Julio César Santiago

1. As our LATAM lead, you shoulder many responsibilities. What is a typical day for you?

I am responsible for growing our EAC in Latin America, as well as leading business development across this region. Every day my team and I identify, price and trade more than 50+ products across different markets (and time zones!).

2. With over five years of experience at STX, you’ve witnessed major growth for our company and the industry – what was it like to be part of that development?

When I started in 2018, it was just 25 of us sharing a trading floor in Amsterdam with another firm. Within a year, I and three other colleagues opened the New York City office. We were working from a small conference room near Park Ave and through hard work, sheer determination and an unwavering faith in the role we play in the energy transition we created what we have now – a seventy-person New York presence with its own trading operations ecosystem.

To keep building on this success, four months ago, I moved to Mexico City to scale up our Latin American business. This is something we do well at STX – which we recently replicated in Singapore to service other exciting, emerging markets such as APAC.

3. Let’s take a step back. What drew you to the industry and to STX?

It might sound a bit nerdy, but I like being a liquidity provider and getting the opportunity to truly carry out the societal role of trading – making markets work. Ten years from now my team can say they built the market of tomorrow.

4. From your experience in coming up the ladder at STX, what are some key skills or attributes you recommend to potential applicants?

Collaboration. Collaboration. Collaboration. Through collaboration and the supportive culture at STX, I found an incredible set of mentors I can rely on for advice.

5. It’s great to hear what a collaborative, supportive place STX is. What else do you consider is part of our company ‘DNA’?

At our core, and intrinsic to our culture, we are a Dutch firm. And I don’t mean that in terms of nationality or where our headquarters is based – we embody the ‘Dutch spirit’: commercial, entrepreneurial and being radically direct with each other. I think at last count we have over 50 different nationalities working here – yet this ‘Dutch spirit’ stays strong and is embraced by our team.

6. How does this ‘Dutch spirit’ translate to striking a balance between a successful career and your personal life?

Work-life balance means something different for everyone. What I can say is that the leadership at STX knows our most valuable asset is our people. Ensuring personal growth, health and relationships outside the office is an essential part in safeguarding that asset.

7. Any final words of wisdom for potential STX-ers?

If you are offered a seat on a rocketship, don’t ask what seat.