I am an experienced Proprietary Trader looking for advice on relocation to the USA. I am due to be married to my long term American girlfriend in a few months so work visa will not be a problem. I have strong performance record with a medium tier European Bank over the past five years trading predominantly G10 Foreign Exchange but also Index Equity Option Futures, DJIA, SPX, FTSE, ESTOXX and Nikkei.-I am detail orientated and capable of working efficiently and effectively in fast paced environments with short deadlines.-I have excellent communication skills and am a very creative in generating global macro trading strategies.-Dedicated to continuing trading career-Masters in Finance-Current CFA CandidateI am interested in hearing from Hedge Funds, CTA’s, Institutional Investors and Proprietary Trading Desk Managers who are interested in recruiting young capable talent.Can anyone help with information on how to contact aforementioned firms. I am untrusting of head-hunter firms but if anyone can recommend a genuinely reliable recruitment agency I will consider them. We are opened minded to location but NY and Chicago are a preference.Also, very interested to hear about any interesting contacts/opportunities which may be available on the West Coast.Respond direct or to:proptrader76@yahoo.co.ukMany thanks for any useful advice/assistance in advance.

Here's a test, if your answer's good I'll supply a good list of contacts for you..You are on the trading floor, 18 stories up; starbucks is about 350yards south west from the entrance to the building on the other side; there are 36flights of stairs each numbering 14 stairs.. you cannot use the elevator; you get an order of 4 cappucinos and a mochiato.. the head of the desk wants a slice of carrot cake too.. what do u do?

QuoteOriginally posted by: clarionHere's a test, if your answer's good I'll supply a good list of contacts for you..You are on the trading floor, 18 stories up; starbucks is about 350yards south west from the entrance to the building on the other side; there are 36flights of stairs each numbering 14 stairs.. you cannot use the elevator; you get an order of 4 cappucinos and a mochiato.. the head of the desk wants a slice of carrot cake too.. what do u do?tell them all to f*** off and get their own coffee.

QuoteOriginally posted by: PropTrader2004I am an experienced Proprietary Trader looking for advice on relocation to the USA. I am due to be married to my long term American girlfriend in a few months so work visa will not be a problem. I have strong performance record with a medium tier European Bank over the past five years trading predominantly G10 Foreign Exchange but also Index Equity Option Futures, DJIA, SPX, FTSE, ESTOXX and Nikkei..I am going to be very impertinant here, and ask what sort of budget (or target, or whatever it is called) would tend to be set for someone in this position (your current one).I would assume that in a "medium tier" bank, it of the order 10-100M USd, but accept that I may be way out.

QuoteOriginally posted by: NorthernJohnQuoteOriginally posted by: PropTrader2004.....I am going to be very impertinant here, and ask what sort of budget (or target, or whatever it is called) would tend to be set for someone in this position (your current one).I would assume that in a "medium tier" bank, it of the order 10-100M USd, but accept that I may be way out.from what I' ve seen target for that kind of prop trading would be more like 5 - 10

QuoteOriginally posted by: clarionHere's a test, if your answer's good I'll supply a good list of contacts for you..You are on the trading floor, 18 stories up; starbucks is about 350yards south west from the entrance to the building on the other side; there are 36flights of stairs each numbering 14 stairs.. you cannot use the elevator; you get an order of 4 cappucinos and a mochiato.. the head of the desk wants a slice of carrot cake too.. what do u do?bully the guy from IT into doing it for me, in front of the traders!

QuoteOriginally posted by: jtippQuoteOriginally posted by: clarionHere's a test, if your answer's good I'll supply a good list of contacts for you..You are on the trading floor, 18 stories up; starbucks is about 350yards south west from the entrance to the building on the other side; there are 36flights of stairs each numbering 14 stairs.. you cannot use the elevator; you get an order of 4 cappucinos and a mochiato.. the head of the desk wants a slice of carrot cake too.. what do u do?bully the guy from IT into doing it for me, in front of the traders!Mmmm wrong again, the guy from IT has more power than you. Think about it, he can do anything he wants to *your* computer. Definitely not a guy you want to upset. or else

Chances are the IT guy has probably been througth that 10 times already by this time of day...No, much better to call EAT or some other cheaper establishment and get them to deliver - pocket the difference!

Trainees get food etc, end of story…. Or else they are not trainees for much longer….If my boss wants a coffee it is probably cause he is kicking up his feet in amazement at my Sharpe ratio.As for budgets/targets I think anyone who know London would know that 5-15 mio Usd budget is upper middle tier and even characterizes some of the bigger Investment Banks, an that is all related to risk criteria anyway.Hedge Funds of course are a different ball game.My bank is upper middle tier and the interview doesn’t start on Willmott.comAny REAL advice assistance would be appreciated as per below…Sorry, to all the graduates/Juniors etc who keep emailing me, but I am a Trader not a Career Advisor and there are too many of you and so many basic questions I wouldn't know where to start....I wish you all the best of luck at whatever you do.

QuoteOriginally posted by: PropTrader2004Trainees get food etc, end of story…. Or else they are not trainees for much longer….If my boss wants a coffee it is probably cause he is kicking up his feet in amazement at my Sharpe ratio.As for budgets/targets I think anyone who know London would know that 5-15 mio Usd budget is upper middle tier and even characterizes some of the bigger Investment Banks, an that is all related to risk criteria anyway.Hedge Funds of course are a different ball game.My bank is upper middle tier and the interview doesn’t start on Willmott.comAny REAL advice assistance would be appreciated as per below…Sorry, to all the graduates/Juniors etc who keep emailing me, but I am a Trader not a Career Advisor and there are too many of you and so many basic questions I wouldn't know where to start....I wish you all the best of luck at whatever you do.Great answer.

You must have obviously explored the possibility of working for your current employer in the US ?

QuoteOriginally posted by: PropTrader2004Trainees get food etc, end of story…. Or else they are not trainees for much longer….If my boss wants a coffee it is probably cause he is kicking up his feet in amazement at my Sharpe ratio.As for budgets/targets I think anyone who know London would know that 5-15 mio Usd budget is upper middle tier and even characterizes some of the bigger Investment Banks, an that is all related to risk criteria anyway.Hedge Funds of course are a different ball game..Well, it is certainly not true that anyone who knows London knows that that is the range. I certainly know London, and I'm actually a bit surprised by the numbers. 10-20M USd is about the amount I'm expected to add to my customer book through prop trading. I thought dedicated prop traders in a bank would have higher targets.

QuoteOriginally posted by: NorthernJohnQuoteOriginally posted by: PropTrader2004Trainees get food etc, end of story…. Or else they are not trainees for much longer….If my boss wants a coffee it is probably cause he is kicking up his feet in amazement at my Sharpe ratio.As for budgets/targets I think anyone who know London would know that 5-15 mio Usd budget is upper middle tier and even characterizes some of the bigger Investment Banks, an that is all related to risk criteria anyway.Hedge Funds of course are a different ball game..Well, it is certainly not true that anyone who knows London knows that that is the range. I certainly know London, and I'm actually a bit surprised by the numbers. 10-20M USd is about the amount I'm expected to add to my customer book through prop trading. I thought dedicated prop traders in a bank would have higher targets.10m is average on equity - FI is a different ball game.

actual level of profits made irrelevant if we dont know1. how much risk was taken2. peak to trough drawdowns3. the time scale - bull markets or bear markets ?

QuoteOriginally posted by: NorthernJohnQuoteOriginally posted by: PropTrader2004Trainees get food etc, end of story…. Or else they are not trainees for much longer….If my boss wants a coffee it is probably cause he is kicking up his feet in amazement at my Sharpe ratio.As for budgets/targets I think anyone who know London would know that 5-15 mio Usd budget is upper middle tier and even characterizes some of the bigger Investment Banks, an that is all related to risk criteria anyway.Hedge Funds of course are a different ball game..Well, it is certainly not true that anyone who knows London knows that that is the range. I certainly know London, and I'm actually a bit surprised by the numbers. 10-20M USd is about the amount I'm expected to add to my customer book through prop trading. I thought dedicated prop traders in a bank would have higher targets.pure prop should have lower targets. it is far easier to make money trading around a customer book, esp. a large one, than it is starting from scratch