Okay guys, I’m a little torn here. I’m currently working as an equity options trader at a top prop shop. I started off as an assistant and got promoted to trader about 6 months ago. I trade firm capital and make my own trading decisions. Get paid a solid base salary and bonus at year end. Pros of Job: Casual Dress, Hours, Environment, People Cons of Job: Limited Skill Set, Company has a bad reputation for low balling bonuses for their top traders Now I have a chance to be an assistant trader at Goldman Sachs in their index trading group. They contacted me about this position and I will be going in for an interview. Assuming pay is the same as it is at my current job, what are your thougts? Should I jump at it?
Yuck. It’s Goldman but why would you want to go from being a prop trader to being an index “trader”. That’s just being an exceution guy, yes?
I’d say you have a good thing going in terms of pay, decision making ability and a laid back work atmosphere. That’s the best of all world IMHO
JDV - i think he meant index options trader, which is generally considered more “prestigious” than being an equity options trader (at least this was true when I was on the floor). If this is correct, and assuming on-floor vs off-floor is not a consideration, I would keep the existing prop job unless you have some guarantee or reasonable expectation from GS that you’ll move from TA to trader within a certain time period.
Stay at the prop shop and jump shop only to another gig that will give you discretion. You will probably not get discretion at Goldman.
But what are my exit options if I stay at my prop firm? I mean, my skill set is limited so it would be highly unlikely for me to jump to another trading firm, bb, or hedge fund, unless I’m trading equity options.
no_slogan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > JDV - i think he meant index options trader, which > is generally considered more “prestigious” than > being an equity options trader (at least this was > true when I was on the floor). > Ahh. That sounds right to me as well. > If this is correct, and assuming on-floor vs > off-floor is not a consideration, I would keep the > existing prop job unless you have some guarantee > or reasonable expectation from GS that you’ll move > from TA to trader within a certain time period.
>But what are my exit options if I stay at my prop firm? I mean, my skill set is limited so >it would be highly unlikely for me to jump to another trading firm, bb, or hedge fund, >unless I’m trading equity options. Mkt reg / Compliance. Not much use for this skill set elsewhere, so I hope your good at it! Speaking from personal experience and from people I used to work with BTW… Having said that, I don’t see your exit opportunities being any different than the prop shop if you move to an index options trading group at GS.
As long as it’s not on the floor, GS should have better exit opps. Here’s the question, right now since you’re a prop trader, I’d imagine you’re a GS client in some way, shape or form. Are you ready to make the transition from getting dinner/christmas gifts from you GS broker to getting his coffee for him?
Well, they do have a training program where I will learn about trading futures and equities, so that would in addition to my option knowledge already. Plus its the Goldman name brand. Doesn’t that carry tremendous weight? Couldn’t I transition to Goldman Prop if I make the right contacts?
ahahah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > As long as it’s not on the floor, GS should have > better exit opps. Here’s the question, right now > since you’re a prop trader, I’d imagine you’re a > GS client in some way, shape or form. Are you > ready to make the transition from getting > dinner/christmas gifts from you GS broker to > getting his coffee for him? haha, yeah I could put up with that for a while. I don’t think it will be longer than a year and I’d expect to be promoted fairly quickly considering my background. However, I think this may be on the floor. I have to talk to the HR girl but if it is floor, should I definitely stay away?
I would, and honestly, I’d get a little more experience and develop more of a track record before you make the switch. That way you can switch into a job trading instead of AT’ing. And I’d also svoid the floor, but that’s just me…
ahahah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > As long as it’s not on the floor, GS should have > better exit opps. Here’s the question, right now > since you’re a prop trader, I’d imagine you’re a > GS client in some way, shape or form. Are you > ready to make the transition from getting > dinner/christmas gifts from you GS broker to > getting his coffee for him? That’s assuming the Goldman gig is for institutional clients. I would stay in your current role. I’m assuming you get some pay structure that is not tied into your bonus. So you make 2 mil for the firm and you get 10% of that no matter what… and then they give you a bonus on top of everything as a *pat on your back*… Is that how it works?
homie Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ahahah Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > As long as it’s not on the floor, GS should > have > > better exit opps. Here’s the question, right > now > > since you’re a prop trader, I’d imagine you’re > a > > GS client in some way, shape or form. Are you > > ready to make the transition from getting > > dinner/christmas gifts from you GS broker to > > getting his coffee for him? > > > That’s assuming the Goldman gig is for > institutional clients. > > I would stay in your current role. > > I’m assuming you get some pay structure that is > not tied into your bonus. So you make 2 mil for > the firm and you get 10% of that no matter what… > and then they give you a bonus on top of > everything as a *pat on your back*… > > Is that how it works? Not quite, current salary of 55k which I think sucks to be honest. Compared to most trades on the street, 55k is a joke. Anyways, bonus… how it works is you pay interest on whatever amount of firm capital you are trading. Then your salary is deducted from the remaining amount. And then whatever amount is left, you keep 28%.
TeamHydro Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > homie Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > ahahah Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > As long as it’s not on the floor, GS should > > have > > > better exit opps. Here’s the question, right > > now > > > since you’re a prop trader, I’d imagine > you’re > > a > > > GS client in some way, shape or form. Are > you > > > ready to make the transition from getting > > > dinner/christmas gifts from you GS broker to > > > getting his coffee for him? > > > > > > That’s assuming the Goldman gig is for > > institutional clients. > > > > I would stay in your current role. > > > > I’m assuming you get some pay structure that is > > not tied into your bonus. So you make 2 mil for > > the firm and you get 10% of that no matter > what… > > and then they give you a bonus on top of > > everything as a *pat on your back*… > > > > Is that how it works? > > > Not quite, current salary of 55k which I think > sucks to be honest. Compared to most trades on > the street, 55k is a joke. > > Anyways, bonus… how it works is you pay interest > on whatever amount of firm capital you are > trading. Then your salary is deducted from the > remaining amount. And then whatever amount is > left, you keep 28%. Are they giving a good piece of capital?
So what exit opportunities have the other top traders left to do? BTW, I have an idea of what firm you are at. And if it is that firm, I would stay where you are. Maybe I’m wrong, but in any case it won’t hurt to go to the interview and see what the job is about… Just ask the right question without making it sound like… 1. You are clueless 2. You are better than them and seeing if this job is a step down from your current job.
CFA_Halifax Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > TeamHydro Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > homie Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > ahahah Wrote: > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > ----- > > > > As long as it’s not on the floor, GS should > > > have > > > > better exit opps. Here’s the question, > right > > > now > > > > since you’re a prop trader, I’d imagine > > you’re > > > a > > > > GS client in some way, shape or form. Are > > you > > > > ready to make the transition from getting > > > > dinner/christmas gifts from you GS broker > to > > > > getting his coffee for him? > > > > > > > > > That’s assuming the Goldman gig is for > > > institutional clients. > > > > > > I would stay in your current role. > > > > > > I’m assuming you get some pay structure that > is > > > not tied into your bonus. So you make 2 mil > for > > > the firm and you get 10% of that no matter > > what… > > > and then they give you a bonus on top of > > > everything as a *pat on your back*… > > > > > > Is that how it works? > > > > > > Not quite, current salary of 55k which I think > > sucks to be honest. Compared to most trades on > > the street, 55k is a joke. > > > > Anyways, bonus… how it works is you pay > interest > > on whatever amount of firm capital you are > > trading. Then your salary is deducted from the > > remaining amount. And then whatever amount is > > left, you keep 28%. > > Are they giving a good piece of capital? Its a decent amount of capital. I don’t want to give the exact number in case people from my firm are monitoring the board. They could probably put two and two together. But the capital that I trade with will go up over time. I could probably have a 2 million book by summer.
homie Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > So what exit opportunities have the other top > traders left to do? > > BTW, I have an idea of what firm you are at. And > if it is that firm, I would stay where you are. > Maybe I’m wrong, but in any case it won’t hurt to > go to the interview and see what the job is > about… > > Just ask the right question without making it > sound like… > > 1. You are clueless > 2. You are better than them and seeing if this job > is a step down from your current job. homie, give me the second letter of the firm name you think I’m at.
i Is this it?
nope