Darragh Daly

University:
Trinity College Dublin

Degree Subject:
Business Studies

Desk:
Cross Currency Basis Swaps

My daily duties on the cross currency swaps desk included updating price boards, doing deal confirmations and liaising with other desks within the company. Our desk deals with floating to floating interest rates swaps across all major currencies.

Interdealer broking appealed to me more than any other career in the finance industry as it draws so much on your personality. Your personal experiences and how you interact with people is crucial in this business and I felt I could give my own unique insights to help develop and maintain relationships.

I received constant support during my internship from all the staff I met, from desk heads to recent graduates. There is very useful training at the beginning of the programme which is great for clarifying the fundamentals of all the markets serviced by ICAP. Coupled with this, all the employees I encountered on the rotations made a major effort to educate me in their specific market.

As part of the networking events organised we played in a tag rugby competition against all of the investment banks interns. Not only was this a great team building exercise, this was an invaluable opportunity to network with some of ICAPS potential future clients.

I found taking multiple bits of information on board, simultaneously, the most challenging aspect of my internship. It does become easier quite quickly but it is a little over whelming at the start. This skill is key to understanding what is going on while rotating on the busier desks.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the amount of time and effort that goes into the programme. It is taken very seriously by all staff and you are given real responsibility, more than I expected to be entrusted with, I must admit. ICAP is also a very fun and rewarding place to work which is more laid back than I expected it to be.

The best piece of advice I can give someone considering a career in interdealer broking is to look into the differences between trading and broking, a lot of people fail to do this!

Interpersonal and communication skills are crucial to being a good interdealer broker and being naturally outgoing is a definite advantage. The ability to think on your feet and determination are also important skills because you need to have a constant hunger to be a good interdealer broker.