SKILLS IN WORKPLACE

Skills in Workplace



Skills in Workplace

Introduction

This assignment is basically aimed to analyze the skills that were developed in me during the first year of my placement at Jefferies Group. The course will help me figure out the skills that developed in me while working along Sales traders. Starting with information about my organization, Jefferies Group (Jefferies) is a global securities and investment banking group operating in more than 25 offices in six countries spanning three continents. Jefferies Group (Jefferies) was established in 1962. The group offered its initial public offering (IPO) in 1983. In 1984, the group established its presence in Europe. Jefferies launched investment banking, research and asset management services in 1990. In the same year, the group bought Quantex. The group provides investment banking, sales and trading, research and analysis, asset management, wealth management and execution of security services to a range of corporate clients, institutional investors and high net worth individuals. It is headquartered in New York City, New York and employs around 3,222 people.

The part of Jefferies Group in which I work is the investment bank. The function of a investment bank are given below:

Investment Bank

There are two sides to investment banking, the seller's side and the buyer's side. On the seller's side, investment banks help firms to raise capital by selling securities in their respective firms and governments. This can entail both promoting securities as well as underwriting them. From the buyer's perspective, investment banks aid individuals and various funds -- such as mutual funds, hedge funds and pensions -- by helping them to purchase securities.

The central difference between commercial banks and investment banks centers on their respective dealings with securities. Commercial banks offer a wide variety of services, but they do not deal with securities (be it marketing, selling, brokering, underwriting or otherwise). Investment banks, on the other hand, make securities their primary area of business. The clients of investment and commercial banks differ as well, with commercial banks offering their services exclusively to businesses and investment banks offering different services to corporate clients, governments and consumers (Williamson 1988, 127-140).

Responsibilities of a Trader

Licensed brokers and dealers conduct financial transactions, including buying and selling investment securities. A broker conducts transactions for individual clients, whereas a dealer does so on behalf of the firm. A single entity, usually a firm, combines the two functions and is referred to as a broker-dealer. Although many independent firms are dedicated solely to broker-dealer services, many others exist as units of investment banks and commercial banks.

Investment brokers and investment dealers are different names for the same job. Often, you will see it called broker-dealers. The Investment Advisers Act of 1940 defined a broker-dealer as someone whose investment advice is incidental to a brokerage business, and who gets no special compensation for the advice. This definition was enacted when broker-dealers charged a fixed commission. Changes introduced by Congress in 1975 forced broker-dealers to start using fee structures like an adviser. With this change, the line began to blur between ...