Missing your next profits

Your middle-office might be sitting on your next chunk of P&L.

When I was an operator, I constantly asked questions of my traders - why are we using this QP? what is this optionality worth? If you asked them at the time they'd probably say I was bordering on annoying but if you looked at their P&Ls they were happy I was informed.

However, so many traders view middle-office as simply there to move a product from point A to point B. They are too busy to sit down and explain concepts properly.

But with the volatility we are seeing, there is so much that can be gained to having an informed support staff. With daily swings of +5%, things like over and under-deliveries, changes to QPs , and unwinding priced contracts can transform P&Ls.

Calls about logistics and scheduling are not typically routed through the front-office. Middle and back-office employees are the front-line of organizing shipments which are in turn inherently linked to pricing. But without the knowledge, or the encouragement to follow the markets, these opportunities never make it to the trader's desk.

In times where margins on physical business are tightening, it's these secondary areas that can make all the difference to profitability.