Maverick Trading Review

Maverick Trading is a great remote proprietary trading firm specializing in trading options, stocks and forex.

Alexander Voigt

By Alexander Voigt | Updated January 02, 2023

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This Maverick Trading Review lives on detailed information and leaves no question unanswered. I will break down the whole program and let you know if it’s the right place to saddle up.

I’m pleased that Darren M. Fischer, CEO at Maverick Trading, answered all the questions I came up with while crafting the review about the stock, options and forex division.

It is a positive sign when reviewed companies answers even critical questions in detail. And that’s what Darren did. He answered all my questions. So now I can provide you in-depth information about Maverick Trading that you won’t find anywhere else!

As you know, I have voted Trade Ideas the best stock screener. Does Maverick Trading now make the race in the field of funded trader programs?

maverick trading review

What Is Maverick Trading?

Maverick Trading is a proprietary trading firm that has two major divisions:

  • Stocks & Options Trading (focus on options trading)
  • Forex Trading (via Maverick FX)

Founded in 1997, the firm recruits new traders and teaches them how to become successful traders. Through its offering of proprietary trading strategies, software and rules-based tactics, its system aims to help traders become consistently profitable.

Its time-tested discipline and risk control strategies also allow prospective traders to achieve success right at the outset. As a remote trading provider, Maverick Trading employs full-time and part-time traders from all over the world.

The service also welcomes traders of all experience levels. Its capital sharing program and compensation structure allow the firm to align its interests with traders, creating a much more harmonized trading experience.

Maverick Trading also offers risk management oversight, access to technology, and access to its professional traders through its funded trader programs. With access to capital ranging from $25,000 to $800,000 and up, the company not only teaches you how to trade but finances you in the process.


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Maverick Trading has two main offerings: its

  • Maverick Trading Stock/Options Funded Account program and its
  • Maverick FX Funded Account program.

Let’s break down each.

Maverick Trading: Stock and Options Trading

maverick trading options

Designed for traders of all skill levels, a Maverick Trading Stock/Options Funded Account allows you to officially join the firm and trade the market with Maverick’s capital. Once you pass the initial tests, you can access money ranging from $25,000 to $800,000 and up.

What’s interesting about Maverick Trading is you have unlimited earning potential. As your performance increases, the firm provides you with more and more capital. And through the capital sharing program, you can apply increased leverage to your positions without the downside risks associated with heavy debt.

Once You Start with Maverick Trading, You First Begin as an Associate

The structure looks like this:

  • Level 1-2 Associate Traders
  • Level 3-4 Master Traders
  • Level 5-6 Elite Traders
maverick trading payout and trading capital

Now, the reason these levels are important is that they dictate how much capital you’re allocated and the percentage of profits you keep.

It looks like this:

  • Associate Traders receive $25,000 to $40,000 in capital and take home 70% of their profits
  • Master Traders receive $75,000 to $100,000 in capital and take home 75% of their profits
  • Elite Traders receive $400,000 to $800,000 in capital and take home 80% of their profits

The good thing about the compensation structure is that it aligns both the firm and its traders. As your skill and performance increase, you keep more of the money you made. To That Point, as Your Experience Grows, the Firm Allocates More Capital to Your Account

Once you demonstrate continued profits, low draw-downs and decreased volatility, the team will increase your trading limits, which again is a win-win for both parties. What’s more, all profits are disbursed monthly. This is beneficial because it allows you to structure your employment as a business and take advantage of the favorable tax treatment.

Another benefit of partnering with Maverick Trading is they don’t nick-and-dime their traders. Some other similar providers work with “mark up’s” on the commissions and recommend their traders to trade as frequently as possible.

Why?

Because they make their cut on the commissions paid. Maverick trading is different. They do not have mark up’s on their trader commissions.

At Maverick, They Profit When You Profit, so There Are No Conflicts of Interest. So they offer a plethora of trading benefits, but what can Maverick Trading provide in terms of education?

Over 250 Hours of Structured, Detailed Video Instructions

According to Darren M. Fischer, CEO of Maverick Trading, traders typically invest several months in training. In the Stock/Options Division, Maverick Trading provides over 250 hours of structured, detailed instruction for their traders. Additionally, each trader enters a structured coaching program that assists them as they go through the material.

Maverick Trading has over 100 years of trading experience at the firm (not counting the remote traders). This program is what they’ve distilled from their knowledge and represents what we feel is the minimum a trader needs to know to be profitable. Darren says that this is true for both our Stock/Options Division and the FX Division.

Maverick Trading Trade Simulator

There is a trade simulator component that hones chart reading skills in a rapid but no-risk environment. Immediately before trading live capital, traders submit journaled trades in a demo account so that they can gain the experience of trading the markets with no risk.

Maverick Trading Personality Test and Trading Plan

One of the first things a new trader does is take a personality test. Next, maverick Trading analyzes the results of that personality test with an eye toward trading, pointing out potential strengths and possible weaknesses. Then, with Maverick Trading’s assistance, the traders take these results and build a personalized, detailed Trading Plan.

personality test

This plan covers a multitude of topics. To name a few:

  • market conditions the trader will trade in,
  • per position risk,
  • maximum total portfolio exposure,
  • capital allocation models for various market conditions,
  • strategies the trader will use

When to use those strategies, factors in

  • broad market,
  • sector- and
  • stock-specific analysis.

Maverick Trading Demo Account

The demo account trades are then analyzed with an eye on how well the trader follows his trading plan. Maverick Trading is then able to make recommendations to improve the trading plan in addition to risk management and general coaching.

The coaches are all people who have been trading with Maverick for multiple years. Equally important is that their coaches are all salaried and incentivized to increase the profitability of Maverick Trading’s traders.

How to Get Started

So applying high-probability trading strategies, coupled with strict risk management, the team instills a trading muscle memory that’s built upon long-term goals and adhering to advanced statistics. Traders are immediately provided the best trading setups, software integration, and position sizing methodology to get you up to speed quickly.

Now, what’s required of you?

  • Pass a series of online quizzes
  • Create a personalized trading plan
  • Follow your trading plan

To demonstrate you understand its trading principles, each quiz that needs to be passed in a series; verifies your knowledge of the various concepts.

The Quizzes Focus on Stocks, Options and Maverick’s Trading Strategies

Once you complete the quizzes, you’re then required to create and submit a detailed trading plan. Here, you outline your interpretation of entry points, position-sizing, position management, capital management and your monthly goals. This way, you have a detailed strategy you can stick to when times get rough.

Darren Fischer: The trading plan should be followed at all times, whether times are rough or not. You will have contingencies in your trading plans. Additionally, Maverick Trading also practices basket trading. Depending on the trader and experience level, a typical basket of trades in a portfolio will be 8-12 on the low end and up to around 20 on the high end.

This relates directly back to a trader’s capital allocation model and Maverick’s Top-Down Approach.

You’re required to submit brokerage statements showing a minimum number of profitable trades spanning a consistent period. Practice account statements and simulated account statements can also be accepted under certain circumstances.

So now the important question.

What Does Maverick Trading Training Cost?

You won’t find the pricing structure at mavericktrading.com. So I asked Darren, CEO of Maverick Trading, to make the pricing structure transparent, and he did immediately. I appreciate that!

Darren, would you be so kind as to tell us more about the membership fee and risk capital allocation?

Darren M. Fischer: The Membership Fee for the Stock/Options Division is $7,000. This is a one-time fee and provides a lifetime membership. We routinely have traders take a break from trading (major life events, extended vacation, health issues, etc.). They are welcome to return and pick up where they left off whenever they like.

Starting the second month of membership, there is a $199 per month Desk Fee. This covers the electronic infrastructure we need to run the firm and continuing education, ongoing coaching, mentoring, supervision, support, etc.

Once the trader is approved to trade the firm’s capital, the trader posts $5,000 in risk capital, and we start them off with a $25,000 account. There is no lock-up to the risk capital, and traders are paid out monthly. Level advancement requires two consecutive months above the previous high-water mark.

Any losses beyond a trader’s risk capital deposit are non-recourse to the trader. Additionally, Maverick offers its traders a Performance Bonus. When the profit splits, the trader generates that go to the firm equal $7,000, the firm issues the trader a check for $7,000 as a performance bonus to reimburse their membership fee. At this point, the trader has demonstrated that he can trade consistently with increasing amounts of capital, and we’re just happy to have him trade our capital at that point.

Is a Maverick Trading Funded Account Really Worth It?

Well, it comes down to perspective. If you’re serious about trading options and have the skills to prove it, $7,000 plus the $199 monthly retainer are small outflows considering the amount of capital you’re allocated.

As we learned from Darren’s statements above, you can get back the $7,000 Maverick Trading membership fee as a Performance Bonus once you proved that you could trade. However, keep in mind that you have to deposit $5,000 risk capital before you can start trading Maverick Trading’s capital. So before you start trading, you invest:

  • $7,000 one-off lifetime membership fee
  • $5,000 risk capital
  • $199 per month base fee

The best case will be that you get back the membership fee in the way Darren lined out in the Maverick trading cost section, plus, as Darren said:

Considering that you are a profitable trader, here is a hypothetical case as an example and for illustrative purposes only:

Let’s take a trader starting at $25,000. Let’s say the trader is consistent, on the right side of the markets, and doing a series of defined-risk bull call spreads. This trader makes 2% in a month, on average. In a $25,000 account, that’s $500 gross profits. The firm takes its split of 30% ($150), leaving the trader with $350. Let’s say he does the same thing the next month and (for the sake of the example) nets another $350.

At this point, he’s got two months above his first high-water mark ($25,000, the account starting balance). He’s now eligible for $40,000 at Level 2. While at Level 2, he trades in the same manner and grosses $800 per month, less the firm’s profit split ($240) and nets $560. Even with this example, a trader is still covering their monthly trading expenses and getting to trade far more capital than what they would on their own.

From my perspective, you should compare Maverick Trading with other providers. Maybe you don’t get the same value from one hand as you get from Maverick trading, but you might reach your target even faster using another service.

Maverick Trading Commissions Table

Maverick trading works together with one of the best brokerage firms in the world, Interactive Brokers. Since they don’t markup commissions, their traders pay the same rates that Maverick Trading could negotiate. Currently, in the Stock/Options Division, it’s $0.005/share (half a penny) and around $0.50 per options contract per side ($1.00 round-trip), with no ticket charges.

Is the Initial Risk Capital Allocated in a Segregated Account?

I asked Darren, and here is his answer:

We have always segregated trading capital from operational capital and will continue to do so. Since our inception, we have been consistently profitable, so we are not worried about going out of business. But, in the highly unlikely event that a meteor was to strike the firm, our Business Continuity Plan could not be enacted. All the firm’s positions would be liquidated, and our traders’ Risk Capital balances (to include trading profits) would be returned to them.

How Do Traders Get Paid?

I was curious how traders get paid once they made profits trading with Maverick Trading. Darren M. Fischer, CEO at Maverick Trading, said:

We pay traders by direct deposit via ADP. Expiration Friday is the payday for our Stock/Options Division, and the last day of the month is the payday for the FX Division. On the Monday after Expiration Friday, the firm takes its profit split on closed positions. The traders can clip their entire profit, a portion, or do nothing and trade with more capital. They send us an e-mail, and we distribute gains. It usually takes three days for the distribution to hit their accounts. We don’t charge a fee to send a trader his profits if we can use ADP. If they request a bank wire, there would be a fee, but most traders prefer ADP. So we absorb that cost.

The High-Water Mark Advantage

Darren Fisher: We also keep a high-water mark on our traders accounts so that if a trader does take a loss, they keep 100% of the profits until they’re back above their high-water mark.

That’s it regarding the Maverick Trading stock/options division in the Maverick Trading review. Now let’s proceed with the Maverick FX funded account.

Maverick FX Funded Account

maverick trading fx review

Like its Equity/Options service, a Maverick FX Funded Account offers access to various amounts of capital and provides the same tiered levels of profit sharing. However, Maverick claims Elite Traders can earn over $100,000 per year using its currency strategies.

Darren confirmed that some traders do. On the plus side, every currency strategist on Maverick’s team is an active trader, so side-by-side support and coaching are always available. Keep in mind, though, that currency positions are highly leveraged.

Note by Darren M Fischer, CEO of Maverick Trading: Please remember that leverage for currency trading is limited to 50:1 in the US. Many firms outside the US offer 100:1, 200:1, or even 400:1. We teach that the key to success in trading is concentrating on risk management above all else.

Considering it’s not your capital at stake, it may not matter, but large equity swings can cause increased stress when trading.

Darren Fisher: We train our traders in risk management at the position and portfolio level, similarly to our Stock/Options Division.

So What Does Maverick FX Trading Cost?

I asked Darren to provide detailed information about the fee structure. Here they are:

As one of Maverick recruiting videos states, the capital requirements to trade in our FX Division are a $4,000 membership fee (lifetime membership), starting the second month a $199 per month desk fee (covering the same services in the FX Division as in the Options Division). Then, once a trader is ready to go live, the risk capital deposit is $2,000.

For the first two months, Maverick Trading will give a trader a $4,000 account to ensure they are managing risk properly. When they trade that successfully, they automatically give them a $10,000 account. From there, level advancement is similar to the Maverick Trading Options Division, requiring two months of consistent trading above the previous high-water mark.

Losses incurred in excess of the risk capital deposit are, again, non-recourse to the trader. The trader is eligible for the performance bonus as well once the profit splits to the firm equal $3,000. The top-level account in the FX Division is $300,000, which is still up to $15mil in FX positions. Each trader goes through over 100 hours of detailed instruction on the FX side and has structured coaching and supervision.

Maverick Trading Free Trial | Promo Code

Maverick Trading offers a free trial on request. The way Maverick Trading handles its free trial offering completely makes sense looking at Maverick Trading’s firm philosophy.

If you aim to work only with the best traders out there and focus on having those traders in your companies for months, your onboarding process must be different from other financial products.

For that reason, Maverick Trading provides temporary access to you if their recruiters individually grant you.

I asked Darren to explain this in detail.

Darren:

Each trader who comes on board the firm is offered temporary access to the firm’s program to determine if this is the program for them. This quick access is granted individually by our recruiters. This relates to your comment about no free trial for our Options Division as well. Trading is not for everyone.

We have a lengthy and involved recruiting process to ensure that the people we bring on board the firm are serious about investing the time, energy, and resources into learning how to trade. I want their complete and undivided attention when they’re going through the Qualification Program because I also want their full and undivided attention when they’re trading the firm’s capital.

We want to control who gets temporary access to the firm’s Members Areas because we don’t want people trying to trade the way we do without the supervision we provide. If they’re only trading with partial understanding, they’re likely to get into trouble, especially if they don’t follow our risk management guidelines.

Through its Continuing Education portal, you can view transcripts of recorded webinars and historical Maverick Trading podcasts. Some Topics include:

  • Market Crashes and How to Profit from Them,
  • The Solitary Trader and
  • Futures Trading Demystified.

There is also a wealth of information on the Maverick trading blog.

Here, the team discusses various Maverick strategies and provides market-moving analysis to help you become a better trader. You can also follow the team on its Maverick Trading Facebook group, Maverick Trading Twitter and Maverick Trading YouTube pages.

Who Is Maverick Trading Best For?

Maverick Trading’s focus is options- and Forex trading. You have to understand that the risk of trading options an FX is higher compared to trading stocks. In my opinion, Maverick Trading is best for those who are serious about trading options or Forex for a living, willing to learn over a long period of at least 12 months by following precisely the educational content Maverick Trading provides.

I like to point out that your commitment is crucial when joining a program as Maverick Trading provides. First, you have to ask yourself if trading options or Forex is the way to go for you. If you are interested in day trading stocks, Maverick Trading is not the best way to go.

Also, if your primary target is to trade a funded trading account without risking your money, then Topstep for futures trading or FTMO for Forex trading is the way to go. That’s because both programs cost less than $100/m with my promo code, and if things go perfect, then you need just a month to get funded.

On the other hand, Maverick Trading offers extensive education, and the highest tier accounts go as high as $800,000. For Maverick Trading, you should have a solid capitalization right from the beginning since your investment will be at least ~$12,000 for the options division and ~$6,000 for the FX division (membership fee + initial risk capital).

As I lined out in the Maverick Trading review sections about the stock/options and FX division, you can get back the full one-time membership fee for both programs as a performance bonus. This is an exciting perspective.

Being profitable with Maverick Trading limits your fees to $199 per month for the Maverick Trading program. A profit-sharing rate of 80% is one of the best payout levels in this industry and is similar to TopstepTrader. In addition, a funded account can offer many benefits if you have a winning strategy and the market data and experience to prove it.

Maverick Trading aims to help you find winning strategies, and over time you will understand the markets better and better. By accessing more extensive amounts of capital like the one provided by Maverick Trading, you can increase your dollar profits and do so with reduced personal risk in the process. I also asked Darren about his opinion of who Maverick Trading is best for. Here is his answer:

Actually, some of our best traders are those that came in with no experience and learned to trade the right way, with consistent, stringent risk management, proper supervision and timely coaching. They have done so well because they didn’t have 20 years of bad habits that we had to break.

Maverick Trading Review Summary

Maverick Trading provides an exciting opportunity for traders to learn options- and Forex-trading and gain access to valuable capital at the same time. Darren said that Maverick Trading’s retention rate on a yearly basis is over 90% because of their onboarding process. This is impressive!

You have to go through an interview before you get temporary access to additional content. And before a new trader comes on board, the capital requirements to trade with the firm are thoroughly discussed during their interview with their recruiter.

The biggest hurdle when joining Maverick Trading is still the membership fee of $7,000 for the stock/options division and $4,000 for the FX division. As Darren lined out, you can get back the whole amount as a performance bonus, but it is still an upfront payment that goes out of your pocket at first.

To get started, the company first interviews you. Then they educate and test you on your comprehension of Maverick Trading’s strategies and risk management practices. Next, you’re required to create a trading plan and submit it for approval.

After you’ve been accepted, you have to transfer $5,000 risk capital, and then Maverick Trading provides an initial $25,000 to $800,000 in trading capital in your funded trading account. After that, your trading capital power provided by Maverick Trading increases as your success rate rises.

I hope that this Maverick Trading review was helpful. Please share it with your friends. If you jumped right to this summary, I strongly encourage you to read the whole Maverick Trading review right from the beginning to the end. Only this way do you become aware of all the details.

Maverick Trading Alternatives

The market leader in the funded trading account business within the United States is Topstep. They belong to the Inc. 5000 fastest growing companies in the United States. Another well-established player in the funded trading account space is Earn2Trade.

How Much Does It Cost to Join Maverick Trading?

A minimum capital of $12,000 is required to join Maverick Trading. Before you get funded as a prop trader, you need to get approved by going through an extended interview. Upon entering, the lifetime membership will cost $7,000 in the stock/options division. Later, you have to bring in $5,000 risk capital once funded with a $25,000 account. You can withdraw your money at any time.

Is Maverick FX Legit?

Maverick FX is a legit offer from the creators of Maverick Trading. Their main product is still the stock and options division. It’s important to know that the capital requirements for this program are high. You will need a $4,000 one-time fee to join the forex program and another performance bond/risk capital of $2,000 once you start trading the funded live account.

Alexander Voigt
Alexander Voigt is the founder of DAYTRADINGz, was a regular contributor to Benzinga and has been featured and quoted on leading financial websites such as Business Insider, Investors, Capital and Forbes.