Quote from ukxgerard:
Hopefully prop trading firms will establish a foothold in Singapore â this applies to both stocks and futures trading. It is common knowledge that SGX is pushing to migrate all their products to an all screen environment within a year. Their flagship contract Eurodollar futures (not the currency) has seen virtually all of its volume revert to CMEâs GLOBEX platform. The great hope for Singapore derivatives trading is for an electronic Nikkei 225 contract to take on the mighty Osakaâ¦
Prop trading really means that in-house traders are backed and trained by the firm. In addition to a percentage of any profits the firm will take overrides on commissions, desk fees, interest costs and other admin fees. They hope that out of every batch of young starry eyed youngsters, a superstar will emerge.
Unfortunately in Singapore, most of the futures clearers have not the patience, fortitude or skilled personnel to develop profitable teams. In a nutshell the firms are unwilling to make the capital investment in good infrastructure nor have the patience to develop such teams (2 yrs plus.)
Contrast this to Chicago, where prop shops are a dime a dozen. Are the American traders functionally any more different than Singaporeans â no not really? As a foreigner I have had the opportunity to work on SGX for a few years and personally know some of the biggest traders on the floor. They are gutsy, real risk takers and most importantly people of integrity; surely comparable to any of the top Chicago traders. I also speak for some the order fillers when I make this comparison.
Unfortunately the floor will no longer exist so such comparisons become moot. The future of the Singapore market is with the young, aggressive, western thinking graduates. They donât have any baggage or preconceptions (unlike us old dogs!!) about electronic trading.
Singapore has a long history of futures trading going back to 1982 (When SIMEX was formed.) I hope that high quality prop trading firms can recognize the opportunity and begin to train the new generation.
G.