Discover a day in the life of a female Trader, in a company that challenges the status quo and brings efficiency, transparency, and innovation to global financial markets. Jiani LI decided to join Flow Traders about three years ago, as she believed Trading would challenge her in the right way and give her constant intellectual stimulation.

She first got interested in trading during university, thanks to the combination of “maths and seeing the immediate results of your work, something that sounded very cool to me. Career fairs definitely helped as well.”

Today, she is a Trader on the Fixed Income desk and is based in Amsterdam. She shared more about what a typical day looks like as a Trader, the fast-paced environment, collaboration with others, as well as her challenges.

“I usually go to the office at 07:35 AM and start by getting some breakfast from the great breakfast buffet (we even have pancakes and waffles every Friday). Then, I join my team at the desk and we go over all of our theoretical valuations of products, as well as look at the financial news in the world. We also need to ensure we get our pricing right before 09:00 AM, this is when the stock exchanges open in Europe.”

“The day mainly consists of constantly monitoring what kind of trades our trading systems are executing. For example, if a pension fund suddenly wants to buy or sell 100 million of financial products, in bonds for instance, we will manually look at what kind of quote we can provide to them. 

We are also constantly working on improving our algorithms so that we can quote even more efficiently and tighter, and hedge even cheaper and better together with our tech and quant teams. 

Then at around 17:30 PM, the stock exchanges in Europe close, at this time we reflect upon the day together as a team. 

I usually go home around 18:30-19:00 PM. Personally, I think these hours are manageable, however, it can feel intense at times as we need to keep a close eye on everything. Luckily, we work together as a team, with everyone providing their input and expertise.  

As you may have realized by now, I have used a lot of “we” in my answers. Me and my team talk about the possibilities, evaluate situations together and most importantly, support and advise each other.”

“I think there are a few things that good traders have in common. All Traders are analytical with a very strong affinity for numbers. The Traders enjoy working in a team, are able to make quick decisions under pressure, and are competitive. Most importantly, a good Trader must be interested in financial markets and enjoy the fast-paced environment and excitement of trading.”

“I really enjoy the fast-paced environment at Flow Traders, there is always a sense of excitement and things happening. Everyone has the opportunity to get involved in developing new strategies and trading models. Once you have a new idea, it’s discussed and can be implemented quickly. 

At Flow Traders, there is also a very strong team-driven way of working, I don’t only work together with my direct team but also with other desks, software developers, quant researchers, and other departments in the organisation at a global level. Through this close collaboration ideas get challenged and refined, not only by your own team but also by other departments.”

Trading is an exciting career path to pursue, if you have a strong affinity with numbers, but also enjoy a fast-paced working environment where team work is essential.