"I am an algo execution trader at a top US bank. This is what my job entails"
I work on an algorithmic (algo) execution desk at a major bank in London, specialising in high speed equities trading strategies. I'm a computer scientist by background. This is how I got this job and what it involves.
I began my career as an intern while I was still at university. I joined the technology graduate training programme and began working with the trading desk. After around five years, I was promoted to the algo execution team.
My job fundamentally involves creating, executing and babysitting the high speed trading algorithms used by our clients.
A lot of it involves supervising the algos. By definition, the algos automate the trading process and we step in when there's an exception. - When the algo isn't behaving as it ought to. We are the algo police! Sometimes we rewrite the algo to make it function better, or we will make tweaks to improve the way it's executing the trades.
When an algo hasn't been functioning correctly, we also look at the way the trades have been booked. There's sometimes fallout in the back office and we might have to intervene manually to make sure the order has been properly made. We don't have responsibility for the actual settlement but because we sit closest to the trade then we liaise with the operations team and the back office so that they understand there's an issue and that things aren't going follow through as seamlessly as they're supposed to.
To do all this, we need to understand how the algo works. This is where human expertise comes in. We need to understand the algo in the context of clients' (eg. hedge funds) trading needs, plus market structure (the way a particular market is plumbed and trades take place) and what's going on in the market for the products traded.
A good execution trader knows all the different types of algos available intimately and understands which one is appropriate for each trade. It helps to have broad knowledge of the market and to say that when conditions are volatile - for example - one particular kind of algo is more appropriate than another.
Will AI take my job? I'm not convinced, because it's already heavily automated. I'm already the human that's needed to deal with the exceptions. This isn't going to change.
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