Getting into a prop firm back in the day was usually tricky; you had to prove you knew your stuff — or have the right connections. Many years later, think before the COVID-19 pandemic it had become much simpler to become a trader in a prop firm— but what was the catch? You had to be willing to shoulder the cost of hefty desk fees which meant your trading psychology had to be robust. Prop firms are closed (their physical offices for the most part); many financial institutions are owing to the pandemic.

You would have undoubtedly read that retail traders are on the rise. But trading through a prop firm is still beneficial as you will have like-minded people to bounce off because those self-funded people are likely going to comprise the vast majority that end-up losing money in the markets.

Not all prop firms are equal, however. Some have taken to providing training. Some trading educators began dubbing themselves as prop firms to lure prospects in to divert to their education as we have previously touched on. This on the rise, especially since the pandemic has made self-improvement and education more popular than ever. Spotting trends is part of being in finance! 🙂

An easy tell to see who is legitimate is to see how transparent they are. For instance, we at CTI always show that people pass our funding. We never force our education, we mention it and leave it for you to decide. As per our mission statement, we want amazing traders first (learn more). Through our blog, you can find an assortment of interviews with successful traders that passed our funded trader program (learn more about our funding). The of the the latest includes Bruno Jeannin’s story, who found it challenging to break into the industry and fulfil his goal through CTI.

He took a massive leap towards this goal by passing our funding and progressing into one of the prop firm’s portfolio managers where we will carry on supporting him! By the end you’ll appreciate how Bruno embodied the 3 ‘Ps’ in the title: Patience, Persistence & Perseverance.

Can you tell us a little bit about your trading experience and how it led you to City Traders Imperium’s Prop Firm?

My first exposure to trading was around 1997. I was student and was working during the summer break. Usually used half of my paycheck to go in holidays by the end of the summer and the other half in trading.

At that time, it was the beginning of online trading, fees were high, so I also traded “warrants” (kind of options) to leverage my profits and of course usually ending losing my summer job’s money 😉

I participated in some hot IPOs (telecom) at the end of the ’90s in the middle of internet bubble. I was president of an investment club back in 1999-2000. It was an exciting time!!!

I studied economics and completed a Master’s degree in Finance & Trading in 2001-2002. My goal (at that time) was to work 10 years as a money manager and probably teach (part time) economics after that…

My dream was to be a trader in NYC or work in a Global Macro fund. I was fascinated by people like Georges Soros, Jim Rogers, Warren Buffet…

I started my career in Paris in Front Office as a assistant/junior Portfolio Manager & Advisor then moved later to Oslo as an Institutional Equity Sales (ending with High Yield Sales in 2011).

It was super exciting times and highly educational to see how everything was working. But I always missing the fact that I wasn’t the one taking the investment decisions. And to be honest, it was a tough time to work in front office between 2006 & 2011.

Compliance rules were extremely strict, so I never was able (allowed) to trade actively after I was graduated. At the same time, I still had the desire to learn more and also took extra education as “Certified Portfolio Manager” & “Certified Fixed Income Analyst”. I was always tracking on Bloomberg all what I could read about John Paulson, Bill Gross and other big names at that time… Parallel to that, I started to be interested in Forex (back in 2008) as it could have been something where compliance rules could allow me to trade.

My goal was still to work as a hedge fund manager/dreaming to work in a Global Macro Fund. But as I said: exciting but turbulent times in the years 2008-2012 and I didn’t succeed to move front Sell Side to Buy Side…

Around 2012 I decided to quit finance, started a CrossFit box (2013-2017), competed in CF Masters, and thereafter became a teacher (maths, economics…), took education in pedagogy (Master’s level).

With two small kids, being a teacher is such a great job!

So now on, I’m teaching and have some spare time to get back to my passion and dream. My kids are now older, and I decided in 2020 to start a 5 years project:

“Become a consistent & profitable money manager.”