What to Expect from an Akuna Capital Interview
Akuna Capital is a Chicago-based proprietary trading firm specialising in derivatives market making, with a reputation among new graduates for two things: rigorous interviews, and an unusually structured training programme. Founded in 2011 by former SIG traders, Akuna sits in the same Chicago options cluster as Belvedere, DRW, Wolverine and Group One, but has grown faster than most of its peers - the firm now has offices in Chicago, Sydney, Shanghai and Boston, and over 200 employees.
This guide covers Akuna's process for trader and software developer roles, the question types that come up most, and a four-week preparation plan that maps onto the Quantt coding tests.
Akuna Capital at a Glance
- Founded: 2011 by Andrew Killion (former SIG)
- Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois
- Size: ~250 employees globally
- Offices: Chicago, Sydney, Shanghai, Boston
- What they trade: Equity index options, ETF options, futures
- Roles they hire: Junior Trader, Quantitative Researcher, Software Engineer, FPGA Engineer
- Application route: careers page or via the Akuna Capital firm page on Quantt
The Interview Process
Stage 1: Online Assessment
A 60-minute timed test. For trader and research candidates, mental maths and probability questions. For software engineers, two HackerRank-style algorithmic problems in 90 minutes. Akuna's OA is shorter than SIG's but the difficulty is similar.
Stage 2: First-Round Interview
A 45-minute virtual call with one or two team members. Trader candidates face brain teasers and a short market discussion. Engineers face live coding.
Stage 3: Onsite Super Day in Chicago
Akuna flies promising candidates to Chicago for a full day. Four to five back-to-back interviews of 45 minutes each, plus a trading game, plus team lunch.
Stage 4: Decisions
Offers usually arrive within a week of the Super Day.
How Interviews Differ by Role
Junior Trader
The most-hired track. Akuna specifically built a structured 12-week trader training programme, so candidates are evaluated less on existing knowledge and more on raw aptitude. Expect heavy mental maths, probability, and decision-making questions.
Typical split: 35% mental maths, 30% probability, 25% market intuition and trading games, 10% behavioural.
Quantitative Researcher
More statistical than the trader role. Expect questions on regression, time series, signal design, and Python data manipulation.
Software Engineer
A standard FAANG-style interview with a low-latency twist. C++ favoured for hot-path systems; Python and Go for platform work.
FPGA Engineer
A specialist track. Expect Verilog/VHDL, FPGA architecture, and deterministic-latency design questions.
Real Question Types
Mental Maths
Question 1: What is 13 * 17? Approach: (15 - 2)(15 + 2) = 225 - 4 = 221.
Question 2: What is 240 / 16? Approach: 240 / 16 = 240 / 8 / 2 = 30 / 2 = 15.
Probability
Question 3: Cards You draw two cards from a standard 52-card deck. What is the probability that both are hearts?
Approach: P = (13/52) * (12/51) = 156/2652 ≈ 0.0588.
Question 4: Optimal stopping You see a sequence of three random numbers between 0 and 1, drawn independently. You can stop and take any number, but you cannot go back. What is the expected value of an optimal strategy?
Approach: Backwards induction. The optimal strategy on the third number is to take it (E = 0.5). On the second, take it if it exceeds 0.5; otherwise take the third. E_2 = 0.5 * 0.75 + 0.5 * 0.5 = 0.625. On the first, take it if it exceeds 0.625; otherwise continue. E_1 = (1 - 0.625) * (1 + 0.625)/2 + 0.625 * 0.625 ≈ 0.695.
Trading Game
Question 5: I roll three dice. I will pay you the median value in pounds. Make me a market.
Approach: The median of three uniform draws from {1..6} has expected value 3.5 (by symmetry). A reasonable market is 3.0 at 4.0 - bid 3, ask 4. The interviewer might trade with you and then offer to trade again - watch whether you adjust your prices when one side trades repeatedly.
Coding (Engineer)
Question 6: Minimum spanning tree edge weight Given a connected weighted graph, return the maximum edge weight in the minimum spanning tree.
Approach: Run Kruskal's or Prim's algorithm and track the largest edge added. O((V + E) log V).
How to Prepare - A Four-Week Plan
Week 1: Mental maths. Daily 30-minute Zetamac drills. Target 50+ correct in two minutes.
Week 2: Probability and brain teasers. A Practical Guide to Quantitative Finance Interviews (Xinfeng Zhou) chapters 1 to 6, plus Heard on the Street.
Week 3: Options theory. Read the first half of Options, Futures and Other Derivatives (Hull). Understand the Greeks intuitively. See our Greeks and volatility in options guide.
Week 4: Mock trading games. Three sessions per week with a study partner. Have them give you simple payoff structures and quote two-way prices in real time.
What Akuna Looks For Beyond Technical Skill
Akuna's culture is described by current traders as collaborative rather than competitive - the firm runs heavy team-based training and has a flatter hierarchy than most of its peers. Two traits matter most in interviews.
Coachability. Akuna invests heavily in training new traders, so they prioritise candidates who can absorb feedback quickly. Stories where you took feedback and changed your approach matter more than stories where you persisted with your original view.
Composure under repeated questioning. Interviewers will ask the same question multiple times in slightly different forms to test whether you reason about it freshly each time or whether you anchor on your first answer.
For broader context, see our quantitative analyst career guide.
Compensation & recruiting notes
Pay ranges in this guide are illustrative estimates from publicly discussed bands and anecdotal reports - not official figures from the employer. Packages vary widely by desk, office, performance, and year. Hiring processes change; nothing here guarantees an interview, assessment format, or offer.
Frequently Asked Questions
How hard is it to get an Akuna Capital interview?
Selective. Akuna hires roughly 30 to 40 graduate traders per year globally. Campus recruiting is heavy at University of Chicago, Northwestern, UIUC and a handful of east-coast targets.
Does Akuna hire from non-target universities?
Yes, primarily via the OA. Strong scorers get interviews regardless of school.
What programming languages should I know for an Akuna interview?
For trader roles, no programming required at interview. For engineering roles, C++ is heavily favoured. Python and Go appear for platform teams.
How does Akuna's compensation compare to other Chicago prop firms?
Akuna sits in the upper-middle tier of Chicago prop firms. Graduate traders typically receive $150,000 to $200,000 in their first year, with senior traders earning into the seven figures. See our quantitative analyst salary guide.
What is the trader training programme like?
Akuna's 12-week programme is structured and full-time. New traders learn options theory, market microstructure, the firm's specific trading strategies, and rotate through several desks before being assigned a permanent seat. The programme is one of the firm's main recruiting differentiators.
How is Akuna different from SIG?
Both are options market makers with strong probability cultures. SIG is much larger and older, with a famous poker-and-game-theory training tradition. Akuna is younger, more focused, and has a more structured graduate training programme. We have a dedicated SIG interview guide.
Can I reapply if rejected?
Yes, after 12 months. Akuna's recruiters are generally open to repeat candidates who can show clear improvement.
Practise the questions Akuna Capital Interview: Process, Questions and How to Pass 2026 actually asks
Reading about the interview is one thing - sitting one is another. Quantt's interactive coding tests are modelled on the same problem types that show up in firms like Jane Street, Citadel, Hudson River and Optiver. Run real Python in the browser, get instant feedback, and benchmark yourself against the bar.
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