Head-to-head
Balyasny Asset Management vs FTMO
A direct, side-by-side comparison of Balyasny Asset Management and FTMO — profit splits, evaluation fees, payout cadence, supported assets, and trading rules. Data pulled live from our firm directory.
Quick verdict
Balyasny Asset Management is best for
traders avoiding evaluation hurdles.
Full Balyasny Asset Management profile →Cost & compensation
Cost and compensation path
Published fees and payout timing apply to trader-paid funding programs. Firm-capital and institutional paths are shown separately because their economics usually depend on hiring, allocation, salary, bonus, or profit-sharing terms.
FTMO
estimateApprox. total
—
to reach first payout eligibility
Approx. time
17days
from sign-up to first eligible request
- Start cost
- —
- Monthly fee
- None
How we estimated this
- Adds ~10 calendar days for evaluation completion (most firms require ≥5 minimum trading days).
- Source — eval fee: €89–€1,080 one-time (refundable on pass); monthly: No monthly fee — one-time challenge cost; first payout: First payout possible after 14 days; reduce to weekly on request.
Balyasny Asset Management
Bank / InstitutionalNot applicable for this model
This is a firm-capital or hiring-based trading path, not a trader-paid funding program. Compensation is typically handled through salary, bonus, draw, allocation, or profit-sharing arrangements rather than a published evaluation fee and payout schedule.
Trade-offs
Where each firm is weaker
No firm wins on every axis. These are the most meaningful drawbacks of each option — derived from the same structured fields shown in the table, never invented.
Balyasny Asset Management trade-offs
No copy trading
Forbids copy / algo bridges. FTMO permits them.
FTMO trade-offs
No structural disadvantages versus the other firm based on the fields we track.
Decision guide
Best for your trader type
- Highest profit share
90% vs —%
- Fastest to funded
No mandatory evaluation.
- Biggest scaling ceiling
Up to $200,000.
- Copy & algo traders
Copy trading is permitted.
- Fastest payouts
On-demand (default 14 days, weekly available) payouts.
| Attribute | Balyasny Asset Management Bank / Institutional · est. 2001 | FTMO Evaluation Based · est. 2015 |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| Evaluation fee | — | €89–€1,080 one-time (refundable on pass) |
| Monthly fee | — | No monthly fee — one-time challenge cost |
| Evaluation required | No | Yes |
| Instant funding | No | No |
| Capital | ||
| Profit split | Pod P&L + base | 90% |
| Max allocation | Pod allocations | $200,000 |
| Account sizes | Pod allocations | $10K, $25K, $50K, $100K, $200K (USD/EUR/GBP/CZK) |
| Scaling | — | Scaling Plan: +25% balance every 4 months at 10%+ profit over 2 of 4 months. |
| Payouts | ||
| Frequency | Annual | On-demand (default 14 days, weekly available) |
| First payout | — | First payout possible after 14 days; reduce to weekly on request |
| Assets | ||
| Futures | Yes | Yes |
| Stocks | Yes | Yes |
| Options | No | No |
| Forex | No | Yes |
| Crypto | No | Yes |
| Trading rules | ||
| News trading | Yes | Yes |
| Overnight holding | Yes | Yes |
| Weekend holding | Yes | Yes |
| Copy trading | No | Yes |
| Technology | ||
| Platforms | Internal | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, DXtrade |
| Data feed | — | Purple Trading / Spotware |
| Company | ||
| Headquarters | Chicago, USA | Prague, Czech Republic |
About Balyasny Asset Management
Multi-strategy multi-manager hedge fund (BAM).
Full Balyasny Asset Management profile →Trust & stability
Reputation and rule-change activity
Two added decision signals: a weighted reputation score from independent review sources, and a 90-day view of structural rule-change activity where monitored sources are available.
Reputation
Not enough independent rating sources to compute a canonical score yet.
Rule Stability
last 90dWe do not currently have enough monitored public rule sources for this firm to report rule-change activity honestly.
Reputation
canonical- Sources used
- 1
- Confidence
- medium
Weighted blend of independent trader-review sources. See methodology.
Rule Stability
last 90d- Last change
- —
- Type
- —
- Sources monitored
- —
- Status
- No changes detected in monitored sources
Weekly diff of the firm's published rule pages (terms, rules, FAQ, legal). "No changes detected" only means none of the monitored monitored sources changed — other surfaces (Discord, email, dashboards) are not covered. "Limited" or "unavailable" means our monitor cannot reach enough sources to make an honest call.
Frequently asked
Common questions
- Which has a higher profit split — Balyasny Asset Management or FTMO?
- FTMO pays 90% of trader profits once funded.
- Is Balyasny Asset Management cheaper to start than FTMO?
- Balyasny Asset Management: evaluation pricing varies. FTMO: evaluation from €89–€1,080 one-time (refundable on pass).
- Which pays out faster — Balyasny Asset Management or FTMO?
- Balyasny Asset Management payouts: Annual. FTMO payouts: On-demand (default 14 days, weekly available). First-payout eligibility: Balyasny Asset Management — n/a; FTMO — First payout possible after 14 days; reduce to weekly on request.
- What's the maximum allocation at Balyasny Asset Management vs FTMO?
- Balyasny Asset Management scales up to Pod allocations. FTMO scales up to $200,000.
- Can I trade news at Balyasny Asset Management or FTMO?
- Balyasny Asset Management: permits news trading. FTMO: permits news trading.
- Can I hold positions overnight at Balyasny Asset Management or FTMO?
- Balyasny Asset Management: allows overnight holds. FTMO: allows overnight holds.
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