While the sales and trading desks may be referred to by different names from investment bank to investment bank, within each sales and trading desk there are generally four roles that are carried out. Sales. Salespeople have client-facing roles and have the direct relationship with the clients of the bank. They are required to have expertise in understanding the needs of their clients with knowledge of all the different products and services their bank has in order to meet those client needs. Sales roles can be split either by product, meaning they are responsible for selling one product or product type to a number of different clients, or by client, meaning they manage the relationship between the bank and the client, or clients, for all products they wish to trade. Trading. Traders receive orders from clients and execute these in their relevant markets. They are quick decision makers who balance the need to manage risks while executing trades at the best price possible. Traders are typically split by product, and there's often a high degree of automation within the trading role. Meaning quant analysts are often employed to design and maintain electronic trading flow systems. Research. Research analysts are responsible for producing macroeconomic or company-specific research in order to generate trade ideas or investment recommendations for salespeople and traders, as well as external clients. Structuring. Structuring teams collaborate with their sales and trading colleagues to create custom or bespoke solutions for clients with complex needs. Examples include having to raise finance for a long-term infrastructure project that also requires complex hedging strategies.