Trader Career Guide

To achieve their goal of generating profits for their clients, traders have five main tasks:

• Analysing financial, economic and geopolitical situations

International fluctuations, whether economic or geopolitical, in Europe, the United States and elsewhere, have an impact on the stock markets. The trader’s main task is therefore to constantly monitor these global markets in order to identify opportunities and anticipate risks.

• Buy and sell stock market assets

This is the core of a trader’s job: buying and selling securities in order to generate profits. These experts invest in assets that they believe will be promising in the future.

However, what makes the job demanding is that these investments are often based on speculation, which requires quick decision-making and exposes traders to intense pressure. Each transaction can earn their clients a lot of money, but it can also cause them to lose money.

• Advising clients on appropriate investment strategies

Traders support and advise their clients on strategic decisions. At the forefront of the markets, their position as observers makes them valuable advisors.

• Communicating with colleagues and other stakeholders

Working in a trading room involves maintaining constant communication with other colleagues, counterparts, interbank stakeholders and specialists in order to discuss quotes and news.

• Coordinating a team of trading professionals

After a few years of experience, traders may be called upon to coordinate a team of professionals. They are then responsible for managing trading operations and strategies on a more global scale

The different specialisations in trading

A trader may choose to specialize. They then trade in very specific types of investments or a specific financial product.

• Day trader: a professional who specializes in buying and reselling the same security within 24 hours.
• Forex (FX) trader: an expert in the foreign exchange market and currency transactions.
• Commodity trader: negotiator of raw materials (gold, wheat, soybean oil, etc.).
• Binary options: professional dealing in price rises and falls over a short period.
• Oil trader: specialist in oil, from exploration to imports and production.
• Energy trader: expert in green, fossil and electrical energy, etc.

The job of a trader does not require frequent travel. On the contrary, their work mainly takes place in a trading room or office. A trader can work:

• As an employee of a company: they work for a bank, investment fund, stockbroker or other financial institution. As an employee, they manage financial transactions on behalf of the company that employs them.
• As a freelancer for a portfolio of clients: with self-employed status, a trader can work as a freelancer for clients (companies, banks, corporations). They then manage their clients’ financial investments while remaining independent.
• As a self-employed person working on their own account: some traders choose to buy and sell securities on their own account. However, few of them make a living from this; it is often considered a supplementary source of income.

After several years in the business, some traders choose to leave trading to become wealth managers. They are then responsible for the financial assets of their clients (often private individuals) and assist them in their investment choices.

Whether working for stockbrokers or companies, financial analysts analyse an organisation’s financial strategy and issue recommendations for optimising it based on identified areas for improvement. In companies, they often work closely with senior management and assist in decision-making.

Senior traders can become market makers. These managers ensure the liquidity of financial markets. How? By buying and selling assets.

Their mission is to reduce the spread between the purchase and sale prices in order to stabilize trading and manage the risk associated with price fluctuations.