Which desk to pick at DB London?

C

CHRISTO9HER

Active member
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Hi guys,

I am new on here, great site.

I have secured a trading internship at Deutsche Bank in London this summer and I get a free choice as to which 2 desks I want to be involved with.

Does anyone on here have any recommendations as to which areas DB excels at? I originally wanted to be involved in trading equities, would I be right in saying that DB isnt really a leader in equities? Would I be missing an opportunity to be on a better desk if I went there and selected an equity desk?

Thanks guys

C
 
CHRISTO9HER said:
Hi guys,

I am new on here, great site.

I have secured a trading internship at Deutsche Bank in London this summer and I get a free choice as to which 2 desks I want to be involved with.

Does anyone on here have any recommendations as to which areas DB excels at? I originally wanted to be involved in trading equities, would I be right in saying that DB isnt really a leader in equities? Would I be missing an opportunity to be on a better desk if I went there and selected an equity desk?

Thanks guys

C
Click to expand...

Welcome to T2W

I'd choose the one with a window :LOL:
 
The ones where the superstars are located, no matter what the desk.Mimic those ****ers.
 
I would appreciate some more opinions on this one guys....I mean if you were starting out and could pick a product to learn to trade at DB, what would it be??
 
CHRISTO9HER said:
I would appreciate some more opinions on this one guys....I mean if you were starting out and could pick a product to learn to trade at DB, what would it be??
Click to expand...


Hi,i started on the floor at the LIFFE so its a bit different, but if i knew THEN what i know NOW - i would say work on " YOUR DISCIPLINE AND PSYCHOLOGY " before anything else....!! the instrument you want to trade/think you want to trade and the firm you are at is irrelevant ... !! Thinking about " better desks " or what opportunities you " think " your going to miss by joining the wrong desk - is the wrong way of looking at it... !!
The city recruitment agencies are FULL of top grads etc who they place with all the big firms and they all want a shot at this ridiculously over hyped coveted job called " Trader " ... !! - LIke its all one massive " goldfish bowl " and they are on the outside -
They start and then crash and burn not understanding why..? :confused:
If you screw up - and one thing i can say, trading wise - you WILL loose money before you make it starting off ..!! - either your own, or a firms, the learning curve is the same -
Because when you do - (and that is a psychological hit you WILL have to take) - and keep on taking them you WILL have to - its YOUR responses to those " hits " and how YOU deal with them " mentally " that will make you decide if its for you or not ..!!
The flashy screens, big name city firms with big steel and glass city trading floors, the fast cars, the " possible " big money/bonus/lifestyle - the " goldfish bowl " arent the important thing..... !!
Its YOURSELF youve gotta work on ......... !! (y)
 
CHRISTO9HER said:
I would appreciate some more opinions on this one guys....I mean if you were starting out and could pick a product to learn to trade at DB, what would it be??
Click to expand...


Good luck with the Internship by the way - focus on those areas and you will be " LIGHT YEARS " ahead of the rest of them ..... !!

;)(y)
 
Thanks rogue trader that is great advice and I really appreciate it. I will try to always bear those words in mind through the tough times!

I do however have to email them in the next two weeks telling them which products I want to trade. Surely this cant be a completely irrelevant decision?

I am after any tips relating to specialist knowledge of which desks do well at DB London, as well as any other info on how to select a product according to personal characteristics.

Thanks dashing blade for the info on DB being good at OTC exotic equity derivatives, useful.

Cheers guys

C
 
You have to look at it from a future career point of view. Pick one area
and become an expert.

I'd go along with avoiding equities. The future could be inflationary so
Fixed Income, FX or Gold would be worth a look. IMO FX is good due to
the liquidity and flexible trading hours.

Rogue traders advice is good. Work on yourself and have the courage to
create your own ideas. Getting caught up in hysteria and rose-tinted
scenarios is how the city gets in a mess like the current.
 
equities about as much upside as a chocolate fireguard.

fixed income, otc markets got spread wider than a berlin whore's legs

that leaves.......making the coffee. take that one !
 
Their convertible bonds desk has a good reputation and it'll give you exposure to the worlds of bonds, equities, volatility and credit all at the same time. You'll also be getting coffees for secondary issue market makers, not just people doing sales. They might even do a primary issue while you're there.
 
Last edited:
CHRISTO9HER said:
I would appreciate some more opinions on this one guys....I mean if you were starting out and could pick a product to learn to trade at DB, what would it be??
Click to expand...
=================================================================

First, congratulations for getting the internship !

IMO, it would NOT be equities.

My own choice would be foreign exchange, followed by commodities and derivitives.


imho

mp
 
What two desks have you been offered? Bear in mind that most internships in markets involve rotation so you should get exposure to other desks by which time you will be able to make more of an informed decision if and when they make and you accept a grad. offer.
 
trading

CHRISTO9HER said:
Thanks rogue trader that is great advice and I really appreciate it. I will try to always bear those words in mind through the tough times!

I do however have to email them in the next two weeks telling them which products I want to trade. Surely this cant be a completely irrelevant decision?

I am after any tips relating to specialist knowledge of which desks do well at DB London, as well as any other info on how to select a product according to personal characteristics.

Thanks dashing blade for the info on DB being good at OTC exotic equity derivatives, useful.

1Cheers guys

C
Click to expand...



" I will try to always bear those words in mind through the tough times! "... !! -

(if you dont " bear those words in mind " - you wont even get to the point of being ABLE to experience those " tough times " .... !! :!:

forex
convertibles
derivatives - (forwards/options/swaps/exotics)
commodities
fixed income
New Issues
Old Issues
equities
flash computers
touch screens
25 monitors
big name banks
10 squawk boxes with 00s of people shouting in the background
being quick on the Play station 3


ITS ALL IRRELEVANT............ !! - its pointless looking in a car showroom ( the nice flash jazzy instruments) - when you dont know HOW TO DRIVE.... !!


You wanna impress the management...?? Ask YOURSELF what you think THEY are LOOKING FOR .... ??? :!:

You dont select instruments according to personality type........ !! Your " personality type " will dictate the " style of trading " YOUR comfortable at performing ..... !!

Get some grounding in some basic technical analysis - THAT more than ANYTHING will impress your " possible " future employers - !! (y)
Im sorry, its boring and probably not what you want to hear, but trading isnt about the technology,its about YOU and YOUR DISCIPLINE .... !!
If you havent already and i dont know the way they do it these days, but you might have to go through psychometric testing as well - im sure you realise they dont train traders by sending them off to Vegas or to Casino practice... !!

If they want you to email them back with some desks your keen on working on - hit them back by telling youd like the " opportunity " of working on ANY that will give you the most experience and exposure to the realities of REAL WORLD trading ... !! :!:(y)
 
CHRISTO9HER said:
Hi guys,

I am new on here, great site.

I have secured a trading internship at Deutsche Bank in London this summer and I get a free choice as to which 2 desks I want to be involved with.

Does anyone on here have any recommendations as to which areas DB excels at? I originally wanted to be involved in trading equities, would I be right in saying that DB isnt really a leader in equities? Would I be missing an opportunity to be on a better desk if I went there and selected an equity desk?

Thanks guys

C
Click to expand...

I would choose forex or fixed income. The guys I know who have got full time trading jobs with IBs after university are either in forex or fixed income. Although the market will probably be irrelevant, you'll just be working as a dealers assistant and that job is similar regardless of market.
 
theroguetrader said:
" I will try to always bear those words in mind through the tough times! "... !! -

(if you dont " bear those words in mind " - you wont even get to the point of being ABLE to experience those " tough times " .... !! :!:

forex
convertibles
derivatives - (forwards/options/swaps/exotics)
commodities
fixed income
New Issues
Old Issues
equities
flash computers
touch screens
25 monitors
big name banks
10 squawk boxes with 00s of people shouting in the background
being quick on the Play station 3


ITS ALL IRRELEVANT............ !! - its pointless looking in a car showroom ( the nice flash jazzy instruments) - when you dont know HOW TO DRIVE.... !!


You wanna impress the management...?? Ask YOURSELF what you think THEY are LOOKING FOR .... ??? :!:

You dont select instruments according to personality type........ !! Your " personality type " will dictate the " style of trading " YOUR comfortable at performing ..... !!

Get some grounding in some basic technical analysis - THAT more than ANYTHING will impress your " possible " future employers - !! (y)
Im sorry, its boring and probably not what you want to hear, but trading isnt about the technology,its about YOU and YOUR DISCIPLINE .... !!
If you havent already and i dont know the way they do it these days, but you might have to go through psychometric testing as well - im sure you realise they dont train traders by sending them off to Vegas or to Casino practice... !!

If they want you to email them back with some desks your keen on working on - hit them back by telling youd like the " opportunity " of working on ANY that will give you the most experience and exposure to the realities of REAL WORLD trading ... !! :!:(y)
Click to expand...

Dear RogueTrader,

What a fantastic horse you are sitting on, its one of the highest that I have seen for a while!! If I could tempt you down from the splendid beast for a moment or two then that would be great......you can get back up later.

Almost everything that you have said is true, concerning discipline, learning technical analysis etc. Some great points.

BUT, I will now explain why the decision is not "irrelevant". I am on an internship in which they convert over 70% of the intake into graduate employees. Last year they converted 100% of the intake from my particular university. When you are offered a graduate contract, it is usually DESK SPECIFIC and more often than not one of the two desks that you have been working on in the internship.

A case study:

A close friend of my older brother got a trading internship at a large european investment bank 4 years ago. He decided that he wanted to trade UK interest rates, (mainly gilts), without doing much research on whether the firm was any good at trading gilts. He did the internship and was offered a grad job, on the uk interest rates desk. He went for it, but by this time was starting to realise that the bank was far better at equities and was totally crap for UK interest rates. He is still trading UK interest rates there and is by no means doing badly for himself, but he knows that the members of his intake who made a better more informed choice at the start are now earning more money. More importantly, he is finding it pretty hard to change banks, because his desk doesnt have a good reputation and is used to low volumes/profit.

It was this guy who told me to do a bit of research into which desks would be best to get on at DB, which is what this thread is all about.

I know I am going to be making tea and I am perfectly cool with that. And its not about trying to match my personality type to any product, its purely about trying to maximise my chances of getting an offer to train on a highly profitable desk with a good industry reputation.

To everyone else: thanks for the tips. They have been really useful. You have made me see that equities are not the way forward. I am going to put FX as my top choice, with interest rate trading second.

Thanks for all the support guys,

C
 
Jobs

CHRISTO9HER said:
Dear RogueTrader,

What a fantastic horse you are sitting on, its one of the highest that I have seen for a while!! If I could tempt you down from the splendid beast for a moment or two then that would be great......you can get back up later.

Almost everything that you have said is true, concerning discipline, learning technical analysis etc. Some great points.

BUT, I will now explain why the decision is not "irrelevant". I am on an internship in which they convert over 70% of the intake into graduate employees. Last year they converted 100% of the intake from my particular university. When you are offered a graduate contract, it is usually DESK SPECIFIC and more often than not one of the two desks that you have been working on in the internship.

A case study:

A close friend of my older brother got a trading internship at a large european investment bank 4 years ago. He decided that he wanted to trade UK interest rates, (mainly gilts), without doing much research on whether the firm was any good at trading gilts. He did the internship and was offered a grad job, on the uk interest rates desk. He went for it, but by this time was starting to realise that the bank was far better at equities and was totally crap for UK interest rates. He is still trading UK interest rates there and is by no means doing badly for himself, but he knows that the members of his intake who made a better more informed choice at the start are now earning more money. More importantly, he is finding it pretty hard to change banks, because his desk doesnt have a good reputation and is used to low volumes/profit.

It was this guy who told me to do a bit of research into which desks would be best to get on at DB, which is what this thread is all about.

I know I am going to be making tea and I am perfectly cool with that. And its not about trying to match my personality type to any product, its purely about trying to maximise my chances of getting an offer to train on a highly profitable desk with a good industry reputation.

To everyone else: thanks for the tips. They have been really useful. You have made me see that equities are not the way forward. I am going to put FX as my top choice, with interest rate trading second.

Thanks for all the support guys,

C
Click to expand...


"A close friend of my older brother got a trading internship at a large european investment bank 4 years ago "....


Suppose your brothers " close friend " gets paid 50 grand a year before tax and hes been at this " large european investment bank " for four years -
Hes worked ALL THOSE HOURS per DAY for 4 YEARS for 200 grand say, BEFORE tax ....???
Well why didnt he learn to trade himself ?? he could have just cut out the " middle man " - (the " large europen investment bank) cut the " work time " in half or LESS and gone on a 2 YEAR holiday - ( do ya think its any EASIER having to work/learn on the job/surrounded by mayhem) - working for a firm or not -
The skills required/learning curve is the same -

big class sizes dont even work in education - !!
 
Jobs

CHRISTO9HER said:
Dear RogueTrader,

What a fantastic horse you are sitting on, its one of the highest that I have seen for a while!! If I could tempt you down from the splendid beast for a moment or two then that would be great......you can get back up later.

Almost everything that you have said is true, concerning discipline, learning technical analysis etc. Some great points.

BUT, I will now explain why the decision is not "irrelevant". I am on an internship in which they convert over 70% of the intake into graduate employees. Last year they converted 100% of the intake from my particular university. When you are offered a graduate contract, it is usually DESK SPECIFIC and more often than not one of the two desks that you have been working on in the internship.

A case study:

A close friend of my older brother got a trading internship at a large european investment bank 4 years ago. He decided that he wanted to trade UK interest rates, (mainly gilts), without doing much research on whether the firm was any good at trading gilts. He did the internship and was offered a grad job, on the uk interest rates desk. He went for it, but by this time was starting to realise that the bank was far better at equities and was totally crap for UK interest rates. He is still trading UK interest rates there and is by no means doing badly for himself, but he knows that the members of his intake who made a better more informed choice at the start are now earning more money. More importantly, he is finding it pretty hard to change banks, because his desk doesnt have a good reputation and is used to low volumes/profit.

It was this guy who told me to do a bit of research into which desks would be best to get on at DB, which is what this thread is all about.

I know I am going to be making tea and I am perfectly cool with that. And its not about trying to match my personality type to any product, its purely about trying to maximise my chances of getting an offer to train on a highly profitable desk with a good industry reputation.

To everyone else: thanks for the tips. They have been really useful. You have made me see that equities are not the way forward. I am going to put FX as my top choice, with interest rate trading second.

Thanks for all the support guys,

C
Click to expand...


Im just saying -

" , its purely about trying to maximise my chances of getting an offer to train on a highly profitable desk " ...


That isnt important and the WRONG way of looking at it all... !! Your definition/criteria of whether a " desk " is profitable or not isnt something you should even CONCERN yourself with .... !!

Whether " you" can contribute to a desk " profitably " given the right training and STUDY, (because firm or not, STUDY is something you are going to have to do and ENJOY(..!! is what you should be asking yourself... - the desks not the important thing - YOU ARE......... !! :idea:


im not too keen on horses as it goes - :p
 
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