Muriel A - co-Head of Equity Sales to French Clients

"Exane is demanding of its staff, but opens doors to the best performers"

After starting her career in an internal audit department of a major French bank and three years as a financial analyst, Muriel (HEC 1994) joined the French desk of Exane's equity sales department in 2000 as a sales person and took co-responsibility of it in 2005. Her challenging role has a commercial and advisory side, as well as team management.

What exactly do you do?
"I sell European equities to French institutional investors. My role is to give advice on listed companies to equity fund managers, based on the research produced by our analysts and my understanding of market timing, transversal and sector approaches."

You started your career as an equity analyst before going to sales, what is the bridge between these two activities?
"I started out in internal audit, a very general business which enabled me to identify the financial field which best suited me. I then became entered the equity field as an analyst, where I gained an in-depth knowledge of the tools used to analyse companies. This provided me with solid foundations that I drew on to become a sales person. The main benefit is that over time I became fully aware of market mechanisms and honed my commercial skills. A position in equity sales is challenging because of the pressure of the markets and the competition with other brokers you face every day. The longer you practice, the better your knowledge of the market and your clients relationships. Apart from managerial responsibilities, a natural progression can also to go the other side of the fence: into asset management."

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