T. Troy Dixon

Managing Director, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.
New York City. Age: 34

T. Troy Dixon has a simple formula for measuring success: “What I consider true success is not money or title but being able to support your family in every way,” he says. Dixon is the managing director and head of the mortgage-backed securities pass-through trading group at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. in New York. In another measure of his professional success, he is the only African-American trader heading a fixed income trading division among major Wall Street firms.

The native New Yorker received a B.A. in Economics from The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., before beginning his career as a Wall Street wunderkind, in 1993, at Salomon Brothers, as a trader on the mortgage-backed securities desk. He also worked with UBS Investment Bank in N.Y.C. as executive director, head of mortgage pass-through trading.

At 34, Dixon is considered a “young veteran” in the mortgage pass-through trading division. He has driven the performance of his desk to the No. 1 market position. The killer instincts that make him the lead dog on the trading floor are surpassed only by the largesse he shows to colleagues and friends, especially among the close network of African-American employees on Wall Street. “I’m very proud of the network/support system that I’ve been able to set up for young Blacks on Wall Street,” explains Dixon.

A memorable part of that network at one time included his best friend, Todd Isaac, a broker at Cantor Fitzgerald LP who was killed during the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Both graduated from The College of the Holy Cross. Three years ago, Dixon established the Todd Isaac Scholarship Fund, where he holds the position of chairman, in memory of his friend. To date, the fund has raised $500,000 to support the education of inner-city youth in the New York metropolitan area. Dixon is also a contributor to A Better Chance and the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, to name a few.

“I lost my best friend, but what I took from [his passing] was that you should attack every single day of your life.”