School of investment Banking India
I get ready to start my day at one of the top 10 Investment Banks in the world. Because I work in Operations, it is imperative for me to highlight key risks immediately and ensure resolution of my queries, especially in the present financial crisis or during stock market boom time. I need to make certain my phone call does not lose millions of dollars due to my negligence.
11:00 AM
My day begins with the launch of 12 applications ranging from different risk management systems, reconciliation platforms, excel sheets, query management tools, Bloomberg terminals and my Outlook inbox on my system.
11:30 AM
I check if my London office has resolved and booked my EuroStoxx 50 trades. I, then, check if my trader or my London office teams have responded to my discrepancies raised yesterday. This needs to happen before the London trading hours begin.
12:00 PM
I reconcile new derivatives and securities positions between front office and the settlement systems; this will help reduce any risk that may lead to settlement failure or risk financial loss.
Operations exposes you to the entire life cycle of a trade starting with initiation right up to execution, settlement and reconciliation.
1:30 AM
I break for lunch with my team colleagues. We chat about global markets, escalations or new team activities coming up at the end of the week.
Global Operations provides you with an in-depth understanding of products in Equity and Fixed Income including cash products like stocks and derivative products like interest rate swaps.
2:00 PM
After lunch, I reconcile the books of many complex trading desks ranging from flow desks to structured exotic desks. I review daily reports and escalator if there are any issues on data integrity to technology and senior management teams. This may have severe implications with the regulators so I implement best risk mitigation procedures and ensure books and records are accurate.
4:00 PM
All through the day, I use my product and process skills to communicate with external clients, local and global management teams, traders, other asset class teams, regulator and my support functions like technology for various operational aspects to resolve operational issues.
6:00 PM
I have a 1:1 session with the HR Manager to obtain general feedback on my required Soft Skills training.
Operations gives you an opportunity to work across a variety of divisions and functions helping you dissect the workings of the whole firm and its functions.
6:30 PM
I work on strategic projects to implement key processes for new derivative product launches across Hong Kong and other Asia pacific market. Along with that, I submit a detailed analysis of the products and its key processes and give specific requirements to my technology partners. This will enable the business to have a strategic footprint across Asian markets for it specialist products.
