The only advantage that I see for a profitable trader to work for "prop" desk is the larger trading capital. Many "prop" desk share the trading profit with the trader (50-50% I understand in my local) while they absorb the trading losses. So, a trader can actually earn more from 50-50% profit split rather than trading their own smaller capital.
For "prop" desk, the advantage (at least in my local) of them setting up as a firm employing traders to trade rather than trading themselve as individual is due to the tax incentive that they enjoy as a trading firm. This tax incentive could potentially be significant if their profit are huge, and could jolly well worth the potential losses that they will have to absorb from their employed trader which they limit to 20% of initial trading capital after which they will sack the trader.
I'm not sure, but what about infrastructure expenses?
Yes, trading forex in the retail market is relatively cheap, but infrastructure expenses may be significantly higher for other markets. There may be economies of scale, and if so, sharing such costs with fellow traders may reduce the individual burden.
Besides education I can not think of any other reason to join the kind of prop firm you're talking about. Lets assume participants in the marketplace have a negative edge on aggregate. Sharing profits with fellow traders is likely to reduce random variance in trading profits, likely revealing the true (negative) expectancy.
I am no sure that this is where this question goes, but I am looking on the internet for a company called ApiaryFund. They say they are a prop firm. But it is hard to verify much about them because they are small.
Has anyone heard of them? Are they legitimate or a scam? It seems that in the other places I have looked people who post don't have experience with them. I was not able to start a thread here because I am new. I just wanted to know if anyone who is a trader has any experience with them?
Maverick is one of the better prop companies out there. Good profit splits, low spreads/commissions, extra capital/buying power and a community of traders to meet with. If you are looking to go prop, go with the ones with a long term track record like Maverick, Bright, Echo, JC, etc. Maverick has been around since the mid 90's and I have never heard of anyone not getting paid, upset with service, or anything negative. But, just like any prop firm, if you don't perform they will show you the door. Maybe they are just a little nicer about it. lol
