I'm curious to hear how everyone would rank the top prop trading firms. I've focused the post on firms in Chicago because that is where most of them are. Here is how I've ranked them:
- Spot Trading
- Jump Trading
- DRW Trading
- Optiver
- TransMarket Group
- Peak6 Investments
- Chicago Trading Company
- Infinium Capital Management
- Wolverine Trading
- Tower Hill Trading
Honorable mention for firms outside of Chicago:
- Jane Street Capital – NYC (considered to be the best)
- Susquehanna International Group – Philadelphia (on par with CTC)
- First New York Securities – NYC (on par with THT)
Feel free to change them around or offer any overall feedback or firm specific feedback.
Trader Joe's List with explanation further in the post.
1. Jane Street
2. DRW
3. SIG
4. Optiver
5. Spot
6. Transmarket
7. Wolverine
8. Peak6
9. Jump Trading
10. First New York
I never said I had offers from all of the firms that I listed. Try to stay on topic please.
There may be some inaccuracies here, so feel free to point them out without quoting the list (so I can edit).
Up and coming firms: Headlands, Teza Technologies, Five Rings Capital
Mainly algorithmic shops 1. Getco 2. Hudson River Trading 3. Jump Trading 4. Tower Research 5. Madison Tyler 6. Knight Capital Group 7. Allston Trading 8. Sun Trading 9. Flow Traders
Mainly derivs market making: 1. Jane Street 2. SIG 3. DRW (also does quite a bit of algorithmic trading) 4. IMC Financial 5. Tibra 6. Optiver 7. Wolverine Trading 8. Peak6 9. Spot Trading 10. Chicago Trading Company 11. Timber Hill 12. Transmarket 13. Group1
Other: 1. DC Energy (energy trading) 2. Louis Dreyfus (Commodities) 3. First New York Securities (many) 4. Consolidated Trading (Commodities) 5. Trillium (short term equity trading)
Honorable Mentions: Ronin, Cheiron Trading, Gelber Group, Aardvark Trading, Geneva Trading, Eldorado Trading, Archelon, Marquette, Belvedere
It really doesn't make sense to attempt to 'rank' prop trading firms. Your experience (IE bonus) may greatly differ because you might be better suited for one firm vs another. That being said, I understand that undergrads want some way to differentiate between competing offers or some more color to a firm.
It would be better to think of the top firms as more of a group that you should look to for applying. These 'top tier' firms offer high starting salary, great training, and are highly profitable and have good strategies. Generally speaking it will be immediately obvious which firms are Top Tier because they offer a very competitive starting salary since they know they are directly competing with other firms for talent.
Below the top tier, you really start getting to the firms that know there are people that will do almost anything to get close to trading. These firms would pay less, have long required Trading Assistant stinks, give you night shifts to start out. They probably don't have much invested in you and your offer would reflect that.
At the bottom tier you have firms that view you as a revenue source. Firms that charge for 'training', and make you contribute capital. Stay away from these firms, unless you are a successful day trader and know what you are getting into, these firms will just leave you a few grand poorer.
To be fair you do need to adjust the salary for cost of living differences. But in trading it is less about the brand name and prestige that you can leverage to make money in the future. It's more about the training, technology and opportunities that will allow you to make money now.