Old horses

Today I was having a chat over lunch with a colleague of mine. Both of us had been in the industry for almost the same period of time, and having been through the ups and downs in the markets over the years, we are started to feel jaded about the job lately esp given the current market conditions.

After the lehmans crisis, i think any bankers that have gone through that would start to be more defensive with customer's portfolio. Sometimes, we tend to over-think. We are afraid of committing customers to risk even though customers might be ok with it themselves. Think the 'trauma' still linger on with us.

In comparisons, those that are newer in the industry are simply lapping up everything the research reports are saying, and in their eagerness to prove themselves, are getting customers into increasingly aggressive positions despite current market uncertainty.

I don't want to say they are wrong to do that. Maybe we are really over-thinking it. Maybe nothing will happen. Maybe everything will turn out fine. Bull markets might be just round the corner and everyone will be making money and be happy once again. Like the good old days circa 2006.

I just don't really believe it.

End of the day, we bankers are hired by the banks to sell products to customers. Regardless of how you want to call it, re-balancing, positioning, portfolio allocation, financial planning etc, end of the day, we want to make a sale out of it, the bank wants us to sell to customers so that they earn the revenue. Bankers want to sell to you cos they want to earn that commission. We don't sell, the bank loses money on paying our salary, therefore, to cut their losses, the bank cuts your job. Its just business. Nothing personal.

But when personal feelings start to get in the way, maybe it's not the right job for you anymore