Prop trading firms can be a valuable resource for aspiring traders who lack the capital to trade large amounts of money on their own. By providing funded stock trading accounts, these firms offer a path to success for skilled traders with a good understanding of financial market trends.
With access to sophisticated modeling and trading tools, as well as pools of market information, prop traders can make highly profitable trades and accelerate their journey to financial independence.
But, with so many prop trading firms and platforms available, it can be challenging to find one that meets your specific needs and preferences. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the best prop trading firms, taking into account factors like low-fees structure, accessibility to diverse markets and tradable assets, and reasonable risk contribution and profit splits.
We will cover the basics and the top 3 in this article. If you would like to take a deeper look at the best prop trading firms, click the link.
The 3 Best Prop Trading Firms
TopStep Trader
TopstepTrader is a popular prop trading firm that offers the opportunity to trade in a live account with real money. To be eligible for a funded account, traders have to pass the Trader Combine, a simulated trading competition designed to assess their skills as a trader. After passing the Trader Combine, traders move on to the Trader Bootcamp, which teaches the psychology behind trading as well as risk management strategies.
TopStepTrader is unique in that it offers flexibility in selecting a Day Trader or Swing Trader account, depending on individual preferences. TopstepTrader is great for those trading futures and derivatives.
The platform offers generous payout and profit split, where traders keep 100% of their first $5,000 earnings and 90% of their profits after that. TopstepTrader provides needed capital, support, risk management strategies, and coaching to help both trained and beginner trading professionals excel while rewarding them with robust profit splits.
TopstepTrader has different account sizes with varying monthly fees, ranging from $165 per month for the minimum account size of $50,000 to $375 for a $150,000 account maximum. Traders can choose their account size based on their buying power, monthly fees, loss limit, profit target per step, number of contracts, and trailing maximum drawdown.
TopstepTrader also offers an excellent educational resources, blogs, podcasts, groups, one-on-one and digital coaching, all with the aim of helping traders improve their performance and achieve their goals faster. The platform supports various trading platforms, including TradingView, Sierra Chart, and TradingView.
Fidelcrest
Fidelcrest boasts a wide range of tradable assets such as stocks, indices, commodities, forex, and even cryptocurrencies, making it an attractive choice for traders who want diversity in their portfolio.
The Pro Trader Program in Fidelcrest requires traders to pass a two step evaluation process, the Trading Challenge and Verification phases, to demonstrate their trading skills.
The Micro Trader Program is also available for beginners to test their skills before taking on larger accounts. Account sizes for the Micro Trader Program range from $10,000 to $50,000, while Pro Trader accounts range from $150,000 to $1,000,000.
Fidelcrest stands out in the industry with its high potential profit split, which ranges from 80% to 90%, with a commission payout even during the evaluation period. Fidelcrest also offers a quick evaluation process, with most accounts requiring just 15 trading days to move on to a funded account.
However, traders have complained about the challenging trading parameters in the Verification stage. Fidelcrest requires traders to hit the same profit target as they did in the Trading Challenge, but with a lower maximum loss. For a Normal Account, the maximum loss is only 5%, leaving traders with very little margin for error.
Despite this drawback, Fidelcrest is still an excellent choice for traders who want to trade a diverse range of assets, with a high potential profit split, and a quick evaluation process.
FTMO
FTMO is a highly successful prop trading firm that specializes in forex trading. The company has paid out over $97 million to more than 10,000 traders in over 180 countries since its launch in 2014.
It offers diverse tradable instruments including forex, commodities, indices, crypto, stocks, and bonds. FTMO’s one-time fees are also ideal for beginner traders, as they are reimbursable at the first profit split.
The two-step evaluation process is standard, comprising the FTMO challenge and the verification. The FTMO challenge lasts for 30 days, but traders can proceed to verification if they pass the trading objectives earlier.
During this phase, traders must have a maximum daily loss of 5%, a profit target of 10%, and a maximum account loss of 10% during the testing period.
If a trader passes the objectives except for the profit target, they can repeat the FTMO challenge for free. The verification stage lasts for 60 days, after which a trader becomes an FTMO trader and can manage an account balance of up to $400,000 with an 80% payout share. Consistent profitability leads to a 25% increase in account size every four months. Successful traders can enjoy up to payout shares of 90% with FTMO’s scaling plan.
FTMO provides trading technologies and custom apps to help traders track their trading tendencies, execute market analysis, and provide real-time feedback. Swing account holders are allowed to hold positions over the weekend.
FTMO also offers excellent educational resources and customer support, including highly trained professional coaches who help streamline traders’ journey to financial independence. The downside of FTMO is the long evaluation period.
Conclusion
Choosing the best prop trading firm is an important decision for any aspiring trader looking to boost their capital and achieve financial independence. Each of the best prop firms we reviewed has its own unique strengths and weaknesses.
To make the best choice, you must consider your personal preferences and trading goals, as well as the fees, accessibility, and educational support offered by each firm.
Ultimately, if you choose to pursue prop trading, it’s essential to leverage all the latest technology, such as the best stock screeners, to gain an edge. If prop trading isn’t quite right for you, funded trading accounts may be an alternative worth considering, as they offer similar opportunities but with their own unique pros and cons.
Whatever path you choose, we hope this guide has helped you better understand the options available to you and provided you with the information you need to make an informed decision. Good luck on your trading journey!
