Apex Trader Funding (often just “Apex”) is a prop‑firm / funding provider for futures traders. The firm offers an “evaluation → funded account” path: you start with an evaluation account (to “prove your skill”), and if you meet their rules — profit target + no breach of drawdown / rules — you can get a funded (PA / Prop) account with firm capital.
Apex supports (standard / mini / micro) futures contracts, and lets traders trade with flexible contract sizes (within the allowed max per account).
📄 Account Types & How It Works
✅ Evaluation (Challenge) Account
- You pick an account size (e.g. $50,000 — apex offers several sizes).
- Profit target and max drawdown are defined for each account size.
- To pass evaluation: you must hit profit target without breaching drawdown. Also you must trade at least seven trading days (these days don’t need to be consecutive).
- There is no daily loss limit (i.e. no per‑day “stop loss cap”).
- There are no extra restrictions on holidays or news — you can trade as usual.
- If you attempt to open more contracts than allowed, the system will prevent the trade (it gets rejected) rather than fail the account automatically.
Trailing Drawdown (“Trailing Threshold”) — Apex uses a trailing drawdown model: as your equity increases, the permissible drawdown threshold moves up accordingly. If balance falls below that trailing threshold before finishing evaluation successfully, the evaluation fails.
Trades must be closed (and pending orders canceled) by 4:59 PM ET each day — no holding overnight beyond that, as a safeguard.
In case of failure, you can reset the account for a fee and try again.
💼 Funded / Performance (PA / Prop) Accounts — What Changes When Funded
Once you pass evaluation, you get a funded account. But funding doesn’t mean “no rules” — Apex enforces risk & consistency rules for funded accounts too.
Key rules for funded accounts:
- Trailing drawdown / threshold remains active. As account equity rises, the drawdown threshold moves up, securing a “safety net.”
- Stop losses are mandatory (or a defined risk‑management plan). You cannot rely solely on the trailing threshold as “free tolerance” — each trade must have risk defined.
- Risk‑to‑Reward ratio and trade‑level risk rules: there is a maximum allowed risk-to-reward (for example 5:1). Losses should be controlled; aggressive “all-in” trades are prohibited.
- No hedging with correlated instruments: you cannot hold opposing directional positions on correlated futures (e.g. long one index, short another correlated index / mini‑micro mix).
- No full automation / bots: fully automated trading (bots, copy‑trading, mirror‑services) is prohibited. Manual or semi‑automated with full human oversight is required.
- You can have up to 20 funded accounts per household (if they have multiple account slots) — offering room to scale.
Apex claims to have simple, minimal restrictions relative to some competitors: no daily drawdown rule, no scaling‑down restrictions, news & holiday trading allowed under normal strategies, max position size enforced but over‑contract attempts simply blocked.
💵 Payouts, Profit Split & What Traders Get
- According to public info: after passing evaluation, funded accounts (PA / Prop) offer profit splits that can be generous (100% on some initial profit amount, then a split, but split cases may vary depending on plan).
- Apex provides access to market data & trading platform license (e.g. includes a license for a platform like NinjaTrader / Rithmic / or their supported platform) with evaluation / funded account.
- They permit trading nearly 23–24 hours a day (for many futures products) — from about 6:00 PM ET of one day to 4:59 PM ET the next day — giving flexibility.
✅ What’s Good (for Traders like You) — and What to Watch Out For
Pros:
- Straightforward evaluation: one step, trailing drawdown + profit target, minimum 7 trade days — relatively clear.
- Flexibility: no daily drawdown, no holiday/news restrictions, ability to trade many hours per day, full contract size allowed (within max) — good for active futures scalpers / day traders.
- Trailing threshold gives dynamic drawdown protection — your risk limit adjusts as you make profit.
- After funding: realistic profit split + real capital + provided market data / platform license.
- Allows scaling: up to 20 accounts per household; opportunity to grow over time.
Things to Watch / Cons / Challenges:
- Trailing drawdown + mandatory stop‑loss / risk management means you must be disciplined — aggressive high‑volatility scalping without proper risk control could blow you out.
- No hedging / no correlated position pairs — restricts certain strategies.
- Use of automated bots / copy‑trading is forbidden — not ideal if you rely on algorithmic trading (but since you prefer manual scalping, maybe not a big downside).
- Even though no daily drawdown, you are still under strict trailing threshold — a big drawdown (intraday or unrealized) can erase your gains or blow the account.
- As with any prop firm — you need good risk control, consistency, and trade management to succeed.
🎯 Is Apex Trader Funding a Good Fit for My (Your) Trading Style?
Given your background — fast, intraday scalping on futures (NQ, Russell, S&P, gold, etc.) — Apex could be a realistic option if you trade with discipline and risk awareness. Their flexible contract sizes, long trading hours, and lack of daily drawdown / news‑time restrictions match well with active scalping strategies.
However — because of the trailing drawdown & mandatory risk rules — you must avoid overleveraging, especially around volatile times. Consistency (not big, sporadic wins) and strict risk management will be critical.
