What does an equity trader do?
An equity trader is responsible for conducting research and data analysis and monitoring the stock movement to identify the best time to buy and sell financial equities and other financial instruments. Equity traders evaluate the market conditions of equity owners by looking at charts and financial statements to ensure that they are meeting the clients' long-term goals and objectives. They recommend investment decisions by analyzing clients' requirements, as well as their risk limits and options for their best interests.
Equity trader responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real equity trader resumes:
- Design end-to-end index carve-out process to enable desk to risk manage and track PnL for global index trades.
- Manage stock execution via NYSE automate system, NASDAQ automate system (INSTINET), and live NASDAQ market makers.
- Manage business, sales, marketing, international negotiation and communication for a commodities business.
- Trade NYSE equities utilizing in-house trading strategies and proprietary order placement utility software.
- Research and trade exchange list equities base on fundamental and technical analysis of individual stock components.
- Initiate positions in securities base on technical and fundamental analysis of specific stock, industry and market conditions.
- Exploit pricing discrepancies in ETFs and capitalize by trading the underlying basket against.
- Employ various hedging techniques and strategies utilizing options, credit derivatives and treasury futures.
- Analyze daily PnL trends to ensure trading ideas are functional and have not been phase out.
- Stay abreast of all capital market developments constantly monitoring Bloomberg as well as equity and industry research reports.
- Execute trades for high net worth clients in hourly price sector funds-the precursor to the modern day ETF.
- Integrate into an existing trading pit on the CBOE, illustrating success in new, challenging work environments.
- Develop short and long-term strategies to increase the firm's capital trading NYSE, OTC, and AMEX issues.
- Utilize a variety of ECN platforms and work with in-house traders / market makers on all U.S. equity exchanges.
- Experience trading multiple futures contracts on CME, Liffe, Eurex, Comex, and other global electronic platforms.
Equity trader skills and personality traits
We calculated that 12% of Equity Traders are proficient in Equities, Technical Analysis, and Portfolio. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Customer-service skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Equity Traders that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Equities, 12%
Traded global equities and index futures by working closely with Portfolio Managers in determining optimal execution strategies
- Technical Analysis, 9%
Committed own capital for short and medium term equity profit opportunities primarily using technical analysis, often combined with fundamental catalysts.
- Portfolio, 8%
Created and archived performance calculations against specified benchmarks and software interfaces between select brokerage firms and portfolio software.
- Financial Markets, 8%
Buy and sell products, including securities, futures, options and commodities, on the financial markets.
- Risk Management, 7%
Implemented risk management allocation model strategies in order to generate return on assets while preserving capital through use of comparative analysis.
- Securities, 6%
Assisted in developing and launching a new securities lending desk ensuring compliance with internal quality assurance standards and regulatory agency mandates.
Common skills that an equity trader uses to do their job include "equities," "technical analysis," and "portfolio." You can find details on the most important equity trader responsibilities below.
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for an equity trader to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "to judge the profitability of potential deals, securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents must have strong analytical skills." Additionally, an equity trader resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "review financial statements, conduct analysis of financial data, and develop detailed spreadsheets (vba) to identify trends. "
Customer-service skills. Many equity trader duties rely on customer-service skills. "securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents must be persuasive and make clients feel comfortable with the agent’s recommendations.," so an equity trader will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways equity trader responsibilities rely on customer-service skills: "analyzed financial statements and earnings reports to assist institutional customers in timing and execution of trades. "
Detail oriented. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of equity traders is detail oriented. This skill is critical to many everyday equity trader duties, as "investment bankers must pay close attention to the details of initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions because small changes can have large consequences." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "analyze detailed financial statements and trading methods consistently. "
Initiative. equity trader responsibilities often require "initiative." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents must create their own client base by making “cold” sales calls to people to whom they have not been referred and to people not expecting the call." This resume example shows what equity traders do with initiative on a typical day: "structured products liaison in cross-selling initiative with the ms derivatives department. "
Math skills. Another common skill required for equity trader responsibilities is "math skills." This skill comes up in the duties of equity traders all the time, as "securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents need to be familiar with mathematical tools, including investment formulas." An excerpt from a real equity trader resume shows how this skill is central to what an equity trader does: "traded nasdaq, nyse and amex market equities using a variety of quantitative strategies and strict risk management. "
The three companies that hire the most equity traders are:
- Citi4 equity traders jobs
- SMB Partners3 equity traders jobs
- JPMorgan Chase & Co.2 equity traders jobs
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Compare different equity traders
Equity trader vs. Foreign exchange trader
The foreign exchange market is volatile and influenced by numerous factors. A foreign exchange trader considers these factors and utilizes them in their favor. They typically take care to predict misvaluations of currencies accurately. They act on the conclusions reached from their analysis and either buy or sell assets in different markets. This position requires diligence and patience.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between equity traders and foreign exchange trader. For instance, equity trader responsibilities require skills such as "portfolio," "financial markets," "risk management," and "securities." Whereas a foreign exchange trader is skilled in "manage risk," "foreign exchange products," "foreign currency transactions," and "swaps." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Foreign exchange traders really shine in the finance industry with an average salary of $118,788. Comparatively, equity traders tend to make the most money in the finance industry with an average salary of $111,329.The education levels that foreign exchange traders earn slightly differ from equity traders. In particular, foreign exchange traders are 4.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an equity trader. Additionally, they're 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Equity trader vs. Commodity broker
Each career also uses different skills, according to real equity trader resumes. While equity trader responsibilities can utilize skills like "portfolio," "securities," "etfs," and "equity trades," commodity brokers use skills like "commodities," "nfa," "cold calls," and "client relationships."
Commodity brokers earn a lower average salary than equity traders. But commodity brokers earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $89,520. Additionally, equity traders earn the highest salaries in the finance with average pay of $111,329 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Commodity brokers tend to reach similar levels of education than equity traders. In fact, they're 2.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Equity trader vs. Energy derivatives trader
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, equity traders are more likely to have skills like "portfolio," "risk management," "nasd," and "equity trades." But a energy derivatives trader is more likely to have skills like "futures contracts," "python," "interest rates," and "p/l."
Energy derivatives traders earn the best pay in the agriculture industry, where they command an average salary of $116,251. Equity traders earn the highest pay from the finance industry, with an average salary of $111,329.When it comes to education, energy derivatives traders tend to earn higher degree levels compared to equity traders. In fact, they're 8.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Equity trader vs. Municipal bond trader
Types of equity trader
Updated January 8, 2025
