Futures First, which was probably the only professional prop-trading firm in Kenya has reportedly closed shop and moved its operations to Mumbai India.
The firm shut down its Kenyan operations in May and dismissed the bulk of its traders, according to sources familiar with their exits.
It’s not clear why the firm stopped trading, but the sources say the firm cited a number of issues including; fall in prices of commodities in the global market, lack of talent in the local market and the global situation whereby most trading firms have been squeezed out of the industry in recent years due to technology. Some of the firm’s former traders have reached out to banks operating in Kenya in search of work, with the explanation that Futures First had shut down.
The firm mostly hired fresh graduates, giving them a unique opportunity to directly get into a role where they were responsible for managing sizable amounts of money.
The firm has had most of its employees poached by banks seeking to boost returns from their trading desks.
Futures First, like most other trading firms, operated as a proprietary trading firm, buying and selling in the financial markets to make money on pricing discrepancies for the benefit of the firm’s owners.
Futures First is part of Hertshten Group Ltd, also a group of companies operating in the financial services sector that are engaged in the businesses of trading listed financial and commodity futures and options on regulated international markets.
