Sales
These teams are the interface between the various clients of the investment banking markets division and its trading businesses. This is a client facing role where a salesperson “covers” a client. They provide market insight and information regarding pricing, flows, ideas and suggestions on appropriate investment solutions to their clients. They are responsible for connecting the client with the appropriate resources of the bank (research, strategy, commentary, trading).
Individuals in Sales roles deal with inquiries from investors looking to trade, who will relay and quote pricing from the trading desks, or enable clients to trade electronically directing with the bank.
Sales people are charged with setting up or “onboarding” a client to the business so that they can trade with their firm. This may take many forms of specific documentation to understand who the client is, where their source of funding is from, ensuring this matches the banks risk profile for trading with them. The onboarding processes incorporate completing a broad range of documentation to ensure the bank has completed a level of due diligence on the clients.
Specifically, this will mean Know Your Client (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML) reviews, various forms of Suitability checks and putting in place the appropriate legal documentation to govern the nature of the trading relationship. In some instances, this may be a series of representations and warranties, in other instances this may be an ISDA document and various collateral schedules.
Sales functions are nuanced based on the markets business, for the moment we will consider an Equities division, looking at two sales functions that exist within it.
Typical clients covered may include Pension Funds, Insurance Companies, Asset Managers, Hedge Funds and Private Banks. In future posts we will dig deeper into the various roles across the market’s businesses.
Sales
Equity Sales teams focus on the same client base as the Sales Trading teams however interface with the Portfolio Managers and the Asset Allocating teams who determine where capital is deployed and into what specific sectors and securities. These sales teams provide market knowledge and suggestions on the sectors and securities to the clients and connect the banks research divisions, as a paid for service, with the client.
Sales Trading
Equity Sales Trading teams handle the day-to-day flows of the investor client base into and out of the markets trading businesses. This may be in the form of a “High Touch” or “Low Touch” solution. “High Touch solutions” are typically when a sales trader is calling a client or taking a specific order from a client to manage on their behalf into the market. While a “Low Touch” solution is where the client has been enabled to trade with the bank electronically and the sales trader manages the flows into the bank, usually this activity is called Direct Market Access (DMA) or possibly under a Portfolio Trading solution. Fast paced and driven by flows it’s a role that demands attention to detail, a clear understanding of the market and its structure to be able to articulate clearly to the clients what is happening and maybe even a view on why.
Summary
Sales roles within the markets division are client facing, demanding, require great interpersonal and communication skills, attention to detail and a clear understanding of both the client’s business needs and the markets divisions capabilities to help shape credible solutions for the client that match the risk appetite of the bank. A salesperson delivers value by pitching ideas to a client to drive the trading flows within the bank. This is a challenging, fast paced and ever-changing role that will evolve as the market, client and bank’s business evolves.