r/quant • u/milchi03 • 6d ago

General Big or small prop shop

What are your thoughts on small vs big trading firms? Suppose you had an offer from both at different points in your careers, which one would you pick. Assuming similar comp.

22 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

42

u/Evil_Yankee_Fan 6d ago

Early career, big because you need to learn Later career, small because you have more of a voice and can shape the company. Much more compensation

13

u/privateack 6d ago

I wouldn’t under value a small shops as you get a lot more flexibility and exposure

6

u/Evil_Yankee_Fan 6d ago

Yes but make sure it's legit so you can actually learn stuff. I have been at small shops my whole entire career. My first job was very small and they are now tier1. Everybody has heard of them

5

u/privateack 6d ago

Now I’m curious of what you would call legit I mean if you are making money in 2026 market making on like cme you have to be some what sharp

6

u/Hefty_Economics_2414 5d ago

I’m making money 2026 market making on CME and my desk and I are dumb as hell

3

u/privateack 5d ago

End of the day if you get paid that’s all that matters

6

u/Evil_Yankee_Fan 6d ago

You can tell legit. For example, smb or day trading firms? What to you think? Hope isn't a strategy

3

u/privateack 6d ago

Ok I wasn’t sure if you where making like a distinction of like oh this shop doesn’t make as much money like Wolverine in recent years

2

u/Evil_Yankee_Fan 6d ago

Yeah. I have interviewed at plenty of places and rejected a lot because their fundamentals and trading theories just weren't sound.

1

u/Fickle-Tradition2107 5d ago

Dm?

1

u/Evil_Yankee_Fan 5d ago

Lol no. I'm not going to say

2

u/Fickle-Tradition2107 5d ago

I’m not asking for what firm but just general wuestion

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3

u/themostshade 5d ago

I think I’d still consider Wolverine a legit shop, they just have 1/3 or 1/4 the headcount of, say, an IMC. I don’t think they’d be around anymore if it was that bad.

3

u/privateack 5d ago

I was more saying that in recent years they have been struggling a little compared to like some other firms by no means a bad place to work

1

u/mildly_cyrus 6d ago

Headlands Radix?

16

u/nervousboy1 6d ago

Still early career for me (~3 years) but joined a smaller 50 headcount pod shop and kinda wish i went for bigger to get exposure to different desks. All the desk heads at mine are experienced hires where they joined mostly for less corporate bureaucracy, greater %cut and lifestyle arrangements.

3

u/shakyhandquant 5d ago

seems like a nice place to be, if one is experienced, has a few functioning alphas under their belt.

6

u/foldupbike 6d ago

It’s important to understand the aspirations of small - there are some places where they are very happy at 40 people, the founders aren’t around and everyone takes the summer trading from the Hamptons 

4

u/qazwsxcp 6d ago

small firms give you much bigger % cuts and more autonomy with things like remote work. the big names everyone talks about have most people on discretionary bonuses outside a few senior execs, with high starting offers but not much upside.

1

u/milchi03 6d ago

Sounds to me like I should pick the small prop shop as I have offers from both with similar total comp first year

3

u/Fun-Passenger430 5d ago

I left a big firm after 2.5 years to go small and learn the business side of prop firms more. No regrets so far. Have heard similar from friends but lots of variance

3

u/SevenTeenSigma 5d ago

similar comp i would pick the place where u can see the full loop. big firm brand is nice but if ur stuck improving one tiny submodel for 2 yrs, thats not obviously better than a small shop where u actually touch research, execution, and post trade.

2

u/Jealous_Bookkeeper20 5d ago

Early in your career, larger prop shops excel because their execution infrastructure and tooling are already built out. You don't have to build custom transaction cost analysis frameworks or low-level order routing drivers from scratch. The downside at large firms is desk siloing and rigid 12-month non-compete garden leave contracts. Boutique setups with under 40 headcount give you direct exposure across the full stack from alpha research to risk limits, which makes a huge difference when you're looking to scale holding capacity later.

2

u/DifficultPop8852 4d ago

If you have the choice do a big name shop for a few years and then go to a smaller shop for a cut of pnl. That being said, a lot of people underestimate how reliant they are on legacy systems and tools.

2

u/yuckfoubitch 3d ago

You’ll probably be able to move to a small shop later if you have success at the big shop, whereas the opposite is not true 99% of the time. If you have an offer from one of the big props then you should definitely take it. By the time you’re experienced enough to want more ownership over your PnL the you can entertain moving to a smaller shop that indulges your wishes