Jonte Ahearn
NZD Swaps
Australia

My current role as the graduate on the NZD swaps desk involves a range of daily tasks and activities. A typical day would involve arriving at work and reading through emails, particularly those received from our London desk overnight to see what the market was doing in that session and see if there is any residual interest laying over that can be followed up on in our time zone. Other market commentaries are analysed. Once settled in my primary focus is to follow up those overnight interests or to create new interests by talking to clients. We focus on a variety of products in both the short-end and longer term including Bonds, OIS, FRA's, Swaps, Cross-currency swaps and anything else we can create or get our hands on! Once the market gets going it's about managing your client's interests as well as helping out and covering the other guys on the desk.

The reason I wanted to work for ICAP as a broker is because of the bespoke nature of interdealer broking. It is truly unique in that there is already established client base feed through the banks, putting emphasis on building and maintaining rapport with those clients through both work and social situations. The concept of not carrying any risk is also a comforting thought.

The current economic environment has not, by any means, been ideal to our business on the NZD swaps desk. However, comparatively we have fared extremely well to many other businesses and business models. Again this is largely due to providing an intermediary service without taking a position and hence negating a business or personal risk.

The best advice I could give to any graduate is to have an open mind and try and learn as much as you can from the people around you. It is important to know your product and to project confidence over the phone when talking to clients. It is also extremely important to build solid relationships with your colleagues and be patient. I think the best quality of a broker is honesty - if a client sees you as being honest that builds trust which is so important from their point of view.