Evaluations and accounts
Prop firm challenge
A paid assessment on a simulated account. Reach a virtual profit target without breaking the risk rules and the firm issues a simulated funded account that pays you a share of the gains you generate on it.
Also called: Trading challenge · Funded account challenge
GFN’s figure
GFN sells three routes: Instant with no challenge at all, the 1 Step with a single 10% target, and the 2 Step at 8% then 5%. None of them has a time limit.
- InstantTarget
- None - simulated funded from day one
- 1 StepTarget
- 10% against a 8% drawdown
- 2 StepTarget
- 8% then 5%, plus a free retake
In detail
Prop firm challenge,explained
The challenge is the firm's screening mechanism. It is cheaper for a firm to sell an assessment than to interview traders, and the rules of the assessment are the firm's statement of what it considers acceptable risk.
Read the drawdown structure before the profit target. The target tells you how far you have to go; the drawdown tells you how much room you have to get there, and the ratio between them is the honest measure of how hard the assessment is.
Related
Terms thatcome with it
Most rules only make sense next to the ones they interact with. These are the entries this one depends on.
Evaluation
The assessment stage of a prop programme, traded on a simulated account. Profits made during an evaluation are simulated results used to decide whether you pass; they are not withdrawable.
One-step evaluation
An assessment with a single profit target. Clear it without breaching and you go straight to a simulated funded account - there is no second verification phase to trade afterwards.
Two-step evaluation
An assessment split into two phases with separate profit targets. The first phase proves the strategy, the second - usually at a lower target - checks it repeats before the firm issues a simulated funded account.
Instant funding
A programme with no assessment phase. You buy a simulated funded account and trade it from day one, with no profit target to clear - paid for with tighter risk limits and a lower virtual profit share.
Evaluation fee
The one-time price of an assessment. It is what the trader is genuinely risking - no customer capital is exposed on a simulated account - and it is the number to compare between firms per dollar of allocation.
Ready when you are
Your capital stays yours.The risk is ours.
One evaluation fee, no time limits and up to 90% of simulated profits. Pick an account size and your credentials arrive by email within minutes.
No subscriptions or hidden fees
Payouts every 14 days
$400,000 max total allocation