Layla Royer, Senior Derivative Salesperson at Citadel Securities, speaks about the company’s unique culture and how Citadel became a major player in the derivatives market.
Please tell us about your role at Citadel Securities and how does it feel to be a part of the team?
I am a senior salesperson on the Institutional Derivatives team at Citadel Securities. We focus on providing our institutional clients with the best pricing, differentiated market insights, and innovative workflows in equity derivatives. Since I joined four years ago we have grown our Institutional Derivatives business from scratch into one of the top market share players. This took an incredible amount of hard work, passion, and energy by every single member of our team, and we still have a huge growth opportunity ahead.
Citadel Securities is ranked #2 on the 2022 LinkedIn Top Companies list in Financial Services, which highlights companies that provide industry-leading career opportunities for their employees. In your opinion, what attracts top talent to Citadel Securities?
We have a truly unique culture at Citadel Securities. Despite the firm recently hitting its twentieth anniversary and having long established market leading positions across a number of asset classes, the entrepreneurial mentality still truly exists in every business line. The firm is a true meritocracy and is constantly investing in technology, people, and businesses, which makes it an incredibly exciting place to work.
How has Citadel Securities become a major player in the derivatives market?
When I joined Citadel Securities to build out the Institutional Options business, we were already the top market maker in US equity options and the #1 destination for retail order flow, executing ~36% of all US-listed retail volume. We leveraged the technology and resources that were in place and already providing best execution and price improvement to retail investors and delivered that to institutional investors on a global scale.
How did your firm’s technology, talent and teamwork pave the way for innovation and growth?
Our team is constantly brainstorming ways to improve the Institutional Options experience – how we can make the client experience faster, better, and smarter. Many of us previously spent time at banks, where it was historically difficult to procure the resources to ever make these big ideas happen. At Citadel Securities, if you have a great idea with a clear business case that can improve the client experience, leadership will do everything they can to make it happen – big ideas are encouraged and celebrated here.
