YOU MIGHT NOT have noticed it but the old Eurobond trader is dead. Not physically but in spirit. In the space of six years, European debt market trading has mutated from the straightforward high-grade Eurobond into a credit-intensive, derivative-led sector that bears little resemblance to its precursor.

The new bond trader is a completely different animal, and should be able to far better understand credit, capital structures and balance sheets than any of his or her predecessors were if he or she wants to remain competitive. The fact is that the traditional hunting ground for bond traders is now a commoditized backwater and is shifting to electronic execution, and also price discovery.

“Remember back to the old Eurobond days when the five-year double-A rated...