Why am I making this post? I want this as a reference for myself and because I think all of the information online on forums like WallStreetOasis is terrible and outdated. I want to give an informed opinion by a non-anonymous person in the industry.
First, a bunch of caveats.
For the sake of not instigating, this list is unranked, although I do have a sort of ranking in my head.
Does this mean that if you are not working at one of these firms, I am claiming that you suck or are not
making any money? Definitely not. There are people I have heard at trading firms not on this list who make
multiple 8 figures a year, which could very likely be way more than I might ever make (although hopefully
not!). There are likely smaller trading firms that I am missing with awesome people that I am unaware of.
Also, even at trading firms that are overall not great, there are desks that print money.
I myself am joining a firm that not as many people have heard of and might not make this list.
This list will be most useful for new and recent grads. For experienced hires (eg trying to start a desk), this list would still be relevant, but generally an experienced hire would have additional concerns. I define a "top" trading firm as one with very good management and trading, very profitable desks, and most importantly give the most competitive total compensation to a new grad or a recent grad (these are all highly correlated). A good benchmark for the total compensation for a new grad is over the numeric value of the 25914th prime in USD. The very top new grad offers I have heard of are slightly over double this number. These numbers are generally reserved for people who got a return offer at the most competitive firms and also got competing offers.
D1 = delta 1 (stocks, ETF, futures), almost always market making and automated
PM = portfolio managers
MM = market making
| Firm Name | Firm Type | Notes |
| DRW | D1, Options, PMs | My former employer. Terrific organization and people. |
| HRT | D1, making forays into options | |
| IMC | Options | fastest options firm, systematic |
| Optiver | Options | semi-systematic options trading. Dominate S&P complex. |
| Jane Street | D1 (ETF MM), making forays into options | where SBF, of FTX fame, used to work |
| Citadel/CitSec | D1, Options, PM | both systematic and semi-systematic |
| Simplex | Options | 100% systematic |
| Radix | D1? | honestly, don't know much. Friends say they are good. |
| Five Rings | Options? | fun fact: they refuse to tell you what they trade |
| CTC | Options | |
| Akuna | Options | Ex-Optiver people |
| Wolverine | D1, Options | |
| SIG | D1, Options | trades everything under the sun. Be aware of noncompete. |
| Virtu | D1 | stock trading. Public company. |
| Jump | D1, trying options | best at ES trading |
| Tower | D1 | |
| XTX | Forex | Founder Alex Gerko has a hilarious twitter. |
Bonus list of good hedge funds: 2Sigma, DE Shaw, QuantEdge, PDT Partners, TGSMC, Aquatic, Cubist Systematic Strategies