TD Securities
Rachel Fox
18 February 2025
Rachel Fox, director in repo sales and trading at TD Securities, speaks with Daniel Tison about her love for the product, often seen as "vanilla", and the value that interns bring to securities finance
Image: Rachel Fox
Can you tell me about your journey into the securities finance industry?
I found myself in securities finance after accepting what I thought was a four-month assignment on the repo desk in London. To my Canadian parents' dismay, the four-month position turned into a full-time position, and I have been with the same team since.
Initially, I accepted the role on the repo desk because I really got on with my colleagues — which I think is very important when you sit next to the same people for 10 hours a day — but since then, I have really grown to love the repo product and the securities finance industry.
While repo is sometimes viewed as a simple, vanilla product, it is often overlooked and misunderstood at a great cost to firms. I truly enjoy providing efficient funding and financing solutions for our clients and traders.
As a young professional, what aspects of your role or the industry do you find most exciting?
I feel like I must mention the people in this industry here. While ‘the city’ comes with preconceptions of reckless anti-heroes, I have found people with a real willingness to answer questions and help me develop my skill set along the way.
Ultimately the most exciting, fulfilling part of my role in this industry is that it is still a people-facing job. Even in trading, relationships are invaluable, and I have enjoyed learning from and collaborating with various individuals through the years.
Many companies offer various training and development opportunities for their employees. How has your company supported your growth?
TD has been very good to me — in graduate schemes, mentorship programmes, and supplementary communities. In the graduate scheme, I have been supported in moving to London onto the repo desk, which has given me a global experience in the industry. In TD's mentorship programme, I have had the pleasure of bouncing ideas off and taking advice from a handful of managing directors across the trading floor. And finally, TD has various communities like ‘Women at TD’ that have given me a voice in front of many talented people across the firm and wider industry.
What misconceptions about working in the financial industry have you encountered, and how do you address these challenges?
A common misconception on the trading floor is that juniors on the desk are not capable of adding value. Particularly in our technology-driven world, the interns entering the industry now hold a competitive advantage on computer-based knowledge that the desk can really use.
For example, an intern is well-placed to create a report with the desk's data that will give a vastly better picture of the desk's risk positions and can certainly add value to subsequent trading decisions. Though I agree that experience cannot be taught, especially when trading through overarching geopolitical and macroeconomic risks, when I work with the new joiners on the floor, I try to encourage them to have confidence in what they do know, especially on the computing and coding side of things.
Looking ahead, where do you see yourself in the next five years in terms of your career goals and aspirations?
In my professional development, I would love to take on more risk. Presently, my role includes both sales and trading, so I manage client queries but also price cross-currency trades and US dollar trades outside New York hours.
While I enjoy presenting solutions to our clients, I do love the nuanced, but analytical nature involved in trading. It probably helps — or hurts — that rates now move more in a week than they did the entire first three years of my career!
What advice do you have for other young professionals aspiring to pursue a career in your industry?
Do not take yourself too seriously. I think it is important to work hard, network, and be proud of your achievements, but most of all, to stay grounded. You will make a lot more friends along the way and you will be less disappointed if it all moves against you.
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