1 occupation overview: A futures trader is a person who acts as a principal or trades for the other party in futures trading. He placed an order to buy or sell, hoping to make a difference (profit).
Work content: complete the transaction and keep accounts in time; Accurately transmit trading instructions issued by customers, monitor trading risks and feed back market information in time; Study domestic futures and foreign exchange markets, judge market trends and submit analysis reports; Independent operation of its own technical level has enabled the account to achieve high and stable profitability.
First, the emergence of futures market
1848, 82 businessmen in Chicago initiated the establishment of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) to reduce the risk of grain trading.
1865, CBOT launched a standardized contract and implemented a deposit system; 1882, CBOT began to allow the exemption of performance liability through hedging; 1925, the Chicago Board of Trade Clearing Company (BOTCC) was established, and all transactions of the Chicago Board of Trade must enter the clearing company for settlement. At this point, futures trading in a truly modern sense began to take shape.
Second, the futures market in China
The development of China's futures market began in the late 1980s, at the stage of scheme research and initial implementation (1988- 1990).
1990 10, Zhengzhou Grain Wholesale Market in China was approved by the State Council, and the futures trading mechanism was introduced as the first commodity futures market in China.
With the birth of the futures market, there are exchanges, clearing houses, commission merchants (futures commission merchants) and traders.
Exchanges provide places and contracts for futures participation (some are also responsible for the settlement and liquidation of futures trading), and clearing houses are responsible for the settlement and liquidation of futures trading. The commission agent is the bridge and intermediary between the futures exchange and the trader, who is the user or customer of the futures contract. Modern times are generally divided into hedgers, speculators and arbitrage traders.
With the continuous progress of the times, a group of people who are engaged in financial management or asset management for customers with their professional knowledge, skills and experience stand out from the commission merchants and traders. These people are the original definition sources of futures traders.
In the United States, CTA, whose full name is Commodity Trading Advisors, is an investment manager approved by NFA (National Futures Association), registered in CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Committee) and subject to supervision. All CTAs must be registered as members in CFTC and NFA. CTA must regularly report accounts to CFTC, provide transaction records and disclose information; Submit information disclosure reports to NFA regularly.
After reviewing the information provided by the students (including fingerprint files) and the certificate of no criminal record recognized by the host country, they can successfully register as NFA members and obtain qualifications.
In America, CTA is often synonymous with high salary. The annual salary of CTA is usually as high as millions of dollars, and the annual salary of star CTA can reach tens of millions of dollars. The famous Soros and Rogers are also members of the futures industry association. All fund managers involved in futures and financial derivatives are also registered with the Futures Association.
The fees paid by funds or investors to CTA include fixed consulting fees and performance incentive fees. The fixed consulting fee is calculated at 0-3% of the net value of the fund portfolio managed by CTA. The performance incentive fee is paid according to a certain proportion of the net value-added of the portfolio managed by CTA, generally between 10%-30%.
The United States has very mature futures investment funds. There are three types of futures investment funds: Public Offering of Fund, private equity funds and personal accounts. Public offering futures investment funds are similar to domestic open-end or closed-end funds, which are relatively transparent, but the participation cost is high, the operation is not as flexible as private equity funds and personal management accounts, and the return on investment is the lowest among the three. Private placement often takes the form of limited partnership, with flexible operation and low cost. Suitable for high-income individuals or institutional investors, with strict restrictions on the number of investors and the minimum capital contribution. Investors can also directly choose CTA to manage their own funds and open personal custody futures accounts. Investors directly hand over their accounts to CTA for management, which is actually equivalent to buying CTA's trading skills. Its advantage is that it eliminates the management fees of public offering and private offering.
CTA is the maker of trading plan and the firm operator of any form of futures investment fund.
Because China's futures market is a relatively new thing, many things cross the river by feeling the stones with reference to the development experience of derivatives in Europe and America, and various problems have appeared in the development process, forming many gray areas outside legal supervision. In the 1990s, from the red vest in the exchange, the futures broker in the futures company, the private speculators, and the trading related personnel who participated in the hedging manufacturers, there appeared a group who made a living by acting as a specific agent for other people's futures trading operations. This is a futures trader in China.
At present, a large number of famous traders, such as futures traders (traders), stock futures traders (traders), foreign exchange traders (traders), spot traders (traders), futures stock foreign exchange financial planners (analysts) and so on. , has been some folk gray or even illegal so-called investment companies. They are attracting customers in disguise with all kinds of beautiful promises or whimsical prospects of the famous mouth of this high-end financial industry. Say it's a recruitment position. As a result, do you attract customers or do it at your own expense? It is conceivable how badly most ordinary people or ordinary graduates have been cheated.
The word trader has been generalized. Basically, anyone who participates in the transaction can give himself this title at will (whether in securities, insurance, banks, public and private equity funds, general private equity investment or asset management companies, corporate hedging departments, studios or individuals directly). It is also an objective fact that many things are not standardized in the financial world today.