It is amazing how quickly another week went by!
I spent it with the Global Structuring team. Those guys find out what customers need (also known  as the Solutions Side of Structuring) and structure products which depending on different underlyings could be Hybrid Product, Equity Derivatives, FX, Interest Rates and so on. Actually the job is very interesting and I found quite helpful to chat with the team as they can explain the products that the sales people sale and the traders hedge and thus I was able to answer many of my questions from last week. Global Structuring is positioned somehow between both parties – Sales people and Traders and is “keeping the balance” between the confronting interests of those.
I actually believe that is very good starting position, because it gives the opportunity once you understand the products to either sale or trade them depending on what you prefer and you’re good at. On the opposite, being a trader or sales person gives you ideas of the markets and the clients and so you can come up with innovative ideas and structure those complex products to fit your clients’ needs within given market conditions... Anyway, it is very interesting, challenging and I like it indeed.
This week I also feel much more confident compared to last one, when I had the feeling that everyone speaks a foreign language to me!!  On Tuesday we – me and Janet, the other intern who just joined, spent the day with Equity Derivatives Trading guys. In the afternoon the line manager of the desk spent 3 hours with us, giving presentation and answering all of our questions.  It was amazing opportunity to learn a lot! We have been given many books and I now have much reading to do.
 I also got a lot of free stuff! I got Bloomberg Professional installed on my work station! Normally, this software costs around $1000 a month, but we negotiated some free trial for the period of my internship! Now I only need to learn how to actually use the thing, but that will happen soon, as I am having a training next week. I was given a work mobile too as my phone does not really work here..
On Wednesday I got earlier in the office for the morning meeting of the US treasuries guys which was interesting, but pretty much “coded”, so I did understand it only partly... Then I went to my team for the day and I spent approximately an hour with each of the members and they were telling about what they do, also gave us many interesting readings. One guy is a new grad who has been with RBS for 4 months now and the other is already 2 years within the company. They invited us to a meeting at noon where new structured product was discussed. The meeting was supposed to be in English, but it was in Japanese, so despite my trials I didn’t understand much.
Luckily on the Friday I had chat with the lady who was presenting the product, so she explained it to me in details. On that day I was given presentations about various products, explained how they work and who needs/buys them.  I also spent some time with the Hybrids structurers and I was impressed by the complicity of the products they create. The people investing in such structures should be either professionals or not understand what they are buying. It is very exciting area and it is much space for creativity and innovation.
 On Thursday was our welcome dinner, hosted by Stephen Baker from Scottish Development International. We went to a Japanese izakaya named Za Watami in Shinbashi. The food was absolutely delicious. The head of SDI was supposed to attend as well, but unfortunately he couldn’t make it. We had a lot of fun later on with the Saltire’s Alumni Zach Thomas. I had my first authentic Japanese karaoke, it was hilarious.
On the weekend we did much exploring, including the Imperial Palace Gardens, Harajuki, Shinjuku, Ebisu. We mainly concentrated on gardens, places with many trees and water somewhere near, the reason being that it is extraordinary hot and humid here! It is 35 degrees Celsius in 7am and 32 – in 11pm. It is crazy!  This can quickly spoil your exploring, because in 2 hours you have the feeling that you are melting down, but we are very enthusiastic! There is so much more to see and do, I am looking forward to next week!