Balyasny Asset Management (BAM)
London
I completed a six-month industrial placement at Balyasny Asset Management (BAM), working in the Execution Technology team in London. I worked on software supporting electronic trading, gaining experience of how technology is used in a fast-paced financial environment. My work covered several projects, from improving monitoring and processing historical trading data to contributing to the migration of functionality from a legacy system. The placement gave me a practical understanding of how reliable software, high-quality data and effective monitoring support financial decision-making. It also allowed me to work alongside experienced engineers and understand the relationship between technology and investment teams.
My role was primarily as a software engineer within the Execution Technology team. I worked on software supporting electronic trading workflows, contributing to the replacement and improvement of functionality from an older system. I worked on connecting the new system to the information it needed, including market, reference and risk data. I also worked on an internal tool used to recreate historical situations and analyse how the system would have responded, as well as improving monitoring and alerts. One of my main contributions was redesigning how information about exchange-traded funds was provided to the system. Rather than transferring large amounts of unnecessary detailed information, I helped develop a simpler approach that provided relevant summary information directly. This made the system more efficient and created a clearer connection between different parts of the platform.
I developed my programming skills significantly during the placement, particularly through working with Java within a large software system. I learned how to break larger problems into smaller parts and write software that could be understood and maintained by other engineers. I also gained experience testing my work, using Git and working with existing code. Through my work on historical data, I developed a better understanding of software performance when handling large amounts of information. My work on monitoring also taught me how important it is to make systems easy to observe and identify problems quickly. I further developed my ability to understand how information moves through a larger system and recognise opportunities to improve existing approaches.
The placement significantly improved my communication and collaboration skills. I learned to ask focused questions when I was unsure about a requirement and explain my decisions clearly to others. Regular feedback helped me present my work clearly and make it easier for others to review and build upon. I also became more comfortable working independently while knowing when to involve colleagues responsible for related parts of a project. Working in a professional environment taught me to take responsibility for the wider impact of my work. I gained experience working with colleagues from different teams and levels of seniority, giving me a broader understanding of how different parts of an organisation work together. Overall, the placement made me more confident, independent and effective as part of a professional team.