Global Markets
“Client-focused trading in equities, bonds, currencies, derivatives and structured products”
Our Global Markets business area is a core division of WestLB AG, responsible for a broad range of trading and sales businesses.
Trading units
Cash Equities
Cash Equities is a global client focussed business. Its main focus is to sell the Research product and generate Commission in Primary and Secondary Deals.
Cash Equity is trading listed equities worldwide with a focus on PanEuropean Large Caps and German Small and Mid Caps.
Cash Equities is divided into the following groups
- Sales – responsible for the sale and the placement of WestLB’s Cash Equity product into its client base. Sales is done out of the following locations: Düsseldorf, London, New York.
- Salestrading – defined as handling of equity orders given by clients, generating trading ideas based on technical analysis and WestLB research, crossing blocks in European stocks and providing clients with market information.
- Flow Trading Sparkassen – focusing on the business with German savings banks Depot A accounts. Apart from handling orders Flow Trading Sparkassen is offering qualified advice, support and development of derivative trading strategies for Depot A clients, as well as technical and fundamental market research based on WestLB research. Flow Trading is based in Düsseldorf.
- Trading Large Caps/ Securitieslending – trading for UK/Irish listed equities and continental European equities. Traders trade all equities in those countries.
- Trading Small/ MidCaps – is focused on agency and principle trading in German small and mid caps. Apart from trading, the group is taking care of WestLB’s sponsorship for roughly 40 stocks. Mid Caps also regulate IPO, execute Buyback Programs and supports all sorts of ECM Business.
Equity Derivatives
Equity Derivatives acts as a product unit within Global Markets, specialized in Equity Derivative Products. They develop intelligent solutions in the area of investment and trading products by using derivative instruments. Target customers are institutional clients and corporates, as well as via the retail platform Sparkassen and banks incl. their retail clients. They also provide professional advice with an eye to the market, taking sustainability aspects into account with the aim of establishing long-term, profitable client relations. The main focus is on the maximization of earnings potential by continuously building on know-how for intelligent interfacing with symmetrical and asymmetrical risk profiles.
Liquid Markets
Our Liquid Market business area delivers services over the whole spectrum of the following product lines:
- Euro Fixed Income [EUR FI] – Euro Fixed Income runs desks for the following EUR denominated instruments: Government bonds issued by EU governments, Short Term Bonds, Jumbos (incl. bonds from EUR accession countries), Public/Mortgage, Inflation, Swaps, Vanilla Options, Short Term Derivatives
- Foreign Exchange Trading (Forex) – handles pricing, execution and order management for major currencies, providing a service to internal and external clients on a 24 hour basis (from Düsseldorf & Sydney centres).
- Commodities – Located in Düsseldorf, the commodities desk covers the Bank’s global transactions in precious metals and oil, further commodities are set to follow in line with customer demand.
Structured Credit
Structured Credit provides solutions to WestLB’s core investor clients, especially in Germany, facilitating optimal investment portfolios, maximising return for a chosen level of risk. It builds a wide offering of both funded and synthetic investment products, sourcing diverse risk from around the globe and across industries. Structured Credit underwrites, arranges, structures and trades Asset-Backed Security (ABS) Collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), Collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), Structured Finance CDOs (STCDOs), leveraged super senior notes, combo notes and various fund structures. Structured Credit offers these products through the Global Markets sales force, focusing on distribution to our saving’s bank owners, second tier financial institutions, money managers, insurance companies and hedge funds.
Structured Rates
Structured Rates provides solutions to WestLB’s core investor and issuer clients, exactly matching their risk and return profiles in developed market interest rate, currency and volatility markets. WestLB has a strong franchise in this area reducing costs for issuers and increasing returns for investors. WestLB has a strong retail structured note business, leveraging our savings banks owner’s strong client franchise with our structured rate capability. We deliver structured rate and Foreign Exchange (FX) solutions to WestLB’s origination clients, leveraging WestLB’s client franchise.
Emerging Markets
Emerging Markets (EM) provides solutions to WestLB’s core investor and issuer clients, matching their needs in local market Foreign Exchange (FX) and rate risks with our local market capabilities. WestLB brings issuers to market in local currencies in Africa where there is great investor demand, such as Botswana, Namibia and Mauritius. Emerging markets brings developed market derivative technology to local markets, providing issuer clients with state of the art interest rate and FX derivative tools. WestLB distributes its investment products through the EM sales force and works closely with origination to provide local market derivative solutions to origination’s target issuer clients. Clients typically include a large proportion of local market banks.
Sales Units
Structured Products Sales
Structured Product Sales forms the conduit between our diversified client base and WestLB’s complex credit and interest rate solutions teams. Working closely with a broad client base ranging from German savings banks to alternative investment managers and financial institutions, the role of the sales force and the relationship that exists is crucial in delivering customised strategies and structured products. As a member of the sales team, your role is imperative in building these strong and ongoing partnerships with clients, ensuring they are kept up to date with new products emanating from Düsseldorf and London and briefed with current market situations. Information and understanding are fundamental to any sales process along with clear lines of communication between trading, structuring and research functions within WestLB.
Financial Institutions Germany, Switzerland and Austria (GSA)
Financial Institutions (FI) is a large sector comprising banks, commerce, finance companies, alternative investment managers, asset managers and financial sponsors. The focus is to develop a product led approach for a diversified group of clients. FI provides, and would expand, financial solutions to a range of clients and counterparties from middle-market companies to industry leaders. Our counterparty focus ranges across broker-dealers, commercial banks, and insurance companies. Alternatively, clients include FinCos, REITs, and a rapidly growing list of alternative investment managers (“AIMs”), including private equity funds, hedge funds, and financial sponsors. To our clients, we provide secured and unsecured loan products, in addition to promoting the interests of other product groups of the Bank.