I spoke to Rob. He agreed that Firms will institute their own Risk Margin as on over-ride to PM as well. HOWEVER, with a $200k minimum, which is fine, we may be able to do some business in the future. He explained how he was compelled, by a trader, to actually write down and institute some additional risk policy. Rob is a good guy IMO. Don
When we get a bit closer, I'll chat with you about it on the phone. Just getting info at this point. Nothing firm yet. Don
Don, if you have any general questions about portfolio margin, let me know. At VTrader we had a good portfolio margin operation with Merrill Institutional.
A key question to ask is how many of their "funded" traders are STILL trading with them. Great program for beginners...decent community but curious how many people have been trading with them "Live" for longer than 6 months. Anybody out there willing to say they've traded with them for that long? Seems like they've been getting a new trader a week recently. But how many of their old traders are STILL with them?
Well, the sad fact is, most traders in general don't stay around too long. I don't see why it would be any different with Patak. A trader might have an edge that goes away or might simply do well in a certain environment and when that environment changes, so does their p&l. Equity markets have horrific cycles that wipe out equity firms and equity traders, especially when the VIX gets in the teens. The one saving grace to futures is there is enough variety in the products that if one is smart enough and willing enough to move to a different area, they can pro-long their longevity. If this helps answer your question, most of the "discretionary" futures traders in Chicago have been cleared out of the business replaced by algo traders and HFT. Most of those guys were profitable at one point, now they are out of the business. None of this really has to do with Patak specifically, I just don't see how it would be any different there. The downside to trading with them is that you are a remote trader by your self and you are not getting all the support one would get in an office full of traders. Don't under estimate that.