Fixed Income Trader of the Year
Amy Koch
Standish Mellon
When Amy Koch first saw fixed-income operations after graduating from Holy Cross, she knew what she wanted to do as a career. Once I saw the trading desk, I knew where I wanted to be, she recalled. I saw the process. I wanted to be the one executing those trades and be in those meetings.
That was in 1998. Now, 28 years later, she is managing director and global head of fixed-income trading for Standish Mellon Asset Management. Although she doesnt trade these days, she manages the fixed-income trading desk that deals with corporate bonds. I set goals for the team, she said.
Koch basically stumbling into her job in the back office at Liberty Financial, which was later bought by Columbia Management. She eventually reached the rank of investment grade trader at Columbia, and for the past 11 years, she has worked on the bond market team for Standish Mellon.
Koch has never traded on an equities desk and admits never having the desire to trade stocks. The tools and automation is intriguing on the equity desks and we are seeing more automation on the fixed-income desks, but I like speaking with people, talking to the counterparties and having that human contact, she said.
The bond community is tight-knit in Boston and New York, and everyone knows each other, especially in a town like Boston, she added.
As for being a woman in a male-dominated industry, the 40-year-old Koch, who had a child earlier this year, says that she has never felt intimidated or unwelcome as a woman in her trading career. She attributes this to her fixed income firm. Standish Mellon is very open, and its a very family atmosphere here, she said.
Koch plans to stay and hopes that automation doesnt stop what she loves about bond trading. This is still a very hands-on side of the business. I would miss that if it went away.
