Head hunters please take note: Jeff Albright, vice president and head of equity trading at Waddell & Reed Financial Services in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, has no desire to head for the big time. He wants no supervisory work at the trading desks of Fidelity, American Century or at some other fund giant or even at a wirehouse in New York City.
He is very happy heading a medium-size desk of five traders–a desk in which he trades as much if not more than he supervises. He is enthusiastic about a trading firm with $25 billion in assets–about $19 billion in equity and the rest in bonds–and primarily working on the firm's mutual funds. His desk handles about 50 trades a day.
Those numbers mean Waddell & Reed's trading desk is small potatoes compared to the heavyweights of the trading business, and even though Waddell poses no immediate challenge to the Vanguards, Fidelitys and T. Rowe Prices of this world.
"It's fun to go to work. That's very important to me," Albright said. And one of those pleasant elements of his job, says Albright, is working in the same region in which he grew up.
Uproot
Albright, who is a Topeka, Kansas native and now lives in Overland Park, Kansas, has always wanted to stay in his state. At roughly the mid-point of his career, he is exactly where he wants to be. At 36, with 13 years in the trading business, Albright doesn't want to move away to a huge firm and uproot his family.
Albright's experience, primarily, has been with small to mid-size trading firms. He came to Waddell last year after three years of building a trading desk from the ground up at AAL Capital Management in Appleton, Wisconsin.
He is comfortable with Waddell's multi-style trading desk. Before that he was senior trader at Munder Capital Management in Birmingham, Michigan.
"Waddell is the kind of firm I like because I can get involved in everything. I basically consider myself another trader on the desk. My philosophy is that we all should be able to do everything. And here I can participate in all kinds of trading," he said.
Left unsaid by Albright: It is not a big, impersonal firm with bigger rewards, but huge personal costs. Albright clearly thinks there is a better culture at Waddell, as well as smaller trading operations, that is healthier than at the bigs. For instance, in recruiting and evaluating traders, Albright emphasizes professionals who work effectively in a team environment and who work with portfolio managers.
"You can't be concerned with where you're going on the next job. You can't be focused on yourself," he said. "A good trader is a genuine person. Someone who is focused on the job, but also has a life outside of the job." He adds that traders must also have a sense of responsibility. Whether they make a good trade or a bad trade, they must be able to justify their actions, he adds.
Albright says humor is the best way to combat the stresses of daily work. "We have jobs to do, but we also laugh a lot on the desk. That's very important."
It's also important to walk away from the daily grind, Albright adds.
At Home
Albright was interviewed on a recent weekday at home, where he was enjoying a "mental health day" with his two daughters, who were helping him wash his jeep. Asked about his hobbies, Albright said an occasional round of golf, but then quickly comes back to his wife and daughters.
"It's very important to me that I am at a firm where I can have time with my family and where I look forward to going to work," he said. It's also important that Waddell & Reed, one of the oldest firms, with a fund family that goes back to 1937, has a low personnel turnover rate. One example of that is the man Albright replaced: The legendary trading desk pro Gene (Gino) Sturgeon, a trader with some 35 years of experience.
"I'd known of Gino for years and it was quite an experience to take over for him. It was an honor," Albright said.
So Albright figures he's in the catbird seat. He has the spot he has always wanted–but wasn't sure he would ever obtain given Sturgeon's record – and is in a familiar place that he has always wanted for himself and his family.
Recruiters remember: For many in Middle America – including many of those in the trading business–the provinces beat the big bad city every time.
