As a complement for the other question in the career forum: Would you rather make 3 million a year in your living room in complete isolation and anonymity, executing some sort of technically-oriented algorithm that just somehow keeps going year after year? Or take half that amount and trade at the side of say Kovner or Cohen, knowing you will never make more than that but being able to see how the game is played in the real world, hooked into the daily flow of information that actually moves the markets? How much would that be worth to you?
you're kidding, right? obviously for those of us who wouldn't work at a firm for five times the amount of our at-home trading, the answer is clear. 3 million a year would be wonderful, heavenly, great! most of us will never touch that on a yearly basis. it isn't all about the money, because half of 3 mill is still great, in my opinion. i wouldn't take the latter option b/c i would assume a "trading great" would have a HUGE ego, making him unpleasant to be around, but i could be wrong on that, having never sat next to these folks to trade.
illiquid it depends on the circumstances, I guess it depends on the traders personality profile, living circumstances and appetite for risk as well. The more agressive would probably go solo but some personality types would prefer having a steady income of sorts. Lifestyle is not going to change much going from $3 mil to $30 mil.+ anyway.., and there are some special individuals worth meeting in the "real trading world" - for sure. If I was trading eur/usd and went from nothing (i.e. $3000) to a $3 mill. net worth in a short period of time (i.e. within 3 years), I wouldn't need Kovner, Cohen or anybody - thats just me. A hedge fund/investment bank etc. would not necessarily be a good thing at that point, because those external influences would in my opinion "institutionalise" my performance and somehow get in the way of me staying the course I had implemented till that time. So it depends what you want. If you want to learn stuff, other traders are great. But to get to first base means that you already know some stuff anyway, so why mix things up too much. 50% of the secret to getting to the big time is telling nobody what your doing. The loner picture you paint would be best in that scenario.
If I am making $3 million a year why the @#$% would I need Kovner or Cohen.... to make less? Who would take that lol..
So it's just about the money for you guys? As a corollary, if you've just won the lottery, you'd all quit this game in an instant, correct?
Can't truthfully answer that until I've traded my first $ million+ in profit. I have no idea what my mind will be like at that time (assuming that day arrives). I don't play the lottery - so I will never win it.