Malay Trivedi
NDS
Singapore

As part of the graduate programme I am currently undergoing various desk rotations, therefore, acquainting myself with the general know how of the business is at the top of my agenda. A typical day involves coming in early in the morning, getting a feel of the European and American market activity by analyzing closing prices sent out by the respective offices, and gearing oneself for an eventful day ahead. From maintaining a track of the latest price levels on a spreadsheet and the 'white' board to covering clients in the absence of a team member, there is never a dull moment on the desk. So when a client does 'hit the bid' or 'take the offer', a precious trade is completed, and assisting the desk in recording the details of the trade via a 'ticket' becomes my prerogative. Finally, as the markets come to a close, the desk members engage in an informal chat and prepare themselves for an evening of client entertainment.

I chose ICAP mainly because of its diversified business model, global reach and dominance in the interdealer broking space. A well thought of, structured graduate programme that brings about the keenness of the company to invest and nurture future talent is another factor that triggered me to choose ICAP as a potential employer. With regards to being an interdealer broker , I personally felt that the increased volatility in the world financial markets, emergence of new bespoke securities and the vast potential of OTC markets (especially in Asia) were the right ingredients needed for interdealer broking to come across as a budding profession to my eyes . Lastly, if given the choice between managing people or managing risk , I'd surely chose the former , something that interdealer broking allows one to exploit to the fullest.

We were officially inducted into the ICAP community with a global orientation programme at the company's headquarters in London. The training involved a series of lectures covering topics from financial mathematics to derivatives and also included a number of exciting games relating to voice broking, proprietary trading and market making. A number of networking sessions were arranged with the top management including Michael Spencer, desk heads and some seniors from the previous graduate programmes. Once back in Singapore, we were assigned to various desks over a period of eight weeks. The rotations were very well structured and gave me a holistic view of the operations of the business in the Asia Pacific regions. The desk heads were very helpful in orienting me with the general functioning of their desk and made every effort to amalgamate me into the culture of their respective teams.

I participated in a fund raising event on the last day of the graduate training in London. My team raised about £5000 in a matter of eight hours for a charity associated with ICAP (London). In all, the graduate class of 2009 raised about £15,000 as part of the charity event.The biggest charity event of the year called 'Charity Day' is nearing and I am very much awaiting its arrival.

Singapore is an extremely culturally diverse office, the easy going culture that focuses on getting the job done and the diversity of the employee base, where each person has a different story to tell has really suited my personality and completely surpassed my expectations.