Well actually, how many here have had a prop firm account of $10k or bigger, and how many had the account closed because of trade performance?
It’d be nice to hear about experiences of what happened, how the prop firm rules played a part, and how that affected you going forward.
Any takers?
Must be kind of “almost everyone,” really, in the CFD forex prop-firm world?
If you look at a company like FTMO: lots of people qualify for an account, but I read everywhere (and I understand they don’t deny) that only 1 in 500 gets as far as a payout.
So loads have fallen foul of a drawdown limit, or broken some rule, or done something else that’s lost them the account.
That’s “having an account closed because of trade performance,” isn’t it?
In contrast, with futures prop firms who have actually funded the people who pass the test, their incentive is obviously for the customers to win, not to lose. So they’re on the customer’s side (though I’m sure they’d still close the account if people overstep the loss-limit, etc!).
But at least if you use a futures one that genuinely funds people rather than just pretending to, you know it’s actually a partnership and they’re pleased to pay people out, because that’s the only way they can earn anything themselves after you’re funded. 
Are you thinking of trying one, @samewise ?
I’m back and forth. Drawdown limits scare me! 
Lol, some firms have pretty good and very reasonable drawdown limits, really.
The essential thing is to avoid a drawdown limit that trails open equity. Probably you knew, but just in case you didn’t! Those are a disaster, have no equivalent at all in “real trading” and are designed solely to try to catch people out. It’s true that very few firms are still using them (avoid Apex, which pretends not to and then springs it on you as a new rule once you’re “funded“!).
There are firms with a static drawdown limit option (doesn’t trail at all), but I think those are the really small ones.
“Maximum drawdown limit that trails end-of-day balance” must surely be the sensible compromise?
I have a friend here at work, currently doing one with no time-limit, a $2,500 target and a $2,000 drawdown allowance on a nominally $50k account. That’s surely ok?
Is there anybody who can provide evidence of making any money through FTMO? I know there’s a million people out there claiming to, but it’s advertising rubbish.
They are one of the only prop firms that I can find who allow cTrader but after the BBC documentary about them, I don’t trust them one little bit.
They just bought Oanda, so where did THAT money come from? their prop firm business, right?!?
Oooh did know about this. Is it online?
I just found about this today! I didn’t even know it was a thing. Thanks for brining it up for everybody to know about.
I know FTMO make money, and I’m pretty sure the way they make money is from the subscription fees and not at all from trading money on the markets. That’s my problem, if I don’t believe they’re a real prop firm, then they have every incentive to kick you out for some bogus reason.
(Sorry, posted twice, somehow, in error!).
That’s a certainty.
They’re not. They’re a CFD/spot one. Their incentive is for their customers to lose.
All the CFD ones do.
The futures ones, as explained above and in a dozen other threads, have the opposite incentive, once you’re actually funded on an exchange.
But even with those, there’s no point in paying until you know can pass the evaluation.
When I say the way they make money is from the subscription fees, I mean I’m fairly sure they only make money by the subscription fees and don’t use the copy trading system they claim to put your trades through into the real market.
If you were a proven trader with a proven edge then that make sense that they’d do that. But I think they find some way to get rid of everyone… but the market has got competitive now so the rules are more generous than they used to be.
I don’t trust any of these as far as I can throw them
Yes, I completely agree with you (but just like you, I can’t prove it, of course). The forex CFD ones, I mean.
Me neither. The forex CFD ones, I mean.
It’s obviously different with the futures ones that fund an account for people who pass the evaluation, John: they can’t fool anyone about that because you can see for yourself that it’s a real account.
You just briefly put in an order far from the current price and watch it show up on the exchange’s order-book.
It’s all objective and factual and independently verified.
There’s no risk of deception or dishonesty.
Agreed. The rules are there to make it hard to pass. Also to protect them for sure, but really to kill the casual trader account.