A Day in the Life of a Research Salesperson

Work in the Securities Division starts early. Most salespeople are in the office for the daily 7:30 AM research call. (This is particularly hard for people in California.) These meetings are run by the product management group. An email is sent before the call with the daily overview of ideas. There may be twenty of them. Product management decides which stories are most compelling based on the content, the reputation of the analyst and how it will affect the markets. Then they ask the analysts to promote their ideas in front of the sales force. There is usually only enough time for three analysts. During the call, the sales force will be asking analysts questions about their research.

After the call, the sales force will call their clients. They will use their knowledge of their clients and their importance to the firm to determine the order of their calls. Some items that will influence this decision are:

1. If the client holds the security in their portfolio
2. If the client is interested in buying or selling the security
3. The time a client wants to be called
4. Amount of trading commissions generated by the client

Generally, the salesperson will reach the voice mail of their client. This is the time when preparing a good script or participating in Toastmasters pays off. If you are able to sell an idea quickly, concisely and accurately, then you will be able to call more clients. They will also send emails. For the largest clients, this all happens from 8:15 - 9:00 AM. Then second tier and third tier clients will be called. If the clients are interested in the research idea, they will call back asking for more details or to talk to the analyst.

After this initial frenzy of activity, the sales desk calms down a bit. Salespeople begin setting up follow-up calls for their clients and the analysts, interacting with corporate access to get their client into a conference or non-deal roadshow, talking to Capital Markets about future IPO deals, sending out any research reports, talking to the salestraders to get market information (or color) and addressing any issues their clients may need help with. At times, this will be interrupted by a "Midday Call". In this case, an analyst will have late breaking news and the process for the morning research call is repeated.

Another call is held after the market closes. Sometimes, the day is recapped. An analyst may appear on the call but the urgency is not as strong as the morning call. It's generally more relaxed. Then the sales force returns to serving their clients and may take the clients for a dinner or an event to build strong relationships - which are the essence of business.

Please note that the times relate to the US markets. Other markets such as London, Tokyo and Hong Kong have their own calls but the process is generally the same. This is true for all the native markets. There are salespeople that cover clients in Europe and Asia for the US markets. For a person in London, the morning call would be at 12:30 PM and the evening call would be at 9:30 PM.