GUEST COMMENT: Believe me, Australia is no panacea for a failed City career

This time two years ago I was working as an institutional sales trader in one of the world's top financial hubs. I was in the thick of it, trading on behalf of some of the most respected names in finance.

I also had experience with two top-tier investment banks on my CV and had dealt with complex derivatives and structured products at a time when this area of finance was at its peak. I also have a CF and a Masters in Applied Finance. Yet in Australia I am struggling even to get interviews.

It seems that in the Australian sales and trading world there are only two paths to a successful career. One is to be taken on by a bank as a promising grad straight from uni and work your way up (which I can accept). The other (which is much harder to accept), is to use mum and dad's connections, get a job as a retail broker and shmooze your way across to the institutional desk.

The frustrating thing about this is that many of the people in the later category are of questionable talent, some barely passing an undergraduate degree, and knowing very little about how to actually value a security (let alone a derivative instrument).

One could be excused for thinking that many insto desks in Australia simply don't place as much value on technical expertise and a true value-added service. What's more surprising is that institutional clients accept this. Some of these dealers might as well be selling oranges for all they know about the underlying security or instrument.

In Europe and the UK there are two intake programs: the grad program (similar to Australia) and the associate program. The associate scheme takes people with finance masters and MBAs and place a strong emphasis on technical financial knowledge and relevant experience.

But in Australia associate programs largely do not exist. The frustrating part is that even the international banks that operate these programs overseas don't have them here. So at the moment I am now having to contemplate leaving my institutional career behind me and entering the retail world.

My formal qualifications and strong technical understanding, while mildly helpful, is largely becoming a waste of time and money in hindsight. At least I will be a master of my own destiny. Oranges anyone?

If you would like to get in touch with the author directly, please email frustratedinoz@gmail.com

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