One for the lads with a bit to chuck around

Picture a university party that knows no borders, and you've met the target audience of Trader Monthly, a new US men's magazine.

The average age is 30, median annual income is US$400,000 ($557,000) and they enjoy US$10,000 expense-account dinners at New York restaurants such as Nobu.

Hot cars, even hotter women (preferably blonde) and starter jets top these guys' wish-lists, judging from the cover of the December/January issue.

Politically correct, they're not, and they're not too worried about it, either.

"We're looking at an industry that is very testosterone-driven," says editor-in-chief Randall Lane, a Forbes veteran. "This is a group that's 97 per cent male."

Lane knows this turf well. He helped start P. O V., a men's business magazine that Maxim, the lord of the "lad" books, put out of business in 2000.

Columns like Trader Dater - Lindsey, a blonde 23-year-old Texan says she offers "a nice view from behind" - are ideas that no one will find in, say, the Economist.

Then there's Kobe's Korner, which pokes fun at NBA star Kobe Bryant's domestic peace offering - a US$4 million diamond ring for his wife after he admitted committing adultery last year - with the headline "Buy your way out of the doghouse." Tip: US$60,000 diamond earrings might work.

The irony is not lost on the magazine's founder, Magnus Greaves, the Canadian son of a Jamaican mother and an English father.

"My wife likes that column," Greaves, 30, said, laughing, from his parents' home in Vancouver, British Columbia.

"We did some focus groups and the editorial guys realised, traders get in trouble a lot. Sometimes they have to buy their way out of it."

Greaves made his money in London, where he moved at 19. In 1998, he started an electronic futures trading company, MacFutures, with three 20-something partners. They bet on bonds, interest rates and stock indexes.

Last year, he sold MacFutures to Refco Futures for an undisclosed sum. That bankroll let him realise a childhood dream - start a magazine.

"I looked at trader magazines and men's lifestyle magazines, and thought: "Why not put the two together? We tell our readers how to make money from trading and how to have fun spending it."

The magazine's financial content focuses on profiles of successful traders and risk-taking strategies gleaned from professional gamblers and athletes.

"We think the guy you've never heard of who's made US$25 million is almost more interesting to read about than George Soros," Greaves said.

In his magazine column, Greaves writes that "traders are a global fraternity of sorts - except we drive better cars than we did in college".

The magazine is sent to 100,000 traders in New York, Chicago and other major American cities. Greaves hopes to start a British and European edition early next year.

Mike O'Hare, head of listed equity trading at Lehman Brothers, finds Trader Monthly "entertaining".

"It's like a knock-off Maxim. I can definitely relate to it."

A full-page ad costs US$20,000, comparable to other upscale magazines such as Vanity Fair.

"These guys are the ones who ring the cash register really loud," said Lane.

"That's why advertisers love them. They have a quick trigger finger when it's time to buy."

Erin O'Rourke, brand manager for Absolut's new Level vodka, described Trader Monthly as an advertising opportunity.

"It's the psychographics," O'Rourke said. "These guys are adventure seekers. They're looking for what's best."

Lane has an answer for those who point to the stockmarket's modest gains this year and say maybe this isn't the best time to start a traders' magazine.

"Look at the price of crude oil. Look at the NYMEX - they're minting millionaires by the thousands. The currency and the commodity markets are hot this year."
Only two of the Top 100 Highest-Earning Traders - a list that ran in Trader Monthly's first issue for October/November, are women - Angie Long, a high-yield credit derivatives trader at J. P. Morgan Chase, and Margie Teller, a back-month Eurodollar options trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Linda Friedman, a partner in the Chicago law firm of Stowell & Friedman, said: "I've just looked at the cover on the [Trader Monthly] web site and it reinforces all the stereotypes we've fought so hard against.

"It's offensive. It contributes to a hostile work environment. It results in women being treated as sex objects and denied opportunity."

Friedman and law partner Mary Stowell have won settlements in class-action lawsuits for women plaintiffs against Merrill Lynch and other Wall Street firms.

Greaves said: "If anyone's offended, I'm sorry. That's why I put my e-mail address out there, so they can get in touch with me."

- REUTERS