As a skilled trader coming into the industry now, you're left with largely two options on how to kick-start your trading career, either with your own hard-earned money or with investors money gotten through prop firms.
The question now is, which is better?
We will consider some factors that can help you choose wisely where to begin your trading career.
But first, let's get to know their meanings.
A broker could be either a firm or an individual who acts as a mediator between an investor or a trader and a security exchange. They provide liquidity and initiate transactions.
A proprietary firm, popularly known as 'prop firm', provides skilled traders with investment or trading capital under which traders have to satisfy some criteria and meet certain objectives.
Trading capital is simply the sum of money available to a trader to enable them to trade the market.
As we all know, it would require that you have a certain amount of money with you to trade with brokers. Usually, the best brokers do is to increase the bonus they offer which would still depend on your trading capital.
However, prop firms like GoatFundedTrader, have given traders the opportunity to trade with large investment capital which they do not bear any risk on at all. All they have to do is pay for the challenge account they can afford. At GoatFundedTrader, we offer a colossal sum of $5,000 trading capital for a cost as low as $50.
Leverage is simply the use of borrowed money to increase the potential return on investment.
This is a feature that is offered by both brokers and prop firms.
However, the difference here is, while conventional brokers provide traders, especially day traders with margin accounts that are subject to some limitations, prop firms do not. This largely affects those with less than $25,000 liquid capital to invest.
This means, you are more at peace with trading prop firm funded accounts, like those offered in GoatFundedTrader, because you need not worry about these limitations. Limitations such as minimum equity requirements among others.
When trading using a broker, you're charged a flat fee per trade you take, this means, the more trade you place, whether loss or profit, the more frequently you're charged. The amount charged per trade differs with brokers. This is not so with Prop firm trading.
Prop firms generally charge an upfront one-time fee that is often refundable for you to trade on their challenge account. But these fees are usually low compared to the account size you will be managing. Asides this, there are other charges that are inherent and come with each trade you place such as commission and swap fee.
However, GoatFundedTrader provides their traders with a swap fee free account which means you don't have to incur these costs any longer.
Imagine managing a $100,000 swap-fee free account for as low as $592. This is made possible by GoatfundedTrader.
Besides the conventional trading advice and tips that has been around since retail forex started, there is really no unique or special knowledge impacted on the traders by brokers.
But since the profit of the prop firms are directly tied with the profit made by their funded traders, Prop firms like GoatfundedTrader, provide their traders with advanced knowledge and special tools that can help propel their trading career and improve their overall profitability.
Some prop firms have a place for enrolment which is optional so as to ascertain that their funded traders are thoroughly groomed and well-equipped for the uncertainties in the forex market.
Prop firms even go as far as hosting daily webinars with their traders to review the market together so as to sharpen their minds and have them set for the day. Some host weekly webinars too.
Additionally, prop firms now employ psychologists that help traders ensure that they are in the right frame of mind to trade.
All these efforts are made by prop firms to ensure that their traders are sufficiently equipped to trade and make profits.
Brokers give their traders access to tools that can help them manage their risk but do not make stringent rules. This means you can risk as little and as much as you want even to your whole capital.
However, with prop firms who do care about the capital under management by the trader, special rules and tools are put in place so as to prevent the trader from losing their account.
Among the special tools provided is the risk percentage calculator with GoatFundedTrader. This ensures that you know your risk with every trade you place.
Now that you're presented with head-to-head comparisons between Prop firms and Brokers, what will you choose?
Make a wise decision.
