As leaders of power, gas, and financial markets trading meet in Amsterdam for the 2026 Energy Trading Leaders’ Summit, sponsored by HC Group, they will do amid an uneasy equilibrium - writes the Managing Director of HC Group's European Energy Practice, Dan Cordell.
Geopolitics, fragile supply chains and the rewiring of global energy flows have turned volatility from a periodic shock into an almost defining condition - with a need for new skillsets to match market conditions.
Gas markets remain tied to global LNG dynamics - where shipping constraints, contract flexibility and counterparty exposure can move prices as much as physical scarcity. Power markets, increasingly shaped by renewables, are also driven by intermittency and imbalance.
Financial players are recalibrating. Early optimism among multi-strategy funds has softened after losses in crowded energy trades. Capital remains available, but more discriminating. With volatility now structural, firms are increasingly prioritising precision over scale.
At HC Group we see this translating into a growing focus on hybrid, tech-enabled traders and dealmakers. This, in turn, means firms must rethink their talent strategies: prioritising integrated skill sets and internal pipelines, and building platforms that allow talent to perform at speed and scale.
The fastest-growing profile is the execution engineer, combining trading intuition with technical capability.
LNG: Scarcity at the Top
Nowhere is the talent squeeze more acute than in gas and LNG. The market lacks individuals who can originate deals, structure financing, price risk and execute to completion. As deals become more complex and slower to close, the premium on judgement and execution discipline has risen. Team structures are shifting in response:
- Functions once considered peripheral - trade finance, legal and risk - are being drawn into the commercial core, shaping deals from inception rather than supporting them at the margins.
- Demographics are tightening supply: senior departures are accelerating, while the pipeline beneath them often lacks the experience to step up quickly.
The result is a market where hybrid capability is scarce, leadership gaps are widening, and financing expertise has become a central competitive advantage rather than a support function.
Power Markets: Talent in Transition
In power, the constraint is less about seniority than skill mix. The growth of renewables and battery storage has triggered intense demand for traders who can operate at the intersection of markets, data and automation. Roles are increasingly bifurcated:
- Analysts with strong modelling and coding capabilities shape strategy - forecasting supply, modelling constraints and identifying optimisation opportunities
- Traders increasingly focus on execution and real-time risk.
- The fastest-growing profile is the execution engineer, combining trading intuition with technical capability.
Compensation has risen sharply, reflecting both scarcity and strategic importance. Yet pay alone is not decisive. The strength of a firm’s technology stack - its data infrastructure, analytics capabilities and execution systems - is now critical to attracting and retaining talent. In power markets, the platform has become as important as the role itself.
Financial Desks: Mobility & Narrower Hiring
Across financial markets, hiring appetite has narrowed. Periods of extreme volatility have exposed crowded positioning and prompted a retreat from broad expansion plans. Firms are focusing instead on targeted, high-conviction hires - teams and individuals with a clear, differentiated edge and proven risk discipline.
At the same time, mobility at the senior level is increasing. Deferred compensation cycles are unwinding, lowering barriers for experienced portfolio managers to move. This is creating opportunities for firms to acquire talent, while raising retention challenges for incumbents.
In specialist areas such as financial transmission rights, the imbalance between supply and demand is particularly acute. Talent pools are small, non-compete clauses are long, and hiring timelines are often extended, reinforcing the structural nature of the shortage.
We are also seeing many senior derivatives traders - particularly those at merchant traders - being attracted to join hedge funds. Funds are seen by many candidates as willing to invest in tech, analytics and infrastructure more heavily than trading houses, which often favour investments in physical supply chains.
Building Capabilities and Capacity
Overall, traditional hiring models are struggling to keep pace with more volatile, interconnected markets, where roles increasingly span commercial, analytical and technological domains. Firms are responding by integrating capabilities, unifying origination, financing and execution in LNG, and embedding data and engineering at the core of power trading, while also investing more in internal talent pipelines.
For trading leaders, the message is clear: success will depend less on predicting volatility than on building adaptable organisations, combining technical expertise, commercial judgement and strong platforms to respond at speed.
Dan Cordell
Managing Director, European Energy, HC Group
