Torchora
Back to Home

Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for a Trading Clerk

💰 $55,000 - $85,000

FinanceTradingOperationsFinancial Services

🎯 Role Definition

As a Trading Clerk, you are the operational backbone of a fast-paced trading desk. This role is a critical support function that ensures the seamless execution, confirmation, and settlement of all trading activities. You will act as a vital liaison between traders, brokers, custodians, and back-office teams, requiring exceptional attention to detail and the ability to thrive under pressure. This position offers an unparalleled opportunity to learn the intricacies of the trade lifecycle, gain exposure to diverse financial instruments, and build a strong foundation for a career in trading, portfolio management, or quantitative analysis.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Recent Graduate (Finance, Economics, Mathematics)
  • Financial Operations Analyst
  • Back Office or Middle Office Associate

Advancement To:

  • Junior Trader / Trader
  • Trade Support Analyst / Senior Trade Support Specialist
  • Portfolio Analyst / Research Analyst

Lateral Moves:

  • Risk Analyst
  • Compliance Analyst

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Accurately and efficiently enter trade details into proprietary Order Management Systems (OMS) and Execution Management Systems (EMS), ensuring all economic terms are correctly captured in real-time.
  • Perform daily, multi-level reconciliations of trades, positions, and cash balances between internal records, prime brokers, and custodian banks to identify and resolve discrepancies promptly.
  • Monitor and manage the entire trade settlement lifecycle across various asset classes (equities, fixed income, derivatives), proactively resolving any pre-matching or settlement issues to prevent fails.
  • Serve as the primary operational point of contact between the trading desk, brokers, custodians, and fund administrators to facilitate clear communication and swift resolution of inquiries.
  • Verify and affirm trade details with counterparties using industry platforms like DTCC CTM, ensuring all executed trades are confirmed in a timely and accurate manner.
  • Assist in the daily P&L (Profit & Loss) production and attribution process, investigating and explaining any significant variances or breaks to the trading desk and management.
  • Generate and distribute daily, weekly, and monthly reports on trading activity, risk exposure, P&L, and portfolio performance to traders, portfolio managers, and senior leadership.
  • Process and reconcile corporate action events, including dividends, stock splits, mergers, and tender offers, ensuring their accurate reflection in portfolio positions and market value.
  • Monitor and respond to margin calls from prime brokers, ensuring timely collateral management and communication with the trading team to maintain required margin levels.
  • Maintain and update critical reference data within internal systems, including security master files, counterparty information, and settlement instructions.
  • Actively identify opportunities for process improvement and automation within the trade support workflow to enhance efficiency, reduce operational risk, and increase scalability.
  • Investigate and document trade errors, breaks, and exceptions, collaborating with relevant teams to implement corrective actions and long-term preventative measures.
  • Monitor daily cash flows, project funding requirements, and coordinate wire transfers to ensure sufficient liquidity is available for all trading and settlement activities.
  • Assist in the daily valuation of portfolio holdings, particularly for OTC derivatives and less liquid securities, by sourcing and verifying market data from multiple providers.
  • Provide ad-hoc analytical support to the trading desk, including research on market data, execution cost analysis, and historical performance reviews.
  • Support the onboarding of new accounts and funds, coordinating with legal, compliance, and operations to ensure all documentation and system setups are complete.
  • Handle foreign exchange (FX) settlement processes and assist in managing currency exposures related to international trades and multi-currency portfolios.
  • Assist in monitoring trading activities for compliance with internal policies, risk limits, and external regulatory requirements (e.g., FINRA, SEC).
  • Participate in User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for new system implementations, platform upgrades, or enhancements affecting the trading and operations workflow.
  • Create and maintain detailed documentation of operational procedures, workflows, and system guides for the trade support function to ensure business continuity.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis for the trading and research teams.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap by identifying key data points and reporting needs.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements for technology teams.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data and technology teams as a subject matter expert.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Advanced Microsoft Excel: Mastery of VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP, pivot tables, complex formulas, and ideally, experience with VBA for macro creation.
  • Financial Market Knowledge: Strong understanding of various financial instruments, including equities, fixed income, options, futures, and other derivatives.
  • OMS/EMS Platforms: Experience with industry-standard Order Management and Execution Management Systems (e.g., Charles River, Bloomberg AIM, Aladdin, Fidessa).
  • Bloomberg Terminal / Refinitiv Eikon: Proficiency in using financial data terminals for market data, security analysis, and trade communication.
  • SQL: Basic to intermediate ability to write queries for data extraction, manipulation, and reporting from relational databases.
  • Trade Reconciliation: Proven experience with trade and position reconciliation processes and platforms (e.g., DTCC CTM, Acadia).
  • Python: Familiarity with Python for data analysis (Pandas, NumPy) and task automation is a significant plus.

Soft Skills

  • Extreme Attention to Detail: Meticulous and precise, with a commitment to accuracy in a high-stakes environment where small errors have large consequences.
  • Ability to Work Under Pressure: Exceptional time management and prioritization skills; ability to remain calm and focused during periods of high market volatility and trade volume.
  • Analytical Problem-Solving: Strong quantitative and analytical skills to investigate discrepancies, identify root causes, and develop effective solutions.
  • Proactive and Self-Motivated: A "self-starter" mentality with the initiative to identify issues, propose improvements, and complete tasks with minimal supervision.
  • Clear & Concise Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills to effectively liaise with internal teams and external counterparties.
  • Team-Oriented Collaborator: Ability to work effectively as part of a team, supporting traders and colleagues to achieve collective goals.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's Degree

Preferred Education:

Bachelor's Degree in a quantitative, finance, or business-related discipline.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Finance
  • Economics
  • Mathematics / Statistics
  • Business Administration

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 0-3 years in a financial services environment.

Preferred: 1-2 years of direct experience in a financial operations, trade support, middle office, or related role. Relevant internship experience within the financial industry is highly valued.

Explore More Careers