Pros
- The company accepts and trains junior traders without any trading experience - The company introduces you to markets and trading software that retail traders probably aren't familiar with - They have a very nice office space located at the heart of Singapore's central business district - Very nice and humble senior traders who have lots of experience trading the markets - The company is willing to fund junior traders who show promise up to a very respectable size and provides an option to increase funding via profit retentions - As long as you do not break the company's trading rules, you do not have to cover the losses you incur if you are let go. - It also has a decent profit split that can increase further depending on profitability and negotiation - A firm specializing in fixed income trading/ spread trading - At its height their traders/trainees could earn up to 5 figures (USD) a day on a good day -A decent support staff who keeps the office and trading machines running at optimum levels - They have quite a few bonding events and drinking sessions where you can mingle and get to know your colleagues better
Cons
- A very long entry/training process. A junior trader can expect to be just trading on a simulator for 2-3 months. - The head trainers' ability to teach trading is questionable, however successful traders do not rely on the trainer alone. The firm is full of profitable traders and talking to anyone of them will give you insights on how a professional thinks. - Initial up-sizing of limits can be fast for promising junior traders but once you've hit a certain tier it becomes increasingly hard to ask for limits unless you put up profit retention. - The high starting system costs (desk fees) can make or break a junior trader's career. Most trainees fail to even break even and leave with a giant hole in their accounts. - The company doesn't have much new strategy development and most trainees are used as guinea pigs to "look for profitable trades" - Those who survive and are profitable are left on their own to develop new strategies. - The company is quite unwilling to spend R&D costs to hire quants or getting software to develop new profitable strategies. (They want to push these costs onto the traders) - Many of their most profitable traders have left because of tons of restrictions in terms of trading (unable of get certain limits, unable to hold overnight positions, etc) - Much of the tools and markets they trade are available to retail traders as well (albeit at a different rate). Add to the lack of growth for the senior traders, it is relatively easy for them to set up their own trading accounts and employ the skills that they've picked up at Propex