Author: Eduardo Montero
Last Updated on June 5, 2023
SurgeTrader is a proprietary trading firm owned by Surge Capital Ventures, LLC. Is a new prop firm established in May 2021 formed by seasoned Forex trading veterans, including brokers and venture capitalists. Obviously their main goal is to help profitable traders capitalize their success by accelerating funding.
Based in Florida, United States, this firm, despite its short life is having a huge growth worldwide, for several reasons, such as its transparency in terms of its trading rules, and also for the simplicity of the same, where in this case you will not have to deal with dozens of complex rules to manage their capital, on the other hand, its evaluation process is very simple, which becomes almost endless in other prop trading firms. It also stands out for giving the possibility to manage up to $1,000,000 of capital, with a profit split system that benefits the trader with 75% of the profits (you can increase this percentage to 90% with the purchase of an add-on).
Another remarkable aspect is that, with SurgeTrader, you can use any trading strategy (hedging strategies, automatic or algorithmic trading, trading with fundamental analysis,…), as there are no restrictions in terms of trading styles.
As for payouts, processing is quite fast and there is no minimum amount set, you can request your profits at any time once a month.
In addition you can now take advantage of this SurgeTrader coupon code and get 10% off any funded account access fee of your choice.
Orders executed on SurgeTrader go through the australian online broker Eightcap, a broker with fast execution and regulated by the ASIC of Australia and the SCB of Bahamas, two very prestigious entities worldwide.
As for the platforms offered are MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, from where you can access more than 350 different financial instruments to trade (Forex, Commodities, Indices, Cryptocurrencies, Stocks,…). More info at https://www.surgetrader.com
SurgeTrader also offers an easy to use Trader Portal where you can keep track of all your trading activity, and if you have a question or problem, you can make use of their customer support service, which is considered to be of very good quality because of how fast and effective it is, especially their live online chat.
Is SurgeTrader reliable?
SurgeTrader, as we mentioned earlier, has quite a short history actually, as it was founded in May 2021. In the eyes of users looking for a safe proprietary trading firm, this sometimes results in them not trusting it at all.
However, we have found some evidence that can give us a lot of certainty that this company is reliable and a good candidate if you want to be a funded trader.
First of all, it is important to note that this company is located in the United States, a country where laws are strictly enforced, especially those that have to do with financial services.
Its physical address is located at: 405 5th Avenue South, Naples, Florida, 34102.
This prop firm is registered under the name Surge Capital Ventures, LLC. with a registration authority ID RA000603.
On the other hand the trades executed by the clients of this proprietary company go through Eightcap, a broker regulated by two well known entities, the ASIC of Australia and the SCB of Bahamas.
Now, taking into account the aforementioned and that in addition, the payment of the package is unique, and not recurring as in other proprietary trading firms, you would only be risking the cost of the same, since the company is committed to cover the losses generated once you are trading in the funded live account.
Therefore, even though it is a new company, and we do not have too many arguments to be 100% sure that it is a reliable prop trading firm, with the little evidence we have we can say that it is possibly not a company created with the intention of defrauding its clients.
What are the opinions of SurgeTrader users?
Without a doubt, the opinion of users is very relevant when it comes to giving a verdict on whether a prop trading firm is really good or not, therefore we have researched and collected some information about it for us to analyse together.
We will start with the rating of one of the most relevant portals in terms of platforms, Trustpilot:
As you can see, it is not one of the companies with the highest ratings, but that is to be expected for such a young service as Surgetrader.
On the other hand, it is evident that it is a verified company, with an average rating of 4.6, a number that can be considered high when compared to other similar proprietary trading firms.
If we go to particular comments, most of them are 5 stars, comprising 91% of the total.
Among the most outstanding we found the following:
These comments give us to understand that the customer support service is highly valued for its speed and efficiency in solving the problems of its users.
About the audition process, there are also excellent comments that show how easy and fast the process is, expressing that the experience has been incredible.
In the above user review, the user states that the company offers simple rules and expectations, which we can definitely approve of, as this is one of the main advantages that sets SurgeTrader apart from other of the best prop trading firms.
As we can see from the comments above, some users have a truly satisfactory experience with SurgeTrader, thanks to its clear and transparent rules, excellent customer service, among other things.
Other customers, like the one who left the comment above, appreciate the possibility of being able to manage risk and make trades automatically through the Experts Advisors.
These comments reaffirm the advantages of SurgeTrader and highlight many of the things that have made it so popular.
How does SurgeTrader work?
How does the SurgeTrader audition process work?
SurgeTrader works in a similar way to the vast majority of best prop trading firms. To become a funded trader you must pass a (paid) audition or evaluation process to demonstrate your skills and discipline as a profitable trader.
There are also some prop trading firms that allow you to access a funded account without an evaluation process: No evaluation prop firms.
Available packages and fees
This prop firm offers 6 packages, as you can see in the image below:
Starter: Account balance of $25,000. Audition fee of $250
Intermediate: Account balance of $50,000. Audition fee of $400
Seasoned: Account balance of $100,000. Audition fee of $700
Advanced: Account balance of $250,000. Audition fee of $1,800
Expert: Account balance of $500,000. Audition fee of $3,500
Master: Account balance of $1,000,000. Audition fee of $6,500
You can see all the details on the SurgeTrader official website: https://www.surgetrader.com
Each of these, again, has an audition fee, depending on the amount of balance you will be allowed to handle. This audition is a sort of practical exam that, if passed, gives you access to the company’s capital.
The cheapest package you can opt for costs $250, while the most expensive one will cost you $6,500 and if passed will give you access to a capital of $1,000,000.
To opt for one of these packages, simply choose the one that best suits you and pay for the audition. This payment is not a recurring monthly payment but a one-off payment, however, you can try the exam as many times as you want paying the price each time, and to do so you will have several payment methods available, by credit/debit card or by PayPal.
Another thing you should know is that whether you pass or fail the audition, you will never lose more than the cost of the audition, as any losses generated in the live funded trading account will be covered by SurgeTrader.
Now, once you have paid for the package you want to opt for, you will be sent an email with your account login details and the download link to the platform.
At this point, in order to pass the evaluation, you only have to comply with one rule, to earn more than 10% of your total account balance.
There is no minimum number of trading days or single trades as imposed by other proprietary trading companies.
This makes it much easier to succeed with SurgeTrader than with other prop firms that set up a 2 steps evaluation process, such as FTMO (view FTMO review), Topstep (view Topstep review) or My Forex Funds (view My Forex Funds review), as you will be able to pass the test in less time.
SurgeTrader rules to comply with
There are not a lot of rules to follow, but there are several and it is very important that you are aware of them.
The rules to follow are:
– Daily loss limit: 5%
– Maximum trailing drawdown: 8%
– You are required to place a stop-loss on every trade you make.
– Maximum number of open lots equal to 1/10 000 of your account size:
$25K – 2.5 lots, $50K – 5 lots, $100K – 10 lots, $250K – 25 lots, $500K – 50 lots, $1 million – 100 lots
As you can see, in addition to not being a large amount, the requirements are fairly easy to meet.
Most of its competitors have more complex rules (FTMO, My Forex Funds,…). The most similar in terms of simplicity of rules would be Fidelcrest (Fidelcrest Review) or The Funded Trader (The Funded Trader Review).
Financial instruments available
In SurgeTrader you will have access to a fairly large number of financial instruments that exceed 350 assets, this if we add those of each market.
In this sense, SurgeTrader’s offering is versatile for all types of traders and strategies as it offers several categories of financial instruments rather than focusing on a single category as is the case with some Forex prop firms or futures prop firms.
For example, you will be able to trade over 200 different cryptocurrencies including BTC, ETH, ADA, XRP, among others. This is why we can find SurgeTrader as one of the best prop firms for crypto.
You will also have available the main currency pairs of the Forex market, some metals such as silver and gold, popular indices such as the S&P 500, DAX 30, FTSE 100, among others.
But that’s not all, you can also trade a wide variety of shares of well-known companies such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Coca-Cola, Facebook, and many more, reaching a number of more than 90 different companies.
And if that wasn’t enough, Spot Brent Crude Oil and Spot WTI Crude Oil are also available for commodity lovers.
Check the list of available financial instruments on SurgeTrader’s website.
Leverage
The leverage on SurgeTrader is not one of the highest, and it is one of the cons that its clients and we have detected.
For example, for Forex, metals, oils and indices, the maximum leverage level is set at 10:1, while for stocks it is reduced to a minimum of 5:1, and for cryptocurrencies which takes the lowest level, it is set at 2:1 maximum.
These trading conditions offered by SurgeTrader, at least in terms of leverage, they justify it on the premise that trading with excessive leverage is counterproductive mainly because you are trying to seek much higher profits, but at the cost of risking more money.
And this is an environment that affects both the trader and the company, as it puts the trader under greater psychological pressure and the company, which is the one covering the losses, will have a higher risk.
Trading platforms
As we mentioned at the beginning, SurgeTrader offers its services through the Eightcap broker, which allows trading with only two platforms, Eightcap MT4 and Eightcap MT5, which are no more than the Meta Trader 4 and Meta Trader 5 platforms but configured for this particular broker.
As you probably know, these platforms are among the most popular and loved in the trading community, as they are very robust trading terminals, with several years of evolution.
Now, these platforms mentioned above are for order execution, but SurgeTrader provides you with a web platform where you can access your trading statistics, such as profit target progress, maximum draw down, equity and balance, among other things.
Scaling plan
SurgeTrader, in order to encourage its traders to strive for more profits, has designed a scaling plan that allows any trader who manages an account of between $25,000 and $250,000 to climb to a higher rung where they will acquire at least double the buying power and therefore potentially higher profits.
If, upon passing the audition, you meet the 10% profit target, you will be able to opt to climb to the next higher account.
Traders in the smallest account size ($25,000), for example, can choose to scale their account up to four times, to acquire an account with a starting balance of $500,000.
Here it is important to note that the trading rules and conditions will be the same, just with a higher buying power.
How does the SurgeTrader live account work?
Once you have passed the Audition process, after 24-48 hours you will receive an email notification with your new live account credentials and the funded trading account will be ready for you to start trading.
All accounts in the SurgeTrader audition process are demo accounts with a virtual balance, however, once you pass the audition, you will move to a funded trading platform with a real balance provided by SurgeTrader prop firm.
At this point, you will be able to start accumulating profits and withdraw those profits if you wish.
Profit split
The conditions of SurgeTrader are quite clear, especially the profit split, which is one of the best when compared to other prop trading firms.
In the case of this firm, you can take 75% of the profits generated without any risk, as it is the company who assumes the losses.
When you sign up with SurgeTrader you can purchase an add-on so that profit split is 90% instead of 75%. The price of this add-on is 20% of the audition fee.
Withdrawal of profits
The profits that you can generate can be withdrawn at any time in the case of the first withdrawal, after this, the next request will have to be after at least 30 days, or once a month.
To pay for the audition you will have available the option of Visa/MasterCard debit cards and PayPal as an electronic gateway, but for withdrawals only the option of bank transfers is available.
There will be no limits on the amount of winnings requested.
SurgeTrader tools and educational material
One of the disadvantages we have found with this prop firm is that it offers little or no educational material to its traders.
Although as a tool we can highlight that it has the option that you can request a free trial, by sending an email to support@surgetrader.com, so you can familiarize yourself with their platforms, trading rules and also get a preview of what it’s like to trade with SurgeTrader.
It is like a demo account that allows traders to practice, hone and improve their trading skills and trading strategies.
This tool is very powerful and indicative because, if you succeed in this free trial, chances are that you will also succeed in the SurgeTrader Audition.
SurgeTrader customer support
Customer support at SurgeTrader is considered to be quite good, although there is room for improvement.
In order to respond quickly and without direct contact, SurgeTrader offers a comprehensive FAQ page with the most frequently asked questions from its users.
They also offer a live online chat from 7:00 to 15:00 (CE(S)T).
You can also make use of their telephone numbers if you need additional support.
Conclusion
In conclusion, let’s summarize all the advantages and disadvantages that we have seen throughout this review about SurgeTrader.
Pros of SurgeTrader
- Very favourable profit split percentage for the trader, being 75% of the profits obtained (or 90% with add-on purchase).
- You will be able to choose the package that best suits your situation, being able to trade an account with between $25,000 and $1,000,000 of capital, paying more or less for your audition.
- The audition required to qualify for a live funded account will be a one-time payment, non-recurring payment.
- Simple audition process consisting of only 1 step and imposing clear and transparent rules.
- Realistic, relatively low profit target set at 10% of the total account balance and no minimum number of days to meet.
- No restrictions on trading strategies and investment styles.
- Upon passing the audition you will start trading directly on a live account, with real profits and losses taken by the company, no demo accounts.
- You will have access to a free 30-day membership with BKForex, which includes daily trading ideas, tools, exclusive trading indicators, webinars and more.
- Withdrawals have a fast processing time and no minimum or maximum amount restrictions, and can be requested at any time once a month.
Cons of SurgeTrader
- It has a short track record considering it started trading (according to them) in May 2021.
- Each trade is required to have a stop loss set up to guarantee a maximum loss of 5% of the account in one day.
- Little additional educational information for its users.
- Maximum open lots equal to 1/10000 of your account size.
- Relatively low leverage level, being 10:1 for Forex, Metals, Indices and Oils, 5:1 for stocks and 2:1 for the crypto market.
SurgeTrader’s main differences from other prop trading firms
SurgeTrader first of all differentiates itself and takes advantage of other firms by its simple one-step auditing process, which speeds up the time and increases the chances for every trader who tries to pass it, especially considering the low requirements and profit targets it demands.
On the other hand, by not having a minimum number of trading days, the auditing process can be passed in less time than in other firms that do require a minimum of, for example, 4 days in the case of FTMO, or 5 days in the case of My Forex Funds.
If we can mention something that differentiates SurgeTrader from other proprietary trading firms but takes away the advantage this time, it is the low leverage allowed by it.
Taking into account all that has been said in this review, we believe that SurgeTrader is a good option despite its short trajectory, and can be very helpful especially for traders who are applying a profitable trading strategy and do not have enough capital to generate substantial profits.
In addition, we have seen that it is a reliable company that actually gives you access to the live account if you pay and successfully pass their audition process.
You can find out more about SurgeTrader and open an account with them via their website:
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Author: Eduardo Montero
I'm Eduardo Montero. Computer scientist by profession and passionate about online trading with more than 10 years of experience in the financial markets. I'm the author of hundreds of articles published in other websites about the online trading industry. Learn more about me here: About the author.