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Grace Atuwaogu, Assistant Vice President, Foreign Exchange Institutional Sales, London

How did you hear about Barclays Capital?

At university, a friend told me about her banking internship. I was intrigued but initially thought, ‘I’m studying psychology: does that mean I can’t apply?’ After attending several employer presentations, I was happy to hear that most organisations would accept applicants with good academic results in any discipline. Doing more research, and a summer internship, confirmed my feeling that sales would suit me – it involves building relationships with clients and colleagues, and I’m very sociable and enjoy communicating.

What is your current role and what does it involve?

I work in foreign exchange (FX) sales and my clients are institutions such as pension funds and insurance companies. Because these clients are also active in the financial services industry, their involvement in finance is mostly for investment purposes. I speak regularly with them, discussing FX markets and financial markets in general. I need to make the most of our research resources in order to be able to advise clients and offer them trade ideas. I’m also the main point of contact when clients want to execute a trade, so I have to be responsive and quick – if a client needs a price right away, even a 30 second wait is too long. For this reason, I have lots of different screens on my desk, and clients can contact me via e-mail, Bloomberg or phone. I then need to communicate with traders to tell them exactly what the client wants to do. I have to be very clear, as accuracy is crucial.

What’s your typical day?

05:00

Wake up. On my way into work I catch up on developments in the business and finance arena.

06:45

Arrive at my desk and log in to all my client forums.

06:45-07:00

Go through my emails and read the overnight summaries from colleagues in New York and Singapore (FX is a 24hr market with three main centres: London, New York and Singapore.) I have a quick glance at other markets such as Equities, Commodities and Fixed Income/Government Bonds for a holistic view on the financial markets. FX is a volatile asset class, and movements in other markets can affect the direction of currencies. For example there are a number of established cross-asset correlations that we monitor.

07:05-07:25

Attend the daily morning meeting with Sales, Trading and Research. This is important as we hear the main views of our research analysts, and get information about significant trading activity overnight or the day before. I occasionally speak in this meeting on behalf of my team. During these meetings I make notes; attention to detail is key, especially when noting more technical information that will form the basis of the trade recommendations I disseminate to my clients.

07:35-08.00

I write up a short summary of what was discussed in the morning meetings, my views for the day ahead and the occasional trade idea. I then send this out to my clients. I aim to have this done before 8am.

08:00-08.30

I call some clients to talk about the markets and their trading strategies. Sales involves relationship management, therefore building rapport with clients is key. I alternate the clients I call from day to day, but I send them market background all day every day.

08:30-12:00

Anything can happen, as I work on a ‘flow’ desk and in the main FX centre. Daily trading volumes in FX are said to be around $1 trillion! Amidst all the financial market turmoil, there is still a healthy demand for foreign exchange, so things are rarely quiet. I never know when my clients will call me to ask for a price or information on a particular currency. What’s important to bear in mind is that as Sales people, we are there to offer the full suite of our company’s financial products. So, I always try to think of trade ideas to pitch to clients. It is also important to be proactive and listen out for what colleagues are selling, as you can suggest the same ideas/products to your own clients.

11:30-13:00

I grab lunch. Due to the nature of our business, Sales and Trading tend to eat lunch at our desks.

13:00-17:00

US equities open at midday so there is a bit of a buzz in FX markets again. Also, there are usually important economic data releases from the US that could potentially move the market, so I watch out for that.

17:00-18.00

The trading book is passed over to our colleagues in New York and my clients start to leave for the day. I spend the rest of the time checking all my trades and liaising with colleagues about the day’s events and the week ahead.

18:00-18.30

Home time; after a fast-paced day, I go to the gym to unwind!

What are your favourite aspects of your job?

I enjoy solving problems for clients. For instance, if they are thinking about a certain trade then perhaps I can suggest a better trade that costs less. I need to be proactive in contacting clients to discuss views on the market, listening to what they have to say and inspiring debate without dominating the conversation. If I’m well-informed, helpful and reliable then they will think of me when they want to trade. I like getting good feedback – initially I was assigned clients with small accounts that didn’t trade much but since I’ve built good relationships, the trading volumes have picked up dramatically.

What skills do you need for your role?
Attention to detail, strong verbal communication skills and a high standard of numeracy are vital. It’s also crucial that I can multitask effectively and operate at my best under pressure.