Proprietary Trading: Full Career and Recruiting Guide (2024)

Proprietary Trading: Full Career and Recruiting Guide (1)

Table Of Contents

  1. What is Proprietary Trading (“Prop Trading”)?
  2. Types of Proprietary Trading Firms
  3. Available Jobs at Prop Trading Firms
  4. Prop Trading vs. Hedge Funds
  5. Wait, Do “Discretionary Traders” Still Exist? Isn’t It All Automated Now?
  6. The Top Proprietary Trading Firms
  7. Prop Trading Hours and Lifestyle
  8. Prop Trading Salaries and Bonuses
  9. Recruiting: How to Get into Proprietary Trading
    • Prop Trading Interviews: What to Expect
  10. Exit Opportunities
  11. Proprietary Trading Careers: Right for You?
    • Pros:
    • Cons:
  12. Further Reading

If there’s one career that attracts both hardcore math/finance people and 10-year-olds who play Fortnite at night and trade stocks during the day, it’s proprietary trading.

Also known as “prop trading,” it offers higher earnings potential much earlier in your career than jobs like investment banking or private equity.

It’s arguably the most merit-based industry within finance: if you make millions of dollars for your firm, you’ll earn some percentage of it.

And if you lose money, you’ll be fired.

We’ll cover the full career, including the pros and cons beyond compensation, but let’s start with some definitions:

What is Proprietary Trading (“Prop Trading”)?

Proprietary Trading Definition: In proprietary trading, traders buy and sell securities using the firm’s own money to make a profit; the trading may be directional (betting that a security’s price will go up or down) or market-making (acting as both the buyer and seller of securities and making a profit on the bid-offer spread).

Prop trading exists at hedge funds, asset management firms, commodities companies like Vitol and Glencore, and small/independent trading firms – and it used to exist at large banks before the 2008 financial crisis.

In practice, “prop trading” usually refers to the smaller, independent firms that focus on market-making.

For example, if an institutional investor wants to sell 200,000 shares of a stock at $10.00 per share but can’t find any buyers at that price, a market-maker might offer to buy the entire block at $10.00 per share – even if they don’t yet have a seller lined up.

Then, they would aim to sell the entire volume for more than $10.00 per share to profit from the trade.

For more examples, see the articles on fixed income trading and equity trading.

Types of Proprietary Trading Firms

There are three main types of prop trading firms:

  1. Churn and Burn – At these firms, you pay thousands of dollars for “training” and the privilege of trading a small amount of capital. You get no base salary, but you keep a huge percentage of your profits (well over 50%). This one is for day traders who want to “go pro,” which means you should avoid it at all costs.
  2. Slightly More Legitimate – These firms will give you a bit more in real training but also charge you a monthly fee to access their data and trade. The monthly fee is often thousands of dollars, so you start each month “in the hole.” You still keep a huge percentage of your profits and still earn no base salary.
  3. Legitimate Prop Trading Firms – These companies pay you a base salary and benefits, give you training, and place you in a team that lets you grow and develop. They recruit directly from universities, and they poach experienced traders from other firms. Employees keep a much smaller percentage of the profits at these firms (~10-30%), but it’s also a sustainable career that isn’t designed to exploit you.

We’ll focus on the third category of companies – Legitimate Prop Trading Firms – in this article.

By pooling resources, these firms give traders far more capital to use. Collectively, they also generate a much higher volume of trades, which can result in better rates with exchanges.

Traders at these firms also have access to much better technology infrastructure, algorithms, and data than ones who work independently.

Available Jobs at Prop Trading Firms

The main jobs at prop trading firms are:

  1. Trader – You buy and sell securities and manage risk, either based on a model/software/automated approach or intuition and judgment… or a combination of both.
  2. Quant Researcher – You come up with the mathematical models for trading algorithms and strategies.
  3. Developer – You implement the researchers’ models and write and maintain the code that lets the traders do their jobs.

And then there are also back office and support functions, such as operations, finance, compliance, and HR.

We’ll focus on the first category – Traders – in this article because the others could be completely separate articles.

Some firms also divide Trader roles into “Discretionary Trader” and “Quantitative Trader,” while others combine them or offer only “Quantitative Trader” roles.

The line between these jobs has become blurry, as Traders increasingly need to know programming to work with Researchers and Developers.

Prop Trading vs. Hedge Funds

Hedge funds raise capital from outside investors (Limited Partners), while prop trading firms do not.

And that single difference creates many other differences:

  1. Prop trading Partners can take a much higher percentage of the profits for themselves.
  2. The much smaller capital base (tens of millions up to hundreds of millions), means that it’s possible to earn extremely high annual returns (100%, 200%+, etc.).
  3. Prop trading firms can be more independent and often operate in smaller/niche markets that institutional-level firms avoid.

The styles of trading are also quite different because most prop trading firms make money from exploiting small pricing inefficiencies (market-making), while most hedge funds bet on security prices going up or down.

Algorithmic trading and quant strategies have become increasingly important for both firm types, but they’re arguably even more important in prop trading (see below).

Prop Trading vs. Sales & Trading at Large Banks

Although both fields involve market-making, is more about serving clients of the bank and executing trades on their behalf.

Also, “prop trading” in the directional sense barely exists at large banks anymore.

They can still take their own positions for risk-management purposes, but not to earn a profit (with a few exceptions).

Traders at large banks also tend to work in broader markets with more volume, as they have far more capital to deploy.

Finally, the work environment and culture are much different because large banks are more heavily regulated, and office politics is more prevalent.

Just as one example, bonuses at large banks used to be based on a simple percentage of your P&L, but the process is now more “complex.”

Wait, Do “Discretionary Traders” Still Exist? Isn’t It All Automated Now?

Reading everything above, you might now be asking, “I thought all trading was becoming automated. Why do human traders even exist?”

The not-so-short answer is:

  1. Yes, a lot of trading is automated via software that calculates the Greeks, inputs market data, and quotes bid-ask spreads.
  2. However, human traders still need to tweak algorithmic parameters, manage risk and hedges, and find new opportunities.
  3. The degree of automation varies based on the product; equities are highly automated, while options use a mix of automated and manual trading.
  4. And different prop trading firms do it differently, with some acting more like software companies and others acting more like tech-supported trading firms.

All that said, “Trader” and “Developer” are still distinct roles at these firms.

Even if you’re a “Quant Trader,” you’ll still be doing less programming than the full-time Developers.

Developers get more job security and less daily stress, but their compensation is also lower.

The Top Proprietary Trading Firms

There are dozens (maybe hundreds?) of prop trading firms, so I’m not going to attempt to list them all here.

It’s also difficult to produce an exact list because some hedge funds use similar strategies, and the dividing line isn’t always clear.

For example, large hedge funds like Citadel and D.E. Shaw have their own “prop trading” groups and may use strategies similar to those of much smaller trading firms.

Among smaller/independent market-making firms, some of the top names include Jump Trading, Jane Street, Hudson River Trading (HRT), Tower (TTG), DRW, Optiver, Five Rings, Susquehanna International Group (SIG), TransMarket Group (TMG), Akuna, and IMC.

And then there other large/public entities that do a lot more than just prop trading, but which also have a presence in the market, such as Virtu [VIRT].

Most of these firms focus on “high-frequency trading,” though some, like HRT, use “mid-frequency trading,” where the average holding time is several minutes, and some positions are held overnight.

Most of these firms above have anywhere from a few hundred employees to 1,000+, so they’re several orders of magnitude smaller than the bulge bracket banks.

Besides different strategies and markets, they also differ based on the degree to which they use “trading” vs. “technology” to make money.

For example, HRT is more of a technology firm that happens to trade financial products, while Jane Street still has human traders (though they’re labeled “Quantitative Traders”).

Prop Trading Hours and Lifestyle

The hours in prop trading could be described as “normal-ish, but very intense and stressful.”

The average is probably 50 hours per week, though this varies by group, firm, and seniority.

The nice thing about trading is that if you produce, your hours don’t matter.

All the firm cares about is your P&L – you don’t get a higher bonus for working 10 extra hours.

The bigger issues are the markets you trade and your geographic location relative to those markets.

For example, if you’re in London, but you cover both U.S. and European markets, your lifestyle will be bad because you’ll have to wake up at a normal time, work European hours, take a break, and then trade U.S. markets that are 5-6 hours behind.

So, you might be working more like 12-14 hours per day rather than 8-10.

If you’re a junior trader, you’ll also have to stay after the market closes to do wrap-up work.

Your day will usually start with a morning meeting to go through overnight happenings.

Then, you’ll read the news and start trading once your markets open.

If you’re in more of a discretionary role, you’ll spend time doing the buying and selling and talking with other traders to get ideas.

If you’re more of a “Quant Trader,” then you’ll spend time tweaking trading parameters and working with the developers and quants to come up with more efficient strategies.

You tend to be busiest at market open and market close, with a lull in the middle of the day.

After the market closes, everyone gathers to discuss the major trades, who might have been behind them, and overall market activity and expected events for the week.

Prop Trading Salaries and Bonuses

The general hierarchy in prop trading goes like this:

  • “Clerk” or Assistant Trader
  • Junior Trader (you usually start at this level right out of undergrad)
  • Senior Trader
  • Partner

If you’re working at a legitimate prop trading firm as a trader, then you should expect to start at between $100K and $200K USD in total compensation (as of 2020).

Base salaries are slightly over $100K, and bonuses are usually 50-100% of base salaries.

Some top firms might even offer total compensation north of $200K, but it depends on the market environment and your performance.

If you lose money, you receive no bonus and will eventually be fired if you keep underperforming.

Once you move beyond your first year, if you perform well, your compensation at a top firm could increase to the $200K – $500K range.

Senior Traders often earn between $500K and $1 million, and Partners can earn over $1 million per year.

Base salaries do not necessarily change that much as you move up, so most of these gains come from increased bonuses.

That also means there’s a huge difference between good years and bad years – your total compensation might be ~5x higher in a good year.

The big difference with seniority is that Partners earn a fixed percentage of the group’s P&L, so their bonuses are predictable.

But until you reach that level, your bonus is somewhat discretionary, and some groups are more generous than others.

Prop trading compensation may not seem that much higher than investment banking salaries, but it offers two distinct advantages:

  1. Progression can be much faster – You’re not going to earn $500K by your third year in IB, but it’s possible in prop trading if you are very good. Some traders make it to the Partner level in only a few years if their performance warrants it.
  2. Cash payments – There are no stock-based or deferred bonuses, so you earn everything in cash. That doesn’t matter at the entry level, but it makes a big impact as you become more senior.

Recruiting: How to Get into Proprietary Trading

Most traders at top firms have a background that looks something like this:

  • Education: Undergraduate or Master’s degree in math, physics, statistics, computer science, or engineering from a top school, or, potentially, a lower-tier university with a solid technical program (e.g., a public state school in the U.S. with a good engineering ranking). Good grades help, but they’re not quite as important as they are in IB recruiting.
  • Experience: Most traders hired into entry-level roles come directly from degree programs with little-to-no full-time work experience, but they’ve usually had internships in trading, asset management, or something else related to the public markets.
  • Qualities: Entry-level traders need to think quickly, stay calm under pressure, have a thick skin, and quickly correct their mistakes. If you get stressed out easily from deadlines and other time pressure, this is not the job for you.

There are exceptions, and English Literature majors and students from non-target schools get in as well – it’s just more difficult and requires more networking.

To be an “ideal candidate,” you need to show that you’re hungry to succeed in trading.

Drive and raw ability tend to trump credentials and GPA (up to a certain point).

As an undergrad, focus on the following points to break in:

  1. Build a track record – Get internship experience, trade your own account, and learn the mental math, probability, and programming that they’ll test you on in interviews. C/C++ and Python are the most useful languages, but specific languages matter less than the concepts.
  2. Network – Especially if you’re at a non-target school, find prop trading firms on LinkedIn, look up professionals there, and email them to introduce yourself and ask about their careers. All the normal networking and informational interview advice applies.

Prop Trading Interviews: What to Expect

Yes, you’re going to get a lot of mental math, brain teaser, and probability questions, so be prepared for all of those.

A few good resources to get started are:

They could potentially ask you questions about options and other derivatives, such as how Delta and Vega change when Characteristic X of an option changes.

But it depends on how you present yourself – if you walk in with previous experience or claim this knowledge, expect to be tested on it.

If not, then they’ll probably stick to the math, brain teaser, and probability questions.

Behavioral questions will also come up, but they’re more about handling stress and emergencies and less about your leadership abilities.

You should not worry about:

  • Accounting, corporate finance, valuation, and M&A/LBO modeling – these do not matter in prop trading.
  • “Real math” (i.e., subjects beyond calculus, linear algebra, and statistics). They are not going to ask you to prove Fermat’s Last Theorem or solve one of the Millennium Prize Problems.

If you’re applying for more of a Quant Trader role, you should expect programming questions and case studies as well.

There are dozens of websites and books you can use to prepare, but a few recommendations include Interview Cake, InterviewBit, LeetCode, Coderbyte, HackerRank, and Codewars.

I’m not sure if there’s any service specifically for coding exercises at finance firms, but a few of these sites may have a “fintech” category.

Exit Opportunities

And now we arrive at the biggest downside of prop trading jobs: the exit opportunities are not so great.

The skills you develop in this industry are so specialized that you cannot use them in most other environments.

It’s not even that easy to move to a hedge fund or large bank because the styles of trading are so different; a long/short equity fund doesn’t care about trading every second to make a market in some obscure derivative.

You might be able to do it if you find a group with a similar trading style, but it’s still a challenge.

So, your main options are:

  • Move into another group at the firm or join a different prop trading firm.
  • Go to a “normal company” in some type of finance role or do prop trading at a commodities firm like Glencore or Vitol.
  • Apply to business school and use the MBA to switch careers.

And if you get fired due to underperformance, it’s really difficult to win a trading job at a different firm.

That creates a lot of risk if you’re a new graduate who’s still considering different options and you’re not 100% set on trading.

Proprietary Trading Careers: Right for You?

Summing up everything, here’s how you can think about prop trading careers:

Pros:

  • Pay and advancement are almost completely meritocratic – if you make money for your firm, you will be rewarded and advance quickly.
  • Recruiting is more accessible if you have good math/probability/coding skills and a technical degree – even if you’re not at a top school.
  • The work can be quite interesting, especially if your role is more quantitative.
  • The culture and lifestyle can be quite good since firms and teams are small, and there’s little bureaucracy or office politics.

Cons:

  • Exit opportunities are limited, so if you’re not 100% certain you want to be a trader, you should not join a prop trading firm right out of undergrad.
  • It’s easy to get scammed by less-than-legitimate “prop trading firms” that pay you no base salary and ask you to pay for training or data access.
  • If you do not perform well, it will be difficult to get another job in the industry, so you’ll most likely have to switch careers.
  • You don’t “build” anything tangible. At least in industries like investment banking and private equity, you can point to Deal X or Company Y and explain how your work affected it. In prop trading, good luck explaining anything you do to normal people.

In short, prop trading is like an extreme version of sales & trading, so the points in the article apply even more readily.

It makes sense if you have an undying passion for the markets, you’re math/CS/tech-oriented, and you know that you want to trade for a long time.

If not, it makes more sense to start your career at a large bank for the branding, network, and better exit opportunities.

And whatever you do, please do not join the legion of 10-year-old Fortnite players attempting to be “prop traders” on Robinhood.

Further Reading

If you liked this article, you might be interested in reading:

  • Hedge Fund vs Private Equity: Recruiting, Careers and Salaries Compared
Proprietary Trading: Full Career and Recruiting Guide (2024)

FAQs

What is the average salary of a proprietary trader? ›

The estimated total pay for a Proprietary Trader is $227,586 per year, with an average salary of $123,786 per year. These numbers represent the median, which is the midpoint of the ranges from our proprietary Total Pay Estimate model and based on salaries collected from our users.

Is proprietary trading a good career? ›

These jobs can be highly lucrative, but they also come with a high level of risk and require a specific skill set. If you are considering a career in prop trading, it's important to assess your own strengths and weaknesses to determine if this type of job is a good fit for you.

How to get a job as a proprietary trader? ›

To become a proprietary trader, earn a bachelor's degree in finance, business, or mathematics. Complete at least one internship with a trading firm to learn about the finance industry and make professional connections. Apply for an entry-level proprietary trader role.

Do prop firms really pay? ›

Reputable and legitimate prop companies pay their traders, but only under specific conditions or criteria for payout. The amount that traders receive is contingent upon their trading strategy, the state of the market, and their familiarity with the payment structure of the Prop firm.

Can you make a living with prop trading? ›

As a prop trader, you can use any strategy, as long as you have a good risk management. Hedge funds trade their client's money, as opposed to proprietary trading. The average salary of a prop trader is $142,000, but there are no limits.

Is Prop Trading lucrative? ›

Although commonly viewed as risky, proprietary trading is often one of the most profitable operations of a commercial or investment bank.

How many hours do prop traders work? ›

Typical Workweek. Overall, prop traders can expect to work around 50 hours per week, with some days stretching to 12-14 hours. Ultimately, the primary concern for prop trading firms is the profit and loss ratio. If traders consistently produce positive results, the exact number of hours worked becomes less significant.

Why is proprietary trading risky? ›

3.1 Classic proprietary trading

This almost always involves taking market risk, which is the risk that changes in the market prices of financial instruments or commodities may create a loss for the firm.

Is prop trading stressful? ›

One of the biggest challenges some prop traders face is excessive anxiety. I know anxiety in trading is natural, but too much of it can ruin prop trading success. As a prop trader, you want to make sure you regulate your stress and anxiety level and stay emotionally healthy as much as you can.

Can prop traders work from home? ›

A remote proprietary trader works from home trading stocks, currencies, and bonds. As a remote proprietary trader, you may work for a bank or financial firm, with duties centered on stock market trading. You develop investment strategies to best leverage the capital of the firm or bank in order to maximize returns.

Does Goldman Sachs do proprietary trading? ›

Our Trading and Principal Investments business facilitates customer transactions and takes proprietary positions through market-making in and trading of fixed income and equity products, currencies, commodities, and swaps and other derivatives.

Who are the famous proprietary traders? ›

Notable proprietary trading firms
  • Akuna Capital.
  • Citadel Securities.
  • DRW Trading Group.
  • Flow Traders.
  • Global Trading Systems.
  • Headlands Technologies.
  • Hudson River Trading.
  • IMC Financial Markets.

What are the negatives of prop firms? ›

👎 Cons of Prop Trading

It's advisable to only deposit amounts that you can afford to lose. High Fees: Prop trading firms often charge significant fees for software and other services, with monthly costs starting around $200, which can be higher than those faced by retail clients.

Is it hard to get into prop trading? ›

Prop firms where you don't contribute any capital, and they provide it all, will usually not let you in unless you're exceptional, passed all their tests, interviews, trade history review, for them to trust and have faith, that you'll trade their money well.

Are prop firms a pyramid? ›

There's a misconception that propfirms operate like pyramid schemes, especially those using simulated models. However, reputable firms using real funds focus on actual trading activities, leveraging expertise and strategies to generate profits.

How do proprietary traders get paid? ›

Prop traders make all or most of their income from splitting profits they generate in financial markets with the prop firm that provides them with capital. Prop traders face the same challenges as other traders but benefit from access to capital, technology, and interaction with other skilled traders.

Why do prop traders make so much money? ›

The way that prop firms work is by giving traders access to capital and trading platforms in exchange for a percentage of the profits they make. This arrangement benefits both the trader and the firm, as it allows the trader to make larger trades and gives the firm a share of the profits.

Can you make a lot of money prop trading? ›

High-performing prop traders can indeed make substantial amounts of money. These traders often possess exceptional skills, experience, and strategies that allow them to maximize their profits.

What is the average salary of funded trader? ›

Funded Trader Salary
Annual SalaryMonthly Pay
Top Earners$185,000$15,416
75th Percentile$105,500$8,791
Average$96,774$8,064
25th Percentile$56,500$4,708

Top Articles
Gender
What You Need To Know About the First US Bank Failure of 2024
$4,500,000 - 645 Matanzas CT, Fort Myers Beach, FL, 33931, William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage, and Insurance
Calvert Er Wait Time
Aberration Surface Entrances
What Are Romance Scams and How to Avoid Them
Odawa Hypixel
Ghosted Imdb Parents Guide
Sarah F. Tebbens | people.wright.edu
Localfedex.com
Tap Tap Run Coupon Codes
Mail Healthcare Uiowa
What is international trade and explain its types?
Think Up Elar Level 5 Answer Key Pdf
All Buttons In Blox Fruits
Hair Love Salon Bradley Beach
Sand Castle Parents Guide
Sky X App » downloaden & Vorteile entdecken | Sky X
Paradise leaked: An analysis of offshore data leaks
NBA 2k23 MyTEAM guide: Every Trophy Case Agenda for all 30 teams
Strange World Showtimes Near Roxy Stadium 14
Craigslist Lakeville Ma
Sullivan County Image Mate
How to Download and Play Ultra Panda on PC ?
PCM.daily - Discussion Forum: Classique du Grand Duché
Sound Of Freedom Showtimes Near Movie Tavern Brookfield Square
At 25 Years, Understanding The Longevity Of Craigslist
Tuw Academic Calendar
Movies - EPIC Theatres
24 Hour Drive Thru Car Wash Near Me
Jeep Cherokee For Sale By Owner Craigslist
Bursar.okstate.edu
Urban Blight Crossword Clue
Solarmovie Ma
Pensacola 311 Citizen Support | City of Pensacola, Florida Official Website
Acadis Portal Missouri
Dr Adj Redist Cadv Prin Amex Charge
Can You Buy Pedialyte On Food Stamps
Craigslist Malone New York
Smite Builds Season 9
Unlock The Secrets Of "Skip The Game" Greensboro North Carolina
Bmp 202 Blue Round Pill
Dying Light Mother's Day Roof
Mega Millions Lottery - Winning Numbers & Results
Adams-Buggs Funeral Services Obituaries
Bank Of America Appointments Near Me
Mikayla Campinos Alive Or Dead
View From My Seat Madison Square Garden
Okta Hendrick Login
What Is The Gcf Of 44J5K4 And 121J2K6
Noaa Duluth Mn
login.microsoftonline.com Reviews | scam or legit check
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Greg O'Connell

Last Updated:

Views: 6162

Rating: 4.1 / 5 (62 voted)

Reviews: 85% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Greg O'Connell

Birthday: 1992-01-10

Address: Suite 517 2436 Jefferey Pass, Shanitaside, UT 27519

Phone: +2614651609714

Job: Education Developer

Hobby: Cooking, Gambling, Pottery, Shooting, Baseball, Singing, Snowboarding

Introduction: My name is Greg O'Connell, I am a delightful, colorful, talented, kind, lively, modern, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.