Demystifying Sales & Trading

May 15, 2024

Today, in 5 minutes or less:

👉️ Upcoming events

👉️ Intro to Sales & Trading

👉️ Content picks of the week

👉️ Job opportunities you should care about

Upcoming events

Interested in exploring different business careers and hearing from experienced professionals? Look out for upcoming FREE events throughout the summer and school year. It’s the perfect opportunity to learn about different career paths and network with industry professionals. 

📢 Intro to Sales & Trading (May 20th, RSVP 👉️ here)

📢 Intro to Management Consulting (June 3rd, RSVP 👉️ here)

📢 Intro to Private Equity (June 9th, RSVP 👉️ here)

Demystifying Sales & Trading

Sales & Trading (S&T) is a group within investment banks and financial institutions that buys and sells various financial products such as stocks and bonds on behalf of clients or the institution itself.

S&T has come a long way from those classic Wall Street movies with frantic traders shouting "BUY BUY BUY" while waving around pieces of paper. Nowadays, it's all about multi-monitor setups and Bloomberg Terminals, with traders plugged into the market action through their trusty AirPods.

The 1980s vs. today

New York Stock Exchange — Circa: 1980

Classic S&T setup — Circa: today

But what do sales and traders actually do? Let's break it down.

Sales vs. Trading: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Sales

First up, we've got the sales side. These are the smooth talkers, the relationship builders. They're the ones building connections between the investment bank and its clients, whether they're asset managers, hedge funds, or pension funds. Their main job? To have a finger on the market's pulse and spot investment opportunities for clients, convincing them that they're in for a profit.

⚡️ Example: A salesperson at Goldman Sachs informs institutional clients about Apple's new share issuance, highlighting its benefits and persuading them to consider purchasing the shares.

Trading

And then there are the traders. These are the executors, the market fanatics. Their job? To execute trades on behalf of clients or the bank itself. They're glued to their desks (not literally, but you get the idea), analyzing market data and finding those golden trading opportunities across various sectors like foreign exchange (Forex), fixed income, equities, and commodities.

⚡Example: Upon receiving news of Apple's new share issuance, traders at Goldman Sachs swiftly analyze market conditions and execute buy orders for clients, maximizing profit potential.

How do Sales & Trading fit into an investment bank?

How exactly does Sales & Trading fit into the investment banking puzzle? Last week, we delved into investment banking, and you might be wondering: if sales & traders work at an investment bank, shouldn't they be considered investment bankers? Technically, yes, but when most people talk about investment bankers, they're usually referring to those handling mergers & acquisitions or capital markets.

Source: WallStreetPrep

Sales & Trading is actually one of the many groups that fall under what’s called a “full-service” investment bank (see above for a handy chart).

How much can Sales & Traders make?

Similar to traditional investment bankers, sales & traders can rake in a base salary of around $100k plus a performance-based bonus. All in, you could be looking at anywhere between $120,000 to $180,000 right out of school. And here's the kicker—it's one of the few junior finance gigs outpacing inflation. Bonuses at the junior level have skyrocketed by over 50% since last year.💰

Source: ShortSqueez

Want to learn more about Sales & Trading and how to break in?

On Monday, May 20th, StepStone is hosting a free intro to Sales & Trading event. Led by one of our coaches, Adam H., a former Barclays Sales & Trading analyst, networking guru and experienced mentor. As a Rutgers University student, Adam successfully navigated undergrad recruitment to land a top Sales & Trading role out of school. He also has a passion for mentorship. Adam founded a non-profit organization designed to help students break into top finance roles and has since coached over 20 students in landing various roles.

What we’re reading

I’m not saying we can tell the future, but we were spot on including Roaring Kitty in a meme on last week’s newsletter

Bonus chart of the week 👇️ 

Source: Axios Pro Rata

What we’re watching

What we’re laughing at

Context: There is a running joke (it happens all the time) across Wall Street: senior people in finance will reply to a mistake a junior makes with a lone “pls fix.” Bill Ackman, one of the most successful hedge fund investors in the world, got "pls fix'd" by a random person on X last week

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