Do traders look down risk managers?

[wkdwnstjdTprtm]

I heard that traders look down on risk managers. And because of the nature of their jobs, they always conflict with each other. What's the reality of the work environment for traders and risk managers like? I want to work as a risk manager in the future

 

[rnvpx]

don't know the answer to this but if you're not at market risk, you'll probably work at the back office (location wise). There risk management's the creme of the crop. Work environment's great, you work 40 hours a week, and can take PTO whenever you want. It's a great life

 

[Ken Abbott]

I heard that traders look down on risk managers. And because of the nature of their jobs, they always conflict with each other. What's the reality of the work environment for traders and risk managers like? I want to work as a risk manager in the future

This has not been my experience. Certainly you get the occasional egomaniac that looks down on everyone (they usually don't last) but it's more of a partnership.

Consider: the regulatory burden is here to stay. Traders don't have to like it, but they do have to deal with it. Most of those regulatory issues are linked to risk. Risk managers reduce that burden and traders know that. Risk management also provides analytical support and helps address infrastructure issues.

Empirically, I can tell you that as a senior risk manager, my calls, emails, and texts get returned when I contact senior trading management or the board. When I do a "drive-by" of the office of the head trader or America's CEO and they're busy, I get a call back. Immediately.

 

[Liam]

I heard that traders look down on risk managers. And because of the nature of their jobs, they always conflict with each other. What's the reality of the work environment for traders and risk managers like? I want to work as a risk manager in the future

My original role was as a quant with market risk reporting. It really depends upon the firm, but these days traders have to listen to risk. Some firms you might be running risk reports and generally working on projects where the time pressure is small, other firms you might be routinely asked to approve trades valued at $00m under high pressure.

Either way interaction with traders has always been professional for me. Risk is often middle office and not exposed to the same politics as front office. I think you'll only get stress from traders if you're in front office and the few times I've had bad run-ins with traders were with ones that I knew socially, NOT through work.

And, tbh, the biggest stressors I had when I worked in finance were never traders, rather people that have never set foot in a financial firm. Some non-finance people will endlessly lecture you about your career - personally I found this vastly more stressful than any interactions with traders, particularly as non-finance friends and family routinely and disrespectfully ignored the fact that I had experience in finance (hence knew what I was taking about) and they didn't. Just pray it isn't a partner or spouse that pulls this on you.

 

[angelina]

And, tbh, the biggest stressors I had when I worked in finance were never traders, rather people that have never set foot in a financial firm. Some non-finance people will endlessly lecture you about your career - personally I found this vastly more stressful than any interactions with traders, particularly as non-finance friends and family routinely and disrespectfully ignored the fact that I had experience in finance (hence knew what I was taking about) and they didn't. Just pray it isn't a partner or spouse that pulls this on you.

couldn't agree more. I remember sitting at a dinner, where someone that read some books and watched some wall street movies start talking about IB to everyone else on the table. And I ... didn't know if I should say something or not...

 

[JLevin]

In general, traders also want to properly manage their risks, so even purely from a business perspective it's advantageous to collaborate with risk teams. I'd say this leads to greater firm profits and therefore greater bonuses. Whether firm-wide set risk limits are adequate or not is a different (more heated) question. Anyway, I haven't come across many (or any) condescending traders... I doubt they'd last long

 

[CarlosR]

Hello interesting question, I currently work as an account manager, mainly investment in forex market, it is really hard at the beginning to open market, but little by little and with good results of management and constant profits, I have managed to grow my client portfolio and really I feel comfortable managing money from others, the psychology of trading is very crucial, as well as keeping emotions out