Hello all,can anyone give me some info on these two (particularly trading).

which asset class?

Seeing a LOT of CV's from both these places come across my desk of late.

Does anyone know what happened with Dresdner? Indeed, so many people are looking for a new job. Not to mention Supernova deal...

sorry about the late reply. I mean from the perspective of a graduate who's not dutch..? I have the opportunity to join the graduate program of both of them.

What are the areas (desks) that your offers are for?ABN Amro's London operation has very few Dutch people and English is the working language; being a non-Dutch graduate is not an issue.

ABN is a rotational program (which is offputting). DrKW will probably on either FX Spot, or Options. I am v. interested in trading FX so this is perfect for me.

For grads, I regard the embedded real option of an rotational programme as very valuable....low margin business, like FX spot, rarely offers upside with a view on a 20 years career. FX options is certainly a great opportunity.

i think the scope for movement between desks at DrKW is pretty high, and the training is excellent. I also thought the people at DrKW were good, and the interview process was pretty thorough i.e. trading grads weren't expected to do presentations, but were expected to do a trading simulations (vice versa for sales). ABN Amro looks too generic, plus the people that want to be traders are lumped in with the sales et al, so i will be rotating on sales/trading/research desks. The only upside of ABN that I see is the 6 weeks in Amsterdam at the start of the program... but then it'll be unlikely I'll be in a position to learn when I come back! FX Spot may not offer a 20 year career, but at least I'll be learning real stuff from day one, rather than it being all class room based, and me not being able to do anything of substance for at least 12-18 months... that's my opinion anyway.

Don't be to focused on being an FX (Spot/Forwards) Trader. Baghead is right - FX is increadibly commoditized now and increasingly moving to on-line platforms (eFX), the number of market makers has decreased (because of banking mergers, but more importantly because of virtually non-existant profit margins). The popular opinion among banks and central banks is a further reduction is MMs and the market is heading to more of an exchange model with Deutsche, UBS & Citigroup grabbing most of the FX volumes.ABN Amro has more FX volume than DrKW although DrKW's eFX platform at present is a superior offering. A rotational programme will give you exposure to many different desks and you will realize you like things you never considered and despise others. There is real value in rotation. However, if you are dead set on being an FX trader then you should go to DrKW because FX options (and most Spot currencies) are traded out of Amsterdam not London at ABN.

Thank you, Londonpete and Baghead. Info was very useful.