Wholesale Trading
Wholesale trading comprises all direct trading between Optiver and the professional ‘wholesale' market. The professional market is mainly represented by brokers that execute trading flow for counterparties such as banks and institutional investors. These trades are normally carried out through verbal communication via phone lines or direct box lines instead of through the screen.
The wholesale trading team consists of specialized and experienced market professionals who trade exchange-traded products off the screen. In general the sizes traded are considered too large for the screen, and thus the wholesale market exists alongside the screen to facilitate the larger quantities. Wholesale traders make markets in listed index, commodities and fixed income derivatives.
Other important roles for wholesale traders include: finding and screening information to facilitate trading decisions for the company as a whole, actively looking for trading opportunities in the market and keeping track of possible risks. Wholesale traders are considered the eyes and ears of the company.
WHAT WE DO
In addition to trading, wholesale traders focus on building and maintaining long-term professional relationships with trading partners in Houston, Chicago, or New York. We establish new trading relationships and represent Optiver's order flow to ensure Optiver is first on the call list for all counterparties. Working as a wholesale trader combines the fun and intensity of trading with the challenges of communication and relationship management to facilitate the expansion of our company.
WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT
Optiver is one of the few companies that make a distinction between screen trading and wholesale trading. This way we are always able to make prices and exchange information with counterparties in the most efficient way, ensuring the highest professional standards. Since Optiver does not have clients, counterparties are seen as crucial in our continued success. Wholesale traders are responsible for the management of all of these relationships; therefore they play an important role within Optiver acting as a link between the trading floor and the rest of the company. To become a wholesale trader, we require intelligent people with excellent numerical, social and communication skills. You must be able to make fast and accurate decisions while at the same time be a team player with strong commercial and entrepreneurial skills.
