Hi, I'm curious what "typical" annual returns career traders are seeing. I'm really looking for feedback from seasoned folks who've been through a few business cycles. If you've only been trading for 12 months but managed to gain 200% over that time frame... this question isn't for you. I know, for example, that if a larger managed fund returned more than 12%-15% yoy with low volatility, to be suspicious (see Madoff). I know some of the super-duper hedge funds can return 30%-40% annualized. But they're a different beast from the rest of us. What about smaller traders with $100k-$2 million portfolios? How well are you doing on an annual basis?
Great question, this is something i've been wondering as well. What is a reasonable "good performance" target for someone successful in this range?
If you can return 20-25% annualized average with low month to month drawdowns (<20%) over a long timeframe (20 years) that will place you among the top 0.5% of all traders, investors, prop desks and hedge funds worldwide.
Traders in general are not rewarded for the risks they assume. At this point in time that type of return (apx 20%) is available for buyers of emerging market index funds. Most traders would do better if they just quit and invested in diversified index funds or etf's according to their risk tolerance.
As of today, typical (average) annual returns are -20% (after taking into account commissions, taxes and other related expenses)
It's easy, just go to the Journals section and see. As you will promptly discover, average annual return of an Elite Trader is between 400% and 1000%. If you return less than that, you have no right to be here, go to suckertraders.com
I have been on these trading websites for a while now. Usually, all of the members have years of experience trading, have at least 2-3 homes in different parts of the world, drive exotic cars, have worked on the actual floor of the NYSE and usually rake in at least six figures monthly. I think I posted my account balance one time which equals that of the GNP of the United States. I wonder if someone can bring back that photo that I posted of my balance. Im too lazy to fish it back up myself.
Return is not enough. Hedge funds like MLP or Schonfeld won't care if one had 2000% if Sharpe ratio is low, drawdown high and the strategy is regime-dependent. Of course, if one manages own capital all these are irrelevant as long as profit flows.