Sales and Trading - Australia
Here, you can find out more about Sales and
Trading, our work, our clients and where you could fit into the
team.
What is Sales and
Trading?
The Sales and Trading division of Citi
focuses on advising investors about investment opportunities in the
Australian equity and fixed income markets and on transacting
business on behalf of our clients. Our professionals buy, sell,
structure and research securities in the marketplace. Our clients
include the largest institutional investment managers, mutual
funds, pension funds, hedge funds, risk arbitrage funds,
sector-specific funds and retail accounts.
In Equities, Sales and Trading is broadly
divided into Cash and Derivatives, which offer a wide range of
products, often tailor-made to suit our clients’ needs. A typical
Fixed Income product is a bond that in its simplest form is an
I.O.U. from a government or company, issued as a way of borrowing
money.
What services do we provide for our
clients?
We strive to provide our clients with the
latest information on what is happening in the global economy, and
to ensure they understand how to best capitalize on these
developments given their objectives around the clock. Our global
distribution network provides us with a distinct competitive
advantage. Our reputation is built on being able to continually
provide liquidity and as such we are viewed as one of the
pre-eminent market makers across the different asset classes.
What products/groups do we
cover?
The Sales and Trading business is
subdivided into Equities and Fixed Income. Below are the main
product areas in each:
Equities
What product groups do
we cover?
The Australian Equities business is
subdivided into these main product areas:
- Cash Equities
- Equity Derivatives
- Prime Finance
Cash Equities:
Institutional Equity
Sales
The equity sales professional is the
primary contact with buy-side Portfolio Managers and Analysts.
Equity salespeople market new issues and equity-linked products,
market Citi Investment Research's extensive product, coordinate and
host corporate access events, facilitate client relationships, and
generally work to bring the firm's wealth of resources to our
client base.
Cash Sales
Trading
Sales traders use their knowledge of
current market conditions to provide liquidity, and execute
transactions in a timely, optimal manner. They also provide market
flow information and cultivate relationships with our counter-party
trading clients around the world. Cash Program trading gives
institutional investors access to equity markets by buying and
selling large lists of stocks ("baskets") simultaneously, something
that cannot be accomplished using individual orders. Australian
Equities also offers direct market access to selected customers by
providing them with an innovative execution platform, ensuring the
most efficient and best possible execution at all times.
Equity Derivatives:
Equity Derivative Sales &
Research
Equity Derivatives Sales offers a vast
and creative range of listed and over-the-counter puts and calls,
variance swaps, exchange traded funds (ETF) and futures.
Salespeople provide clients with overall market color, specific
trading strategies and access to traders while acting as a liaison
between the client and a trade's execution. Equity Derivatives
Research acts as a bridge between customers, sales and traders,
while responsible for determining trading strategies, providing
customer support, marketing its research and consulting
internally.
Equity Derivative Trading &
Structuring
Within the Equity Derivatives Group,
the Structured Products Group focuses on customized equity options,
equity-linked products and exchange-traded equity options. Clients
include institutional customers, hedge funds and other
corporations.
Prime Finance:
Prime
Finance
Prime Finance offers a wide range of services primarily targeted to
hedge funds. Prime Finance not only provides a centralized
securities clearing facility for clients, it also provides the
client with financing and securities lending. Their focus is to
assist client in delivering outstanding investment
performance.
Fixed
Income
Credit
Participants in the
Credit markets buy or sell financial instruments whose value is
linked predominantly to the creditworthiness (i.e. ability to pay
back debt) of the direct or indirect reference entity, and its
variability (volatility). Among the most commonly traded
instruments are high-grade corporate bonds, low-grade corporate
bonds (high yield and junk bonds), credit default swaps,
credit-linked options and collateralized debt obligations.
- Cash
- Derivatives
- High Yield
- Emerging Markets
- Hedge Funds
Rates
Participants in the
Rates markets buy or sell financial instruments whose value is
linked to the level of interest rates in the economy, and their
variability (volatility). Among the mostly commonly traded
instruments are Government Bonds, Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs),
Swaps, Caps, Floors and Swaptions.
- Cash
- Derivatives
- Exotics
- Hedge Funds
Foreign
Exchange
Participants in the Foreign
Exchange markets buy or sell financial instruments whose value is
linked to the relative value of one currency vs another, and the
variability (volatility) of this value. The most common activities
are outright purchases or sales, forward purchases or sales, and/or
the trading of options.
- Spot
- Options
- STIRT (Short Term Interest Rate Trading)
- Hedge Funds
Commodities
Participants in
the Commodities markets buy or sell financial instruments whose
value is linked to commodities, such as energy (ie, crude oil or
natural gas) and metals (ie, gold, copper). These products are
bought and sold through a mixture of electronic trading mechanisms
and traditional open outcry. The variability (volatility) in the
prices of commodities compared to other sectors can be
high.