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A career in the Front Office at an Investment Bank or a Private Bank is where many young graduates aspire to be. It is where the real breadwinners and the stars of the financial markets thrive. It has been an inspiration for many books and movies. But what is the front office at a financial institution? A financial services company is logically broken up into three parts: the front office includes sales personnel and corporate finance, the middle office manages risk and IT resources, and the back office provides administrative and support services.
Financial Markets: Every day, millions of financial products are traded in the secondary markets where traders buy and sell financial products after their initial issue – That happens in what’s called the ‘primary market’. In the secondary markets, salespeople advise clients on investment opportunities, while traders carry out the actual buying and selling of securities. The secondary markets are broadly divided into two categories, equities and fixed income (Bonds, corporate credit, government debt, currencies, interest rate products and other derivatives). To alleviate risk there is also a thriving derivatives market within both Equities and Fixed income. Sales, trading and research are each very distinct careers. Salespeople advise their clients – who might be rich individuals, pension funds or other institutional investors – when to buy and when to sell financial securities. Traders track the markets and buy and sell the products at the touch of a button. Your trading career will be defined both by what you trade (e.g. equities, foreign exchange (FX), or commodities) and by the kind of trader you are. Research roles focus on particular product types (e.g. equities or company debt) and particular industry sectors (e.g. pharmaceuticals, financial stocks, or leisure companies). Front Office Roles within Financial Markets can be Sales, Trading, Research and Broking.

Private Banking: As their name suggests, private wealth managers help very rich people to manage their money in private. Private bankers – who help clients invest their money wisely and avoid any risks that might reduce the value of their assets. They also offer tax and pension’s advice, help clients to develop a strategy for charitable giving, and advise them on bequeathing their wealth to the next generation. The clients of private wealth managers can be anyone from company chief executives to property tycoons, investment bankers, footballers, pop stars or members of privately run family businesses. Private Banks typically look for clients with at least $1m (£503k) to invest, but many deal only with clients whose financial assets are worth more than $30m. Front Office Roles within Private Banking can be Relationship Managers at levels like VP, SVP, Director, MD etc.

It can be very hard to embark upon a Financial Services career without proper guidance. A proper qualification gives you the skills necessary for the job and proper guidance can help you select the right job. For guidance there is no one better than a recruitment consultant who specializes within the Financial Services. Agreus specializes within Front Office roles at Investment Banks, Private Banks and Brokers and have privileged access to group of top tier companies. They provide guidance to their candidates about prevailing recruitment and salary trends, current market activity and interview preparations. To find out more information about Agreus please visit www.agreus.co.uk

Financial Services career Consultancy by Agreus