Currently work on the buy side as an institutional fixed income trader in Canada. I am interested in moving to the sell side. Being a large insitutional investor in Canada means we deal with every bank I’d like to move to. My question is, how do I approach banks as an interested applicant while also being a client?
Obviously reaching out to recruiters is the first step and not directly to sales/trading staff…, but eventually my resume would hit their desks while we were still in a client position. Is it better to just be forthright with the sales/trading people we deal with from the getgo? It would put the bank in a position where my employer may percieve them as “stealing talent”. Or is having it turn up on their desk (should it get that far) a better way of indicating that you’d like to work there. Quiting my job before applying is also not a desireable option.
Been through this before. I’d say talk to the brokers you know and trust. Brokers may not necessarily go out of their way to help if it means losing the client in the process. As you can imagine, pawning talent from the buyside does not bode well for the sell side/ buy side relationship, especially fixed income which is still very much OTC. I’d say select a few whom you trust and talk to them about making a switch. I did not move from buyside to sell side but from buy side to buy side via the sell side connections.
Thanks, Zigs. We’re a large enough fish in our market that we need all the banks to meet liquidity needs (we trade domestic securities exclusively), so at the worst it would just impact broker rank. If I received an offer, I’d be very transparent with my employer that I lead the initiative. That said, the banks may be more transparent than I would like and approach my employer in an effort to preserve the relationship. I’d have to manage that up front with them.
I should also add that I’m not in a terrible rush either; it’s just a long-term career move that I want to execute very carefully. I have a relationship with the firm prior to my employment here and don’t want to burn any bridges.