John Koudounis: What makes a good trader

John Koudounis, CEO of the Japanese investment bank Mizuho Securities-USA, says part of his job.

Mizuho Financial Group, the parent company of Mizuho, ​​is the second largest financial services group in Japan. It does not have a huge presence in the US, but its American activities with the correct size (smaller profile) and regular book scheme (strong capital position) out of the financial crisis.

Koudounis is focused on the growth of the company that significantly expands its loans and equity business last year. There are two ways to get a good trader. You can rent or you can train.

"Awareness of risk is critical in today's environment," said Koudounis. "We have seen that withdrawal after the" big trade "at all costs is no longer workable strategy. Traders should be hungry, but also need to think about when it makes sense to back off and when to manage risk. "

Cuts during the financial crisis created a ton of opportunities to hire large traders, as they are big banks have abandoned them. Their training, however, is about to become a little more difficult. The market is changing. Interest rates are rising, China is slowing, and the world looks different.

"A lot of young professionals today on Wall Street were not working during the turbulent period of the global financial crisis in 2008 or the previous market dislocations like what happened during the collapse of Long Term Capital Management and the Asian contagion" Koudounis said.

"Good marketers today need to heed the advice of senior mentors to fully understand how terrible things could go wrong if the management of risk in the portfolio is incorrect."