There are a lot of misconceptions about how prop firms judge trader performance. Most traders assume that firms are watching win rates, fancy metrics, or complex indicators. The truth is far simpler, and far more important for long-term success.
If you haven’t read my article on why blown accounts don’t make you a bad trader, I recommend starting there. Understanding that will make the perspective in this article much clearer.
1. The Myth: Firms Care About Fancy Performance Metrics
Retail traders often think that prop firms evaluate performance based on things like:
- Win rate
- Risk to reward ratios
- Sharpe ratio
- Expectancy
- Indicator-based dashboards
These metrics feel technical and impressive, especially when you see them on trading platforms. They make traders feel like they are being analysed deeply. But in practice, most of these metrics are not what keeps a funded account alive.
2. The Reality: Firms Care About Rules
From what I have seen and heard from people working inside prop firms, what truly matters is whether a trader respects the basic risk and behaviour rules set by the firm.
The main factors prop firms monitor are:
- Maximum drawdown – How far the account can fall before it breaches limits
- Daily drawdown – How much the account loses in a single day
- Profit rule compliance – Whether the trader follows the profit targets without rule violations
These are the rules that determine whether an evaluation is passed or breached, and whether a funded account stays open or gets closed.
3. Fancy Dashboards Don’t Matter If Rules Are Broken
Some platforms display dozens of metrics, and it is easy to get lost in them. Traders love to screenshot great statistics and talk about Sharpe ratios or expectancy. But the reality inside actual firm operations is that these dashboards often exist more for trader confidence than for meaningful evaluation.
They can be useful for traders who are already experienced, but they are redundant if the basic rules are not respected. A trader can have impressive dashboard metrics but still violate a drawdown rule and lose the account.
On the other hand, someone with average-looking metrics who respects drawdown and other rules can survive and scale, even if their dashboards don’t look “perfect.”
4. What Firms Really Want
From the way internal risk teams talk about trader behaviour, prop firms are not looking for perfection. They are looking for consistency and control.
Specifically, a prop firm values traders who:
- Respect capital protection rules
- Keep risk per trade proportional to the account size
- Show consistent behaviour over time
- Do not chase profits at the cost of rule breaches
This means that a disciplined trader with steady performance is viewed more favourably than a trader who has large but erratic gains.
5. How This Links With Blown Accounts
The way firms view blown accounts ties directly into their focus on rules. Blown accounts are not automatically a sign of a bad trader. What firms actually look at is whether the trader is learning and adapting.
This connects to the article on why blown accounts don’t make you a bad trader. That article explains how firms view early failures in the context of behavioural change and discipline, not raw account outcomes.
6. The Bottom Line
If you want to align with what prop firms actually value, focus less on impressing with technical metrics and more on building disciplined behaviour:
- Follow the rules consistently
- Manage risk first, profits second
- Respect drawdown limits
- Show maturity in position sizing and decision making
When you shift your focus in this way, the numbers on dashboards become far less important. What matters is whether you trade within the framework and protect capital over time.