Thoughts on Akuna Capital?
I really loved all the guys I talked to, like that they're in the process of building things up still but a bit more established than some of the younger firms who entered the space. I like how they're trader focused but still have opportunities for quants/python-focused guys who add value, and I like how they have an education program. What are your thoughts on the Akuna Capital office and culture in Chicago because objectively everything looks great from the outside.
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They are very selective and have a good reputation but also apparently underpay. That’s all I know
NG offer is 220K no negotiation and potential for a discretionary bonus but rare for new grads. Base 150, signing 30, 1st-year bonus 40. With competing offers I'm sure you can go higher.
Culture very meritocratic and quick to adapt - was involved in cryptocurrency in 2017 and an early market maker on Deribit. Like another commenter said, pretty selective now - a majority of the incoming class have some insane backgrounds.
We also now have some course you can take that will fast-track you to a final round interview for Trader/Trader Intern and the one kid I know who is coming in from that has some institutional-level options trading/market-making knowledge already and I know won't need much training. (IMC has a similar program that fast tracks you)
I enjoy the culture and I have a lot of friends here as opposed to some stories where I've heard people just go in, do their job, make a lot of money, and leave. We actively chat on [redacted] and discord about the markets and crack jokes and have fun while learning a lot. When markets get crazy everyone is dialed in but when they aren't my product is very OTC oriented so just filling quotes, putting on prop risk when I see a good opportunity to, and chilling.
Heard that last year some new grads there made around 300K including negotiation & great market condition. Is that true? That sounds quite insane compared to other competitors who I think are in the similar league.
Also, do you think would there be any chances, in the future, that they will ;support visa sponsorship for international candidates? I really wanted to join there but it seems none of their offices(Sydney & Chicago & UK) would support visa. Ended up joining other shop but still have some regrets not even having opportunity to apply.
Hey sir, how would we go about making Akuna aware that we have taken the course? I am an upcoming second year financial engineering student trying to get into prop trading upon graduation. I haven't gone through the course myself, but have just now seen the contents of it, and I will complete it this summer. I have also worked through Sheldon Natenbergs text and a few others.
Thanks.
This is all extremely valuable information, thank you to the Akuna commenter.
Curious to hear what comp progression looks like here on years 2/4/6 for a 80-90th percentile trader, a median one, and a 30th percentile one. My gut feeling is that the distribution is going to be more heavily skewed than IMC, for example, but have maybe a 20% lower median as well.
More areas of interest regarding compensation include how the discretionary bonus works (you said allocated by desk, but is there an established structure), promotion trajectory as I've noticed people with "Junior" and "Senior" titles at Akuna (how does comp change once you go Junior -> mid level -> Senior, not sure if there's another level on top of those), and how many traders do you believe are making 7 figures in the Chicago office the last two years?
Also have heard about a few upper management troubles. Not sure that this would propagate to the junior or mid-level employee experience, but curious to hear more about exactly what's going on. Seems like there's a lot of potential at Akuna with them being in a much earlier phase than the other good options houses but perhaps a few growing pains to deal with as well.
Without revealing too much, I am someone at Akuna who has had an accelerated trajectory within the firm and my desk due to my ideas, execution, and P/L. On top of some of the side-projects, I've taken on. There is a balance of people who are promoted b/c of their strict trade management and P/L as well as desk project contribution.
I can't really reveal my desk/product or say more as it would give away things, but basically, they are making sure to keep me happily compensated although I've still explored other options since most firms are starting to allocate more resources towards opening up desks of my product and have had interest from Citadel, HRT, Jane Street and Jump so for me specifically the exit opportunities are also those "higher-tier" firms because Akuna is really good at trading the product they want to build out.
This leads me to another point when juniors are looking to join firms. These "tier" lists mean the most for people who are bad traders in a saturated product. For those who know how to trade and have a P/L attached to their name like I said you can easily hop to these "top tier" firms, which will be relying on you to help build out these product offerings.
The team I'm on at Akuna has tons of resources allocated to it so I can't complete at all yet honestly, maybe in the next few years we may see less allocation and devs on our team as they move into some more profitable desks, but with vol as elevated as it is now and institutional demand for the product at all-time highs I think we'll be fine for now.
Also as a Junior, you have a 6 mo NC, Trader 9 mo, Senior Trader, 12 mo.
The only reason I may want to hop is just the opportunity to be part of a desk buildout instead of a decent trader on a decent desk. I'd like the opportunity to be expedited to leading a team on a certain product/execution and there are now other competing firms who can give me that opportunity and I look like a highly attractive candidate with experience in the product.
That non-compete length sounds pretty attractive, especially since I've heard of Citadel dropping 2-year ones on new grads these days.
I wouldn't expect you to share your personal compensation progression since it might identify you, but would you mind sharing what you think exceptional, median, and mediocre comp looks like at 2/4/6 years? Ranges are fine, but this might help dispel the "undercompensated" rumor which I have heard a bit as well. Does the base salary change from 150 as you move up (and if so, to what?) or is it all bonus like many of the other major props?
Looking at the website, the promotion rate is 2 years to lose Junior and 3 to get Senior, but I expect a mediocre trader might never make senior, and an exceptional one may in 4 years. Also, do you enjoy it? What are your thoughts on the culture?
Any info on the software / quant developer positions? Obviously expecting comp to be a bit lower than traders
bump, also curious about dev and other non trading positions (research, strategist?)
also looks like there are multiple trading roles, anyone have any info?
if u pm i know corp dev yearly base but not bonus numbers, i don't work there so i feel weird putting up info on the public thread lol
Oh sorry, I meant the software / quantitative developer positions
take everything i say with a big mound of salt but im friends with a handful of the akuna chicago interns this summer (mostly traders) and all of them love the culture. the office in chicago is beautiful there's an in house barista haha but that's pretty typical for a quant firm perk and there's a ton of games like guitar hero or mario kart it's set up like a very cool college dorm common room. i think the demographic is super young, from what my intern friends have told me everyone is pretty much in their 20s, 30s but the people are fun and are smart but not like toxically neurotic
https://officesnapshots.com/2019/11/18/akuna-capital-offices-chicago/
Yeah looks amazing even for a tech firm.
They are underpaid compared to other Chicago market makers like Optiver, CitSec, and IMC. That being said, I’ve heard from peers the culture is good and that they enjoy it. If you do well at pretty much any of the well-respected market making firms you will be making great money regardless of which one you are at.
One more comment though is I don’t have any quant friends who really dislike the culture of their firm, and most of them have very similar perks with the baristas and lots of vacation days etc
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