New York trading firm paid $1.09m per head in an office that made an $11m loss
Quantitative prop trading firm Five Rings is a quiet firm paying big money. In its New York headquarters, the firm is offering some of the highest salaries on the street to quant researchers. Its UK team is also very well compensated... even when they're not making any money.
'Five Rings Trading LLP' released accounts for 2024 via Companies House this week. The entity made an £8.2m ($11.1m) loss last year after proprietary trading revenues more than halved. The entity made £24.8m in 2023 (at a profit of over £6m) but made just £11m from its proprietary trades last year.
Despite this, pay at Five Rings' UK entity barely changed. In 2024, it paid an average of £806k ($1.09m) in 'salaries and wages' to 21 employees. The year before, it paid £816k per head to 20 people. Total employee costs alone in 2024 were £8.6m more than its trading turnover.
Some of Five Rings' UK team are former New York staff that have been relocated. One such person is Stan Zhang, an ex-Citadel Securities intern that joined Five Rings as a graduate in New York and relocated earlier this year.
Five Rings reviews on jobs forum Blind say that the firm has a better work-life balance than most other prop trading firms, and that there's an abundance of young staff working there. It currently has 2026 graduate openings for both quant traders and software engineers. The latter role lists a salary of £222k ($300k).
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