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Day trader vs proprietary trader

The differences between day traders and proprietary traders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a day trader has an average salary of $116,895, which is higher than the $100,019 average annual salary of a proprietary trader.

The top three skills for a day trader include technical analysis, equities and market trends. The most important skills for a proprietary trader are technical analysis, equity markets, and equities.

Day trader vs proprietary trader overview

Day TraderProprietary Trader
Yearly salary$116,895$100,019
Hourly rate$56.20$48.09
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs3,812541
Job satisfaction5-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 68%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Average age4343
Years of experience--

Day trader vs proprietary trader salary

Day traders and proprietary traders have different pay scales, as shown below.

Day TraderProprietary Trader
Average salary$116,895$100,019
Salary rangeBetween $68,000 And $198,000Between $60,000 And $165,000
Highest paying City-New York, NY
Highest paying state-New York
Best paying company-D. E. Shaw group
Best paying industry-Finance

Differences between day trader and proprietary trader education

There are a few differences between a day trader and a proprietary trader in terms of educational background:

Day TraderProprietary Trader
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 68%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Most common majorBusinessFinance
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Day trader vs proprietary trader demographics

Here are the differences between day traders' and proprietary traders' demographics:

Day TraderProprietary Trader
Average age4343
Gender ratioMale, 90.5% Female, 9.5%Male, 95.7% Female, 4.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 5.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 11.5% Asian, 12.4% White, 66.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 5.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 12.5% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between day trader and proprietary trader duties and responsibilities

Day trader example responsibilities.

  • Day-Trade stocks on the NASDAQ and NYSE, and achieve positive returns through an analysis of trends base on moving averages.
  • Manage business, sales, marketing, international negotiation and communication for a commodities business.
  • Trade equities and derivatives for long term investment and short term trading purposes while utilizing proper risk management
  • Engage in market speculation of various commodities, rapid scalping of mini futures contracts & ETF's.
  • Perform a financial analysis, risk assessment of various publicly trade companies on the NYSE, NASDQ and CME.
  • Enter buy/sell orders for NASDAQ stocks
  • Show more

Proprietary trader example responsibilities.

  • Manage business, sales, marketing, international negotiation and communication for a commodities business.
  • Perform qualitative research on potential risk arbitrage positions and subjectively choose equities for inclusion in a risk arbitrage portfolio.
  • Research market strategies and trends using Bloomberg.
  • Develop quantitative driven proprietary models by Bloomberg BLP / API and VBA programming.
  • Research and develop convertible bond pricing application for convertible arbitrage trades.
  • Assess market conditions within the equities market in order to maximize profitability.
  • Show more

Day trader vs proprietary trader skills

Common day trader skills
  • Technical Analysis, 15%
  • Equities, 10%
  • Market Trends, 6%
  • Fundamental Analysis, 6%
  • Global Financial Markets, 6%
  • Risk Management, 5%
Common proprietary trader skills
  • Technical Analysis, 12%
  • Equity Markets, 10%
  • Equities, 9%
  • Financial Markets, 8%
  • Portfolio, 8%
  • Fundamental Analysis, 4%