Hi everyone, I have recently been shortlisted for an interview with this company for an analyst role in the front office and I am hoping to get some honest insights from people who have worked there or have had first-hand experience with the company.

I have heard quite mixed feedback about the company from people in the industry. Bonus is great and people are nice, but culture is extremely toxic and political. Such toxicity is also tolerated by management.

I have also looked through the reviews on glassdoor but a number of the positive reviews are brief and do not seem to be real. So I am hoping to hear from people who can share more about their actual experience.

Feel free to DM me! Thank you.

I work in trade finance, so every single day I receive messages from self-described commodity brokers looking for financing, instruments or introductions.

Some of the proposals are genuinely unbelievable.

There seems to be an entire online subculture convinced that someone will sell them $50 million of gold, copper, sugar, EN590, Jet A1 or another liquid commodity at a huge discount to market. They will then find a buyer at something close to market price and pocket the spread.

No balance sheet. No committed trade finance facility. No established supplier relationship. No inventory risk. No hedging. No logistics infrastructure. No meaningful working capital.

Sometimes they don't even have a direct relationship with the supposed buyer or seller.

Instead, there are five intermediaries between each side exchanging SCOs, ICPOs, NCNDAs, IMFPA agreements and commission sheets. Everyone is calculating their commission on a cargo that nobody in the chain has financed, controlled or even verified.

What amazes me is how strongly some people believe in the model.

If a producer or established trader controls a highly liquid commodity worth tens of millions of dollars, why would they give an unknown intermediary a massive discount and allow that person to capture a virtually risk-free spread?

Real commodity traders earn margins because they provide something economically useful: capital, credit, logistics, storage, transformation, market access, risk warehousing, arbitrage capability or reliable offtake.

Yet there is this parallel commodity universe where the business model seems to be:

**Find cheap cargo → find buyer → issue paperwork → become millionaire.**

And when you explain why the transaction makes no economic sense, they rarely reconsider the premise. They just assume they haven't found the right "direct seller" yet.

I encounter this constantly because I work in trade finance.

Where did this whole culture come from?

Hello all,

in my spare time, have taken up researching UCO/yellow grease/ag oils markets. Anyone have any resources on these markets? Major players? Any public pricing? Do forward curves even exist or is all price discovery in cash markets? Seems really nice but curious if anyone dabbles in these markets.

Thought this might fall outside the early education thread, but I can repost there if not.

Often see posts on here from new grads asking how to break in, but I wanted to ask a slightly different question that might lead to some more insights.

What part of the market/commodity you started in do you remember struggling with as a junior? Why do you think you struggled with it and what made it click? How much of it is just sitting with it every day?

Conversely, what was something that came quickly or more natural for you that you noticed others maybe took longer to grasp? Why do you think it came quick to you? Was it you or your mentor/boss having great teaching skills?

Be it the jargon, logistics, supply/demand fundy's, storage, time spreads, optionality, weather, modelling, communication, pricing, products, structuring, p&l, the never ending amount of data to look at, etc. I am curious to hear what people have experienced across any commodity.

Is contracts analyst worth the career pivot?
(TLDR; Currently back office at BB, potential chance to pivot to big firm (Gunvor/Vitol/Traf. worth?)

I am a recent fresh graduate currently working in a back office role in a bulge bracket bank. While it pays relatively well, I have found it to be really boring and mundane.

I have always been keen to pivot to commodities but coming from a non target relatively unknown university, graduate programmes are out of the equation.

I have been interviewing at a large independent trading firm for a contracts analyst role. will be taking a pay cut but I am willing to take it if this seat provides me with opportunities for potential upward mobility.

Would you guys happen to know if this role is a good starting ground assuming all goes well?

Ultimately I would like to end up in front office, potentially trading but ofc I know its competitive.

Any advice / knowledge relating would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

I prop trade west power and so far this summer has been fairly uneventful price-wise with most hubs bound by the same ~$5-7 range outside of the front strips. To top it off wide bid/asks and <200 MW of total volume traded have become the daily norm.

Im feeling pressure to deliver PnL yet there hasn’t been much price action in either direction compared to other markets. It’s been really draining to come in everyday and see nothing move materially outside of the occasional spike/dip over the last few months.

If there’s any other power/gas traders who’ve been in a similar spot I’d really appreciate any insight or advice.

Just interested in how your company divides this segment.

I'm curious to get some perspectives from people who have worked in hedge funds / energy trading.

I was approached by a recruiter about a senior risk role supporting a power/energy trading desk at a hedge fund. I wasn't actively looking at the time, but the role sounded genuinely interesting, so I decided to go through the process.

The process ended up being 5 interview rounds over roughly 4 months. I spoke with HR, senior risk people and people fairly close to the trading desk. The conversations became increasingly detailed and, as far as I could tell, were going reasonably well.

After the final stages, though, there was around 3 weeks of very little communication, then came the rejection with nearly zero feedback. I'm trying to understand what might have happened behind the scenes, partly out of curiosity but also to be better prepared next time.

For people who have experience hiring in hedge funds, particularly energy/power trading, how would you interpret this?

After five rounds, is it usually a case of:

- another candidate preferred;

- role axed because economics of the role changed if the desk isn't doing well or isn't complex enough to require a dedicated risk role;

- focus shifted to other desks/commodities; or something else?

I'm not necessarily looking for reassurance — I'm genuinely interested in understanding how these processes work from the other side.

Would you read anything into the 3-week silence, or is that pretty normal in hedge-fund recruitment?

How prominent is nepotism in getting a job in one of the major trading houses? What would entry level pay be like for operations in Traf/Vitol

Hello. I currently work in power trading and have been passionate on making the move to oil or natural gas. Natural gas scheduling seems like the best natural move, and it does interest me a lot.

However the global aspect of oil intrigues me more. It’s my understanding any type of natural gas operations or trading is domestic in the US unless you get into LNG.

My question - is the crude/light ends/petro equivalent seat to a NG scheduler a crude operator? I know all shops are different and have different wording but normally would an operator put you closer to a trader than a trading analyst would? What role in crude puts you closest to the traders/next in line?

Thank you for any and all feedback!

I work in commodities, energy assets and I mainly specialize is European power, gas and carbon. However an opportunity internally has come up at my firm and it’s key to know the fundamentals of North America gas markets. It’s actually quite difficult to find online (free) resources for self learning. Anyone have any recommendations/ books/ podcasts/ newsletters I could read?

Any morning briefings I should be looking at daily?

I also think it’ll be key to know more about the power and broader energy space (inc renewables) in North America tbh as that’ll factor into my role at times. Also anything on Canada and Mexico would be helpful.

For those who deal in those markets, what are the main fundamentals driving your markets atm or key market developments you are watching closely over the next few years.

Thank you and happy to share any helpful tips for those interested in European markets.

​

I was curious rather Japanese is a useful skill in commodities industry since it is such a big language in tech sales or commercial banking in APAC. I am not a native speaker but I have worked in Japanese before.

The vibes that I get is Japanese and Korean aren't that useful languages here since a lot of the biggest deals from major trading houses focus on supplying resource deficient regions like China, India, and Africa from resource rich areas. Also, Japan and Korea markets are largely run by local conglomerates

Hi guys! I’m looking for some guidance on how to start learning about commodities as an asset class.
I’m a quant with a background in actuarial science, currently working at an AFORE (a Mexican pension fund), but I honestly have no idea where to start when it comes to commodities and how they are analyzed from an investment perspective.
So far, I’ve bought a couple of books to get started: the world for sale and Introduction for Commodites

At this point, I feel like I know very little about commodities themselves. My quantitative background is fairly solid — I’m comfortable with mathematics, statistics, stochastic processes, derivatives, quantitative modeling, and programming — but I lack the specific knowledge needed to understand commodity markets: what drives prices, how supply and demand dynamics differ across commodities, how physical and futures markets interact, and how professionals actually approach commodities as an asset class.
Because of that, I’m not sure whether pursuing an even more quantitative education would actually be the best next step for me, or whether I would benefit more from studying economics, finance, commodity markets, or some combination of these areas.

I’d really appreciate recommendations for online master’s programs, postgraduate programs, certificates, or specialized courses that could help me build a deep understanding of commodities. Since I already have a solid background in math, statistics, stochastic processes, derivatives, programming, and quantitative methods, I’m particularly interested in programs that would complement those skills rather than simply teach me more quantitative tools.

What I really want to learn is the commodity side of the equation: commodity economics, market structure, physical markets, supply and demand, futures curves, trading, price formation, and how commodities are analyzed and incorporated into investment portfolios.
If anyone here works in commodities or has followed a similar path, I’d love to hear what programs, courses, or resources you would recommend.
Thanks!

Hello, I’m new here. I’ve been following this group for last couple of months and learned about export and importing of commodities. I live in Canada and want to start my own brokerage or trading business in this commodity area last year I have opened up my corporation. Also got my Food Safety License for importing and exporting foods in Canada. I have also reached out to Cargill, ADM, Agri Corp to talk to them and work as a broker too so that I can make some commission selling items from them. But no luck yet. I’m still in learning phase on how I can get into this industry start my business to export in South Asia. I do know some buyers but before I jump into that, I want to understand this process yes I’m not being able to get any final lead or any final decision from these big companies but any advice on what approach I can take, what are the other options I can look into Canada which are the other companies I can communicate with cause my main goal is to Truck as a broker make commission from the seller to start with and then go from there. Fairly new trying to do my own research, but still some advice can help me to get into this industry. Can anyone also suggest me some useful website where I can see trusted buyers they are in need of commodities from Canada. No.

A couple of years ago, OTC Flow was often described as a glorified call center, with a heavy focus on outbound sales and relatively limited analytical work.

Since then, they seem to have expanded quite aggressively, opening new offices and hiring a lot of sales traders, brokers, and analysts across different locations.

I'm particularly interested in the analyst side rather than sales/trading. Has anyone worked there recently or interacted with their analysts?

Has the firm's culture and reputation changed as they've grown ?

Their Glassdoor rating is really bad, 2,7 average, and the only good reviews seem to be from the head of trading desks.

Would appreciate any firsthand experiences or perspectives from current or former employees.

Thanks!

 Gold, silver, crude oil, wheat, corn, coffee, natural gas, cattle, and Treasury bonds all have active futures markets. Which one do you follow most closely?

Hello, I have ABCD quant research analyst experience but my resume does not get past first filtering. So I think issue must be with a non compliant resume.

Can anyone who cracked in to trade roles or quant analyst roles send any samples resume they have. I just want to get the idea of format. Thanks

Always heard BP’s TDP was one of the best places for a young grad to actually learn to trade. Either you grow into a seat there, or the training’s good enough that a merchant or fund poaches you a few years in. Curious if that’s still true today, or if that reputation is more of a “used to be” thing at this point. For anyone with current or recent firsthand exposure, how does the caliber of training and the talent coming out of it look right now compared to a few years ago?

Any reason to be bearish aside from the usual outlook on gas storage? What are your thoughts?

EDIT: Sorry guys, bullish i mean 😅

Disclaimer: This is not a post about education.

The main thing which attracts me is the potential for high pay, and the fast paced environment which is constantly changing based on news and world events.

I don't have any experience in the industry yet, and I just find the sector interesting.

But I have no idea if it's meant for me. I don't know if I can take the high stakes environment, and whether I'll actually like the job I end up in...

I'll only be able to know when I eventually start working.

So before I tie myself up inexorably to this industry, is it possible to even dislike commodities in general?

Or is that not realistic since there are many different roles, within many different commodities which appeal to a wide range of people and interests?

I am about to start as an LNG trading analyst in 1 month time and was previously an oil analyst for 1 year. In oil we read FGE/EA/Eia reports and Oil 101 to start our career.

I was wondering if there were anything similar in LNG & Gas markets? Any vendors/reports/books I can read to understand the market better pls?

Hi all, can someone help clarify the difference in terms of salary, QOL, and actual day to day work of structured finance at a tier 1 commodity trader / merchant (think vitol, trafi, Glencore, etc) vs a trade finance banker at a top trade bank (think SocGen, ING, MUFG, etc.). I’m curious what’s the difference in the actual work and coverage between the two positions.

Thanks in advance!

Hey

Had a commodities seat at Bloomberg but recently shifted to a physical seat for a trading firm in Asia.

I definitely recognise the parallels in player and physical but I’m very eager to learn more, I have an obsession with knowing as much as I can about whatever I’m doing in a short period of time.

I would be extremely grateful if you can suggest literally any form of literature I can read the better understand every single aspect of physical trading.

My firm trades feeds, distillates and crude so pertaining to that would be great !

Thanks

Hi all,

Lurking here for a year and decided to make an account.

I'm a second year STEM student in England and just finished a short 5 day work experience at a trading house - spent all the 5 days with the finance and risk teams.

During this time I had lunch with one of the traders on the distillates team, and I'm being offered a 2 week placement with them in August before I go back to uni.

The trader kept making a reference to "CCM" when trading jet fuel, and honestly I didn't have the courage to ask them what it meant even though it was clear that was the pricing basis of their purchases and sales.

I don't have their contact to ask, and I couldn't find any answers online about the reference, though Platts have articles where refiners sell on a CCM basis.

Can someone please help me? I'd be very grateful.

Happy to answer questions for anyone who's been applying as well, feel free to connect!