Howard Man is head of cash equities trading, Asia ex-Japan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Howard has an SB and MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US. He started his career at McKinsey & Company in 2000 and has worked for ABN Amro and SAC Capital in Hong Kong. He joined Bank of America Merrill Lynch in 2011.
My team is responsible for providing risk pricing to facilitate the buying and selling of stocks by our clients across the Asian markets. My traders are experienced risk managers who also possess a strong fundamental understanding of the stocks that we trade in Asia.
My day begins with the morning call, during which we study the major views being expressed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s research department.
During the day, we work with our colleagues to make prices in different stocks, often speaking with decision-makers at client organisations to understand how we can serve their execution needs. I also spend time with my peers in equity capital markets (ECM) to understand what the potential deal pipeline looks like in the countries in which we trade.
Our trading positions are often the result of making prices for clients who want to execute in the market but have trouble accessing sufficient liquidity at a price or size that satisfies them. We fill that liquidity gap, and are constantly trading in the major stocks across Asia.
If I were to offer a single piece of advice, it would be to exhibit persistence in your desire to work in this business. We value raw talent, but the people who are most successful combine their talent with a sense of urgency and tenacious effort. If you display that type of character, you stand a good chance of finding your way into this industry.
My career in financial services has spanned the SARS crisis in 2003 and the global financial crisis of 2007-08. During these periods of uncertainty, my entire peer group was faced with career risk and significant concerns about the viability of the industry as a whole. We all learn from these periods of time; I believe that the key is to invest in your own skill set, develop relationships that will persist through the cycle, and work hard until things improve. In my experience, they always do.