STA Blog

Performance coaching and behavioural psychology are becoming more and more important and widespread in the markets. STA members and market participants are researching the subject more and this seemed like a great time to talk to an expert in the subject.

The ever-professional trading coach explained how his experience of being both successful and struggling trader helps him working with some great portfolio managers and trading professionals. Steven told the audience about how he overcame a period in which he struggled while working at Credit Suisse and Commerzbank.

The title of the talk was ‘10 things I have learned coaching traders and investment professionals’ and in an interesting development, Steven gave the audience a chance to ask questions about this experience in doing this. One of the first questions was about overconfidence in trading and Steven quickly said he thinks it is a symptom of the trader’s environment and history. Explaining it can also be the part of the firm’s DNA that can cause this. Steven then went on to explain that ego is a big part of trading and that some of the best traders and PM’s (portfolio managers) he has met have the ability to control ego. Hence why there could be a difference in male and female traders as men seem to struggle with this slightly more.

As a great researcher in odds and probability, I was very happy to hear that when Steven was a trader he used to keep a pair of dice and poker chips at his desk to remind him that trading was a game of probabilities. A question came in from Sejul Gokal who asked if there were any common leisure activities that some of the better traders have in common. Steven commented saying that many of the good traders he has met play poker. The next question came from myself, I asked about the relationship between the older and new traders when it comes to technology. Steven said that there are some of the older traders who believe the market has changed and algos are ruining the markets but the new ones who trade in the same way (discretionary) don’t even notice and are still performing very well but he also added that some new traders are thought the mechanical aspects of trading and not the ‘art of trading’.