FFP #2: Greetings from the northern side of the trading floor

Eeva Mustakallio

Background: I am Master’s student at Turku University School of Economics (Pori Unit) with a major in Accounting and Finance. I am currently finalizing my Master’s Thesis.

At Nordea, I have been working as an Assistant Sales Manager in the Derivatives Coverage team for the past two months. My journey at Nordea started very flexibly, as I worked three days a week and focused on my studies the remaining two days of the week for the first month. In May it was time to set full power and accelerate towards an intense and educational summer filled with derivatives and a million new things.

In my Derivatives team, we focus on hedging our customers’ interest rate risks and on providing customized solutions to the clients. I work mostly with swaps and swaptions, but currently, tailored collars linked to loans, fill most of my days. I deliver pricing calculations and offers to internal stakeholders, and while awaiting to get my dealing rights, I can shadow external stakeholder meetings.

The days of learning and doing tests during the studies at the University, has not ended. Here at Nordea, I have to pass an internal dealing test, and APV1 General Securities qualification test. Gathering the big picture of the world of interest rates and derivatives is a long process, and therefore there’s a lot to learn every day. And that’s one of the many  great things about working here.

Antti Kangas 

Background: I’m originally from Tornio but started to gradually work my way down south, first stop was at the University of Oulu, where I did my bachelor’s degree. After that I took a gap year to work and get some more experience before moving on to my master’s studies. I’m doing my master’s degree in Finance at Hanken, while also keeping busy here at Nordea. I have previously worked in Alternative Investments, and have experience from Back-Office operations, which has proven useful time after time.

At Nordea, I currently work in the Fixed Income Sales team, or to be more precise; in Nordea Credit Sales Finland, as Assistant Sales Manager, working with Finnish institutional clients in the Nordic corporate bond space. I joined my team a bit earlier than usual for FFPs, at the beginning of February. Even though starting this early meant that the spring would be extremely busy, trying to balance school and work, I have been happy with my choice because it has taken a long time to familiarise myself with the process, and getting to know our clients to better understand their needs and preferences. My work here can be divided into primary sales and secondary sales. With the current low interest rates, the primary market has been very active and new deals are announced almost daily.