MarketAxess' Erik Tham started his career as a photojournalist – and still prefers to begin the day smudging his hands with newspaper ink, he told finews.com.
Erik Tham, when do you carve out time for yourself?
On weekends on my motorbike: I have an old Moto Guzzi, riding it is almost like meditation for me and helps free up my mind after a busy week.
What is your favorite ritual?
Starting the day with a cup of coffee and the morning newspaper (the old-fashioned paper version, where possible).
How do you keep fit?
I take kickboxing classes at a gym around the corner from where I live. I’ve never been a martial arts fighter (and never will be), but hitting the sandbag makes a great work out.
How do you reward yourself?
I love good food (and it shows a little bit).
Where (how) do you learn?
I’ve never been a big fan of textbooks, I prefer learning by doing and from the people around me instead. The great thing about my job is that it gives me the chance to work together with many incredibly smart people who are so kind as to share their knowledge with me.
Erik Tham is head of private banking at MarketAxess for Switzerland and Benelux. The 47-year-old German-Swiss banker spent nearly 13 years at UBS, most recently as head of fixed income and equities e-trading execution automation and data-driven insight. After earning a degree in physics, Tham began his career as a photojournalist, including for Associated Press and DPA, before embarking on a consulting career with Accenture in Germany, Zurich, and Chicago. The five-question interview with Tham is the third in a series of short interviews with executives and managers from the business world and society at large, following Baloise boss Gert de Winter and Rothschild & Co bank CEO Laurent Gagnebin.
