[ B U Y- S I D E C O V E R | T O B Y B A K E R ]
Head of foreign exchange trading at T. Rowe Price, Toby Baker, began his career in trading like most young traders looking to start out in this industry- grafting for work experience wherever he could and then capitalising on an empty seat on a desk as soon as one arose.
He first caught the trading bug after doing work experience at the London Stock Exchange when he was 14, solidifying his desire to work within the markets when he finished school. After landing a role at the London Stock Exchange and subsequently working in settlements and middle-office roles at various firms, he finally arrived at T. Rowe Price 24 years ago.
“ Back in the day, you could jump from one job to another quite quickly by temping. It’ s a shame because there is less of that nowadays,” he says.“ I started at Japanese bank Daiwa in a settlements role and one day their trader decided to leave quite quickly and they looked around the desk and saw me sitting there and gave me my opportunity.”
FX as a linchpin For Baker, joining the foreign
“ Anything that can reduce trillions of dollars getting pumped around on a daily basis is going to be a cost and efficiency saving.”
16 // TheTRADE // Q2 2025