Last month we posted an article about how some large-scale prop firms won’t hire experienced senior Quants to run their own teams and strategies unless they’re a certain scale (I.e. $100M P&L) and how that creates an opportunity for mid-sized prop trading companies with great infrastructure to swoop up talented Quants. 

(See that post here:  https://fionics.io/2023/03/24/why-big-prop-trading-companies-wont-let-you-start-a-team-what-that-means-for-you/)

But what about situations where your P&L is too low, so much so that even those medium-sized companies are on the fence about you? (We’re talking about traders that consistently put out $1-3M a year in profits with niche strategies.) 

Here are some questions you should be asking yourself if you want to pitch your strategy to a company that typically expects a little more (I.e. $10M+ P&L)  

• How long will it take me to set up my $2-3M trade? (If you’re trading in 3-6 months, what else could you build in the next 6-9?) 
• Can I run my strategies on other products? (Perhaps your new prospective employer has access to other exchanges or better exchange fees) 
• Do I have any kind of information or flow advantage because of my existing trades that I can leverage for additional intraday trading? (Low hanging fruit) 
• Does my strategy put me into a scenario where I can add trades without changing my margin requirements?  

Even if you have not had the chance to implement these new strategies into your trade, thinking through and researching these problems, and incorporating them into your business plan, could be the difference between being taken seriously or rejected.