Futures Proprietary Trading

aetrade · Aug 30, 2016

Can someone give me a current (as of 2016) state of the futures proprietary trading arena?

Names of firms?

Types of deals?

Commissions and fees?

Risk capital required?

How to join these firms?

Do you still maintain your independence when you join these firms?

Any other details would be appreciated.

Maverick74 · Aug 30, 2016

Sorry dude, you are mixing the old equity model with the futures model. The futures model "hires" people. They are not allowed to take risk capital. Better have a nice looking resume.

aetrade · Aug 30, 2016

Thanks.

Can you tell me the structure of the deals for the "hired" traders? What are the profit sharing ratios, how much capital is provided to the trader, how are losses shared, what fees are charged to the hired trader, what are commission rates, is remote trading allowed, can I maintain ownership of my IP, any non-competes, etc.

cvds16 · Aug 31, 2016

why don't you just trade your own money ? seems a basic question imho ... if your good you can make a living from that ...

Xela · Aug 31, 2016

cvds16 said:
why don't you just trade your own money ?

I can't answer for the OP, obviously, but it's very clear (for example from looking at all the Youtube videos made by people successfully funded by TopStepTrader to trade futures) that there are large numbers of people about, worldwide, with genuine, edge-based trading abilities and without enough starting capital of their own to be able to make a living from their skill-set, at least in the short-term.

An association with some kind of prop-firm can enable some people to make a living while gradually building their capital, just as a mortgage can enable some people to have a place to live while growing their own capital investment at the same time. No real "big mystery", here, regarding "why people need such services", surely?

speedo · Aug 31, 2016

Xela said:
I can't answer for the OP, obviously, but it's very clear (for example from looking at all the Youtube videos made by people successfully funded by TopStepTrader to trade futures) that there are large numbers of people about, worldwide, with genuine, edge-based trading abilities and without enough starting capital of their own to be able to make a living from their skill-set, at least in the short-term.

An association with some kind of prop-firm can enable some people to make a living while gradually building their capital, just as a mortgage can enable some people to have a place to live while growing their own capital investment at the same time. No real "big mystery", here, regarding "why people need such services", surely?

Yes and they can build their disciplines under imposed constraints.

2rosy · Aug 31, 2016

cvds16 said:
why don't you just trade your own money ? seems a basic question imho ... if your good you can make a living from that ...

one good thing about being a "hired" trader is that you can leverage off the firm's knowledge, infrastructure, ... Then if you leave that position and try to trade on your own you're just like everyone else and most likely lose.

garachen · Aug 31, 2016

aetrade said:
Thanks.

Can you tell me the structure of the deals for the "hired" traders? What are the profit sharing ratios, how much capital is provided to the trader, how are losses shared, what fees are charged to the hired trader, what are commission rates, is remote trading allowed, can I maintain ownership of my IP, any non-competes, etc.

Names: Jump, DRW, tower, etc
Payout: 5% to 25%
Fees: on average. All in about 25c total per side. Including exchange fees. Varies by product.
No risk capital.
Really good resume plus actual skills
No independence
No IP
No remote
6-12 month non compete

Hard to get an entry level job. Very competitive.

aetrade · Aug 31, 2016

Could you qualify what you mean by "no risk capital"?

When you say "No IP" does that mean I keep the IP I bring, but cannot keep any new IP I develop while there. Could you please qualify.

What's the typical amount of starting capital allocated to these "hired traders"?

Thanks.

garachen said:
Names: Jump, DRW, tower, etc
Payout: 5% to 25%
Fees: on average. All in about 25c total per side. Including exchange fees. Varies by product.
No risk capital.
Really good resume plus actual skills
No independence
No IP
No remote
6-12 month non compete

Hard to get an entry level job. Very competitive.

Xela · Aug 31, 2016

aetrade said:
What's the typical amount of starting capital allocated to these "hired traders"?

For what it's worth (if anything), and just as a sort of "general note" rather than a specific answer to your question, I think it's more helpful and makes more sense to think of it and define it in terms of "maximum position-sizing permitted" than "funds allocated" (even if a specific amount of funds is allocated).