makes a successful trader .
“ It might look like as though you ’ re sat there trading and negotiating prices all day , but in actual fact there ' s quite a lot of price discovery that happens beforehand that you need to be able to relay back to PMs and senior traders ,” she explains .
“ Even if you ' re not trading and you don ' t have something active to do - the data that ' s coming to you is going to heavily influence how your day goes and whether a PM wants to make an active investment . It ' s having a general awareness of what people are interested in and relaying information back to risk takers . You need to have an eye on all markets and what information , or news might be coming out and who it ' s relevant for and making sure that your PM sees that information as soon as possible .”
Emerging markets The desk ’ s emerging markets business is split up by local and hard currencies . Fixed income is naturally a different beast to equities when it comes to liquidity , but dive deeper still and you ’ ll find some of the most nuanced liquidity landscapes can be found in the emerging markets across both local and hard currencies .
“ Liquidity always plays a bit more of a role in the EM Local markets ,” says emerging markets trader , David Watling who covers emerging markets local FX , rates and bonds and has been with BlueBay for almost two decades . “ There are also the technicalities