Case studies : Financial trader: Victoria

Victoria is a vice president in credit trading at J.P. Morgan. She has a BA (Hons) in Maths from Trinity College, Cambridge, as well as a diploma in management studies from the Judge Institute, Cambridge.

After graduating, I completed an internship at J.P. Morgan. At the end of my internship, I secured a role as a full-time analyst in credit hybrids trading. The credit hybrids desk is a part of the global exotics trading team set up to trade hybrid credit, interest rate and FX (foreign exchange) products. After being on the team for a few years, I took on the role of associate. Now, I am a vice president on the credit trading desk.

My subject of study was relevant for securing a job in hybrids trading, which focuses on a more model-based trading framework. All trading requires you to be quantitatively focused, but a maths degree is certainly not a pre-requisite. My academic experience in economics has also been very useful now that I am involved in market-making.

Being on a market-making desk means our primary objective is to provide liquidity to our clients. Our clients range from financial institutions to corporates, and we enable them to take exposure and hedge themselves in the credit market. In an over-the-counter market, it is necessary to take risks ourselves, but in a disciplined manner, both to facilitate client flows and also provide good returns for the trading desk. Trading the index product is the most macro-orientated seat on a credit trading floor, with the widest client base and the most liquid underlying.

My typical day involves an early start, around 7am. In the morning, I read various media sources to catch up on any news and data releases that have happened since our market closed the night before. My team is responsible for market-making all the credit index products, which includes the pure vanilla market, including all off-the-run series, plus options on those. We are making live markets constantly during the open period (from about 7am to 4.30pm) and so someone on our team must always be up-to-speed and aware of any market-moving developments.

I have worked in various trading seats throughout my time at J.P. Morgan. As my role developed, I have become more directly responsible for risk decisions and eventually progressing to my own client lists with full autonomy. Being responsible for market-making a specific product also helps you develop relationships with the other areas of the bank, specifically sales and research. This enables better client relationships and information flow.

Credit has been very exciting over the past few years, and it’s at the top of every newspaper. It’s been extremely relevant and market-leading, and I’ve enjoyed having a front-row seat. I would suggest to any student or graduate who wants to enter the credit industry that an internship is the best way to learn more about the different roles available and to figure out if trading interests you. You should also have an interest in financial markets and it’s helpful to keep up with current events. There is a lot of information available in newspapers and online, so be sure to read as much as you can.

I find the financial markets very exciting; they are always moving and there is always new information. I like working in trading because I enjoy being able to express my own market views. However, because the financial markets are constantly moving, you cannot afford to miss a beat. It’s also very accountable, which is great because you are given a lot of responsibility early on.