Should a woman be a trader?

BROCO was interviewed by Natalia Kuzmina, who manages a trading account and has 16 years of experience in trading.

Natalia Kuzmina, a successful trader and talented manager, talks about male chauvinism, misconceptions about trading and her professional path.

- Natalia, how did it happen that trading became your profession? Is this your main job?

- Everything turned out to be so banal that it's even embarrassing to tell you. After graduating from the Institute in 1997, I came across an article in a newspaper which talked about the profession of a trader. After graduation, "trading" became not even a profession, but a lifestyle. But, as it usually happens in the life of any happy woman, there comes a time when there is a baby in the family. And then what was taught in the institute and on courses, goes to the second plan, and the main thing in life becomes a house and a child. But a shallow person, accustomed to live in a frantic rhythm, in different time zones, needs something else, except for household chores. And then I had to start all over again: first using family money, then money from friends and their friends. The result was a decent amount of money under management.

- Do you encounter so-called trader chauvinism?

- Usually it happens like this: one meets a blonde girl by her "clothes" and sees her off by her mind as an experienced trader. Therefore, all the initial chauvinism is within the limits of the permissible error. It is easier for a woman, she is not expected to achieve outstanding successes and results, so men, not seeing me as a rival, are even inclined to help me with advice, share their experience and experience, for which I thank them very much!

- Why do you think there are so few women in trading? Is it due to a lack of information, or is it because of the belief that financial markets are strictly a man's world?

- Trading - is a state of mind, not the presence of pants or a skirt on the person behind the terminal. The myth that only men have a place in financial markets has long been debunked. But trading captures all 24 hours a day, and such dedication to work, as a rule, only men can afford. Women have a lot of other worries and responsibilities (of course, from the "non-global" aspects of life) - just "keeping" the home is worth it.

- A woman is by nature more emotional than a man. Does this hinder trading?

- Both women and men are different. Often representatives of the weaker sex have a firm male character with a mathematical mind, and it happens that men fall into female tantrums. It is not who you are, but what you are!

- How many years have you been practicing trading? What instruments do you trade with?

- I've been trading for 16 years. You can, of course, subtract vacations and weekends, but even on vacation, over a plate of oysters and a glass of wine, I manage to find a TV set with Bloomberg, CNN or CNBC.

- What tactics do you use in trading (tools, analysis, indicators)?

- I trade all commodities, US and European indices, currency pairs (or their futures), American and Eurobonds. I regularly use trading in various spreads. In discrete trading I use exponential muving, RSI, MASD, fibs, counting waves. Algorithmic trading is based on muwings and strict division of their parameters between longs and shorts. And, of course, constant study and comprehension of news flow and macrostatistics.

- In your opinion, is a managed account an effective money management mechanism? Why?

- Yes, a managed account has made my life much easier, both in terms of diversification of positions and risks, and in terms of ease of use. In essence, you manage one account where all investors' funds are accumulated. After all, it's no secret that a $70,000 account is much more flexible than 7 accounts of $10,000 each. The direct analogy is a cartoon about a merchant and 7 hats made of one skin, where both hats are unusable and the skin is spoiled. And this way we get a good hat in which we can walk happily for a long time. As for the ease of use, the manager does not waste time talking and convincing investors. All parameters of the managed account are strictly specified in the offer, statistics on management are publicly available, and if an investor comes to you, it means that he has already decided in advance what he expects and what he risks. It is the same with profit distribution. The manager does not have to wait for deductions from all investors - it happens automatically after the end of the managed account cycle.

- Why did you choose Broco as your broker?

- Several factors played the main role in choosing a broker: the possibility to trade any instruments from one account, convenient and simple trading platform BrocoTrader, reduced margin requirements, leverage, 24/7 technical support, simplicity and speed of opening a trading account.

- What advice would you give to girls who want to but are hesitant to trade?

- First of all, you need to honestly assess your capabilities, high stress resistance, good knowledge of math and basic economics, healthy adventurism and intuition. If you are sure that all of the above has a direct relation to you, then immediately sit down at the terminal and start! And if it is not for you, invest your funds in one of the managed accounts and enjoy life.

Thanks for the conversation!