Overview
Old Mission trades its own money as a market maker, which means it stands ready to buy and sell exchange-traded funds, options, bonds, and currencies so investors can trade when they need to. It made its name on exchange-traded funds that rarely trade and are hard to price, which other market makers often would not quote. Its researchers turn past market data into pricing models, engineers build the automated systems that send quotes to exchanges worldwide, and traders manage the resulting risk. The firm earns the gap between its buying and selling prices, and asset managers and fund issuers can also trade with it directly. Old Mission was founded in 2008 and is based in Chicago, with offices in New York and London.
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Room to grow: in July 2026, Old Mission lined up 70,000 square feet in Chicago's Fulton Market, up from 52,000.
- The trading book swelled: Old Mission's main trading arm held $27.4 billion in December 2025, up 57% in a year.
- Graduates start well paid: Old Mission's 2027 quantitative trader hires get a $200,000 base salary plus a discretionary bonus.
What critics are saying
- Rivals dwarf it: trading giant Jane Street's 3,500 staff took in $16.1 billion in the March 2026 quarter.
- Expect five office days a week: Old Mission's engineering and operations posts allow only 10 remote days a year.
- Old Mission's safety buffer thinned: its main trading arm's regulatory capital fell 34% to $119 million by December 2025.
What makes Old Mission unique
- Not all trading is on screens: Old Mission's growing Cboe floor team trades options by voice in Chicago.
- Goldman Sachs extends it better borrowing terms: a joint back-office deal exempts Old Mission from standard customer margin rules.
- Asia is traded overnight from Chicago: Old Mission's Asia-hours traders work 4 p.m. to 3 a.m., Sunday through Thursday.
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