I have been working in this global investment bank for the past 2 years now… There are so much to do but the bonus always fall short of expectations … I am now offered move to a prop trading firm, luring me by saying they used to pay bigger bonus… I m in a mid/back office role currently but relatively a senior/ team lead role… I don’t know if I should make this move here… Pros are more $ n bonus potential Cons are leaving a big bank and as a team lead position What do u think guys? What do u think guys?
I’d move if I were you, in the mo/bo the bonus always falls short, besides that, there’s nothing quite like the adrenaline of the trading floor imo. I’m still a student and will be in sales from next year, working as an intern now with the same team I got the full time offer from. My first internship was in mo/bo and I for one would not go back.
Prop trading is fun, but exit opps will depend on reputation of trading house. If you can somehow get the info about the profiles of traders there, and where they move from there, that would be great. I know some really good people in prop trading house who are unable to move from an unknown prop trading shop, and loss makers at recognized trading shops grabbing solid exit opps. It really really depends on the reputation of shop, and of course how bad@ass you are. Moreover, you are new into this line (and remember it’s an art), and finding a good mentor is extremely important here. Also, you must (if you can) inquire that for how long the trading team is functioning, and if they are rocking or still struggling to become a profit making unit. So a place where there aren’t any experienced traders, and everyone doing their own stuff… is no fun at all, it’ll be exciting at start but after some time you’ll feel trapped, reinventing the wheel is no fun at all. As I feel, trading is more art than science, it’s more about practice and experience. So if you have some experienced and and really smart traders around, your development as a trader will be 10x or even 100x faster than someone who’s trying to figure out everything on his/her own. Still, it’s just an average case scenario, you might be as smart as (if not more) Ken Griffin, and figure out everything on your own and make a killing. I know there are people in prop trading houses taking millions of dollars in bonus without any pedigree, but such instances are rare, still… your interest in trading will decide much of your success here. Moreover, you must find out (if you can), how’s the environment there, do they have people who really like trading, or most of them are randomers (happens lot with prop trading), it’s a job very easy to hate because of stress and challenge, if the environment is depressing (i.e. people hate their job there, and most of them doesn’t know why they are there, or what they want to do), then it would be no fun at all, unless you are someone who can dive into his/her screen and not care about what’s and who’s around! It’s an easy choice for a fresher, but you have 2 years of career progression, so check for everything, not just money, big bonus potential is always there in any prop trading shop. That’s just my perspective, I also had some offers from prop trading firms which I rejected and I’m also continuously trying to break into trading, haven’t found a good launching pad yet.
monki Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What do u think guys? JUMP!!! big banks will always take you back…and when you come back you’ll be like Crash Davis from Bull Durham (telling the kids stories of what it was like to be in the show…)
What is the turnover for the prop trading firm?
Have you ever traded before?
Let me clarify… my option is to move from an investment bank MO/BO role to a Prop trading firm FO role, but not in trading. Probably similar to what I am doing right now but for FO.
monki Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Let me clarify… my option is to move from an > investment bank MO/BO role to a Prop trading firm > FO role, but not in trading. Probably similar to > what I am doing right now but for FO. O.o I can’t even comprehend what is such role in a prop trading firm which will offer more $ in bonus than IB BO/MO. And what is the role, are you talking about risk management?
monki Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Let me clarify… my option is to move from an > investment bank MO/BO role to a Prop trading firm > FO role, but not in trading. Probably similar to > what I am doing right now but for FO. I don’t quite understand. Does the prop trading firm have MO/BO people at all? If so, what is the difference between the job that you were offered and what the MO/BO people do? Anyway, from your description, it seems like you are making a decision based on the risk/money trade off. Maybe it would help to try to quantify the risk and money. That is, try to get some information like turnover at the prop firm, advancement opportunities, and compensation growth.
monki Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Let me clarify… my option is to move from an > investment bank MO/BO role to a Prop trading firm > FO role, but not in trading. Probably similar to > what I am doing right now but for FO. Probably a better idea to try and transfer internally to an FO position at your current employer. Obviously that’s easier said than done. Good luck. m
I’m trying to think of his job and I keep coming up with Currently: Goldman Sachs, janitor, cleans up vomit in the accounting dept. New Job: SAC Capital, janitor, cleans up puke on trading floor. I guess it depends on whether you like cleaning hot dog or foie gras puke. I would personally just follow the money and not worry about the puke.
I actually had someone contact me about a job at SAC Capital and ask if I was interested… scary.
There r many possibilities here, maybe IT developer or financial analyst (eg accountant) ???
Since you equated financial analyst to an accountant, I am really trying to wonder what are your doing in finance. sadly, JDV is correct, no hard feelings. Stay where you are and keep earning what you are earning right now, and relax, switch only when you figure out what you really want to do, that’s the best advice!
JoeyDVivre Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’m trying to think of his job and I keep coming > up with > > Currently: Goldman Sachs, janitor, cleans up vomit > in the accounting dept. > > New Job: SAC Capital, janitor, cleans up puke on > trading floor. > > I guess it depends on whether you like cleaning > hot dog or foie gras puke. I would personally > just follow the money and not worry about the > puke. i was trying to come up with an answer to this post yesterday and this is almost exactly what i was coming up with. in other words - same shat, different plat
Lol where did u come up w that conclusion buddy? You have no idea of what you are talking about! Some financial analyst are indeed accountants , i did not equate the 2 role tho.
monki Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > i did not equate the 2 role tho. could you then? what’s this about, anyway? you can’t make your own decision so everyone is supposed to randomly guess and hold your hand?
I try: business analyst for a front FO trading system (team is in BO), to FO trading trading system analyst
monki Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I try: > business analyst for a front FO trading system > (team is in BO), to FO trading trading system > analyst jump - the worst thing that will happen is you’ll get a raise to stay. if the new position isn’t full time, make sure your contract is good for at least 2 years.