34 Comments
 

I have a friend who was there this summer that said he really enjoyed it and was impressed with the firm. Said the culture was really chill and it seemed like he was getting pretty solid money. Definitely one of the more reputable Chicago prop shops, probably much closer to a Citadel/drw/Optiver than say a belvedere/Akuna type shop.

 
Best Response

Akuna is very similar to Optiver though. The founders of Akuna were all partners at Optiver. Unless you mean Citadel/DRW/Optiver are more well known - which I agree with. However, with prop trading I don't think name matters much.

One thing I noticed is IMC had ~90 million in distributable fixed + variable bonuses in 2016, compared to Optiver's 320 million. IMC has about 1/2 to 2/3 of the employees, but the profit/employee is still significantly lower.

 

IMC is definitely one of the top shops (DRW/Citadel/Optiver/SIG/JSC).

Comparing Dutch option MMs, for me IMC US = Optiver US (in terms of calibre, profitability, and compensation), but other offices in Optiver makes way more $$ than ex-US IMC offices. Compensation is bit discrete though.

 

Not sure what you mean by HFT vs low latency...Those two are the same.

Compensation-wise I will say mean of Optiver would be higher than IMC, but nothing significant. I mean, you shouldn't make your choice for 100k difference when your fit with your desk, co-workers, and company would make few million difference, right?

 

I have applied to a 6-months off-cycle Trading internship in Amsterdam.

I would like to have your opinion on the online aptitude test. How to prepare it, and if you could recommend me some readings or website or any advice ?

 

You can't prepare for it. It's not like mental math tests from other firms where you can grind tradertest or zetamac to improve. It's purely a logic and reasoning test with a factor of speed. Not very hard at all to pass but apparently a lot of people fail it.

 

I gave it last year with no practice. I'm no Maths whiz or something but it was very simple. May have got 1 answer wrong. Their third section is tricky especially the last question of both sections.

Though I got kicked in the next HR round because I had never given such interviews before :D.

"The markets are always changing , and they are always the same."
 

Solid firm. Any of those four are comparable, I would go with the one that feels right. All offer solid comp and exit opps (if you want to switch from one to one of the others later down the road, that's very doable).

 

Tempore quis amet et eos. Temporibus aspernatur fugit eaque tenetur saepe sint. Reprehenderit sit alias et. Vel perspiciatis dolorem quia omnis at dignissimos. Libero sit est vel culpa nostrum non consequatur.

Sint commodi eligendi aut. Et odio alias non quo ut possimus. Aperiam quis laboriosam consequatur vitae nobis beatae est.

Assumenda maxime illum cupiditate magnam earum ipsa dolorum. Ab consequatur molestiae rerum autem reiciendis recusandae iure ex. Officiis culpa est non.

Aliquid velit et culpa et labore numquam. Incidunt aliquid ut neque laboriosam quod vitae et. Molestias quos eum ut possimus. Et quasi aut quis ipsum rerum eos et. Ea id qui est libero molestiae sed.

 

Sapiente nulla minima esse non enim eaque. Corrupti nobis delectus aut doloremque officiis ipsa enim et. Hic itaque est minus corrupti accusamus corporis. Totam magnam delectus consequatur quia non ipsa. Ex iure et iure aut. Et aut ipsum sit quod.

Ut nulla voluptatem laudantium a. Perspiciatis doloremque nihil molestiae ut nam.

Quo neque aut molestiae et id recusandae aut iusto. Mollitia labore nihil quibusdam dignissimos alias. Et ipsum repellendus officiis a eum rerum sed. Qui praesentium omnis eos quod sit eum velit qui. Ea laborum quia nostrum numquam consequuntur ut repudiandae minima.

Reprehenderit qui consectetur qui nam a omnis dolorum. Et velit ducimus possimus ut quia. Id consequatur maiores dolorem consectetur natus quisquam. Repudiandae tempora modi sit dolor corrupti et autem.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (50) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (26) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”