Day in the Life: Cindy Ferrara, head of equity derivative hedge fund sales

0630 Leave for the office. Read the FT on tube ride to Canary Wharf.

0700 Arrive at desk and check overnight emails, calls and communications.

Participate in the equities division morning calls.

0800 Read all written morning summaries from different departments - news

from research analysis or credit markets, information on institutional sales

and volatility . . .anything that helps my team evaluate opportunity for our

hedge fund clients. Work with team identifying day's strategies and issues.

1000 Client meetings and calls. We spend most of our day after morning

planning and doing research on client work - helping them identify opportunities

and providing counsel to them on their ideas. This is the most important

work we do. We also work aggressively on new account development.

1300 Like most people in our business, with very few exceptions, I eat

lunch at my desk. If I can, I read more research and listen in on the US equities division morning call. Working for a US firm in Europe means that a second wave of intense market and news activity hits precisely at lunch time. As a result, we sometimes skip lunch entirely!

One exception to this unhealthy rule, however, is that every other Monday, I

take time out for a working lunch with Citiwomen - the steering group that

focuses on women's issues within the company.

Issues we're currently examining include how we as an employer have advanced in the areas of

recruitment, career development, retention, work/life balance and respect.

The other exception is that every few months I have a working lunch in

London with one of my counterparts from Hong Kong or New York. Though we

speak on the phone frequently, face-to-face meetings give us better

opportunities to address strategies for moving the business forward.

We also include people from other business areas at the bank such as prime

broking, programme trading, foreign exchange and fixed income. This helps

to coordinate our cross marketing efforts.

1400 During the afternoon, I focus on more management and policy issues.

These vary day to day; ranging from keeping abreast of ISDA

(International Swaps and Derivatives Association) negotiations, to credit

terms, to specific client issues or sensitivities.

By about this time in the afternoon, we start focusing more intensely on the

US clients, as well as continuing to liaise with our European clients

here.

1700 Most evenings, there is some sort of meeting. The focus can be

research, sharing of initiatives within the department, or our weekly hedge

fund meeting to discuss the issues and themes that have developed during the

day and week.

Our hedge fund meeting often generates specific ideas for a teach-in on issues which are of relevance to the growth of our business here.

1800 Tidy up any outstanding issues: whether sending out termsheets, returning calls or emails and making sure everyone on the team is up to date on where we are.

2000 Depending on markets, trouble-shooting, travel and meetings out of the

office, my day can end any time between 7.30pm and 9pm. Since my other half

loves to cook, I have the great fortune to relax, watch the news, and enjoy

a home-cooked meal.

I try very hard to get to bed no later than 10 pm - doesn't always happen.

At weekends I enjoy sports. Recently I've been taking golf lessons on

Sunday. I also have a regular doubles tennis match with a group of 8 friends

every Sunday afternoon. Having been humiliated by my golf swing in the

morning, this is a chance to get a bit of credibility back.

This is generally followed by a very competitive evening bridge game, all of which

leaves me exhausted but relaxed and ready to get back to work Monday

morning.