Virtu and Flow Traders are the two market makers a student can read like an open book: both are listed, both publish quarterly results, and both reported on the same day, 30 July 2026. Virtu is the bigger, more US-centric, more engineering-heavy option, and its trading seats are filled mostly through a 10-week internship; Flow Traders is the smaller ETF specialist with a posted $175,000 New York graduate base, an Amsterdam training programme, and an interview that is ETFs from start to finish. If you code better than you do mental arithmetic, start with Virtu. If you can price a basket in your head and want a European fallback on your visa, start with Flow.
The 30-second verdict
| Virtu Financial | Flow Traders | |
|---|---|---|
| Headcount | ~1,027 full-time, 13 countries, 69% Americas (10-K, as of 13 Feb 2026) | 635 FTEs at end of 2025 (FY25 results, 12 Feb 2026) |
| Latest quarter | Q2 2026 revenue $1,190.0M, net income $284.9M (30 Jul 2026) | Q2 2026 net trading income EUR 147.8M, net profit EUR 40.8M (30 Jul 2026) |
| What it trades | Equities, ETFs, options, FX, futures, fixed income, crypto, commodities on hundreds of venues in 50+ countries (10-K) | ETFs and ETPs first; digital assets were EUR 16.1M of Q2 net trading income |
| Second business | Execution Services for clients: $138.0M adjusted net trading income in Q2 2026 | None comparable; stated goal is "24/7 liquidity provider of choice" |
| Entry trading seat, US | 2027 Internship - Quantitative Trading, Austin / Chicago / New York | Graduate Quantitative Trader, New York, Fall 2027 start |
| Posted pay | Intern: $5,000-$5,800 weekly plus extras (Greenhouse, 26 Sep 2026) | Graduate: $175,000 base plus discretionary; intern: $150,000 prorated base (Greenhouse, 26 Sep 2026) |
| First gate | HackerRank; five easy-to-medium coding questions in 75 minutes (Extern, Sep 2026) | Numerical test: mental maths and sequences (flowtraders.com) |
| Final stage | 2-3 technical rounds of brainteasers and probability (Extern) | Case study with senior traders; superday for interns (flowtraders.com, Greenhouse) |
| Training | Global training week for interns (Greenhouse) | Three months in Amsterdam for graduate traders (Greenhouse) |
One reading note: the Virtu pay figure is for interns and the Flow figure is for graduates, because those are the entry seats each firm actually posts for US trading. Virtu's board on 26 September 2026 had full-time Quantitative Trader openings in Chicago, Dublin and Singapore, but no New York graduate trader posting with a salary.
Scale and business mix
The two firms are not the same bet with different accents.
Virtu is a market maker plus a broker. In Q2 2026 its Market Making segment produced $579.9 million of adjusted net trading income and Execution Services another $138.0 million, per its SEC-filed release of 30 July 2026. Total adjusted net trading income rose 26.4% year on year to $717.9 million. Its 10-K says it trades on hundreds of venues across more than 50 countries and employs about 1,027 people, roughly 69% of them in the Americas.
Flow Traders is narrower. Its Q2 2026 net trading income of EUR 147.8 million split EUR 131.7 million traditional business and EUR 16.1 million digital assets, and its half-year numbers show the digital side down 36% while the traditional business grew 18%. It ran EUR 1,150 million of trading capital at the end of June and earned a 53% return on it in the quarter, against 70% a year earlier. The CEO's stated aim in the same release is to become "the 24/7 liquidity provider of choice", which is a direct hint at where new desks will be: ETFs across time zones, crypto, and tokenised assets.
What that means for a junior: at Virtu you could end up on almost any asset class, or on the client-facing execution side. At Flow you will be pricing exchange-traded products, and you should want to.
Interviews: a coding screen vs an ETF case
Virtu screens like a tech company, then asks like a trading firm. Its 2027 trading internship posting says shortlisted candidates receive a HackerRank test by email and that some programming is required, with Python, SQL, Java or C++ a plus. Extern's September 2026 guide describes that test as five coding questions at easy-to-medium LeetCode level in 75 minutes, followed by an HR phone screen with a brainteaser and two or three technical rounds of brainteasers, probability and quantitative problem-solving with traders or researchers.
Community accounts match that shape. On Blind, a new-grad candidate asked whether Virtu's final rounds were coding, brainteasers or both, and a candidate with heavy software experience but little maths was surprised to be invited to a Dublin quant trading internship interview. The hint is that Virtu's trading screen rewards programmers more than most market makers do.
Flow Traders screens on arithmetic, then on ETFs. Its graduates page lists five stages for trading roles: CV and cover letter, a numerical test of mental maths and sequences, a recruiter interview, a trader interview, and a case study with senior traders. Tradermath's guide describes the test battery as 60 timed maths questions plus 26 sequence questions in 25 minutes, and says ETFs come up in the HR round, again in the technical round, then take over the final stage entirely. Quantt describes a similar arc: a 60-minute timed test, a 45-minute virtual interview, then four to five back-to-back 45-minute interviews plus a trading game, typically four to six weeks end to end.
A candidate account on the EverythingQuant forum describes the first round after the online test as relaxed: why Flow Traders, your background, and a mix of quick mental maths and logic questions. The same reply's advice was to know ETF and market basics before walking in. If you cannot explain creation and redemption, or why an ETF can trade away from its NAV, that is the week of preparation to do first.
Pay and what you are actually offered
Flow Traders gives you a number. Its Graduate Quantitative Trader posting for a Fall 2027 New York start states a base of $175,000 plus annual discretionary variable remuneration; its Summer 2027 quantitative trading internship states a prorated base of $150,000 and a superday final round (both retrieved 26 September 2026). For context, two 2024 H-1B filings on h1bdata.info show Flow Traders New York trader bases of $135,000 and $150,000, so the posted graduate base is above what the firm filed two years ago. Quantt's illustrative graduate estimates are $180,000 to $250,000 total in New York and EUR 120,000 to 180,000 in Amsterdam, but those are estimates, not disclosures.
Virtu gives interns a number and graduates a conversation. Its 2027 quantitative trading internship pays $5,000 to $5,800 weekly, excluding sign-on bonuses, housing and meals; over ten weeks that is $50,000 to $58,000 before extras. It asks applicants to be ready for full-time work between December 2027 and June 2028, which tells you the internship is the graduate pipeline. The only full-time trader base in the public H-1B data is small and old: two 2024 filings for a Quantitative Trader in Austin at about $85,000. Treat that as evidence that the title covers very different seats across offices, not as a New York offer.
The bonus pools are visible because both firms publish. Virtu's employee compensation and payroll taxes were $216.7 million in Q2 2026 against $136.2 million a year earlier, per its release. Flow Traders guided 2026 fixed operating expenses at EUR 235 to 245 million.
International students
Flow Traders is explicit. Its graduates page says visa sponsorship is available for international candidates and their families, but not for interns. That matters: a US internship at Flow is open to students studying in the US, per the posting, but the sponsorship promise applies to the graduate seat. The three-month graduate training happens in Amsterdam even for New York hires, so plan for a travel-capable status from day one.
Virtu says less. Its postings ask the standard sponsorship question without committing, and Extern found no explicit sponsorship statement in its intern postings. H-1B filings for Virtu quantitative traders do exist in the public data, so it has sponsored the title before.
The more useful difference is geography. On 26 September 2026 Virtu's board listed 2027 quantitative trading internships in Dublin and Singapore as well as the US, and Flow's listed graduate trader seats in Amsterdam and Hong Kong. If the H-1B lottery is your risk, apply to one US seat and one non-US seat at the same firm.
Which should you choose?
- You are a strong programmer who is merely good at mental maths. Virtu. Its first gate is a coding test.
- You are fast with numbers and like ETFs. Flow Traders. Every round after the test is about them.
- You want a posted graduate salary before you apply. Flow Traders, at $175,000 base in New York.
- You want to try more asset classes, or a client-facing path. Virtu, with market making plus Execution Services.
- You need a visa and want a written sponsorship policy. Flow Traders, for graduate roles.
- You want Europe as the main plan, not the fallback. Either: Virtu in Dublin, Flow in Amsterdam.
- You graduate in 2028. Apply to both 2027 internships: Virtu's runs in Austin, Chicago and New York, Flow's in New York only and names the class of 2028 as preferred.
Prepare for both
- Run a Flow-style loop with mental maths and ETF pricing in Applr's Flow Traders trader mock interview.
- For the Amsterdam style of market-making questions, practise with the Optiver trader mock and read IMC vs Optiver.
- Track 2027 application windows on the New Grad 2027 tracker.
- Check that your resume survives an automated screen with the free ATS resume checker.
Sources
- Virtu Financial, "Virtu Announces Second Quarter 2026 Results", SEC Form 8-K exhibit 99.1, 30 Jul 2026
- Virtu Financial, Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, filed Feb 2026
- Virtu Financial, "2027 Internship - Quantitative Trading", Greenhouse posting, retrieved 26 Sept 2026
- Virtu Financial, jobs board, retrieved 26 Sept 2026
- Flow Traders, "Flow Traders 2Q 2026 Results", 30 Jul 2026
- Flow Traders, "Flow Traders 4Q FY 2025 Results", 12 Feb 2026
- Flow Traders, "Graduate Quantitative Trader", Greenhouse posting, retrieved 26 Sept 2026
- Flow Traders, "Quantitative Trading Intern Summer 2027", Greenhouse posting, retrieved 26 Sept 2026
- Flow Traders, "Graduate Trader", Amsterdam, Greenhouse posting, retrieved 26 Sept 2026
- Flow Traders, Graduates careers page, retrieved 26 Sept 2026
- Extern, "Virtu Financial Internship 2027-2028: Deadlines & How to Apply", updated Sept 2026
- Quantt, "Flow Traders Interview: Process", retrieved Sept 2026
- Tradermath, "Navigating the Flow Traders Interview", 4 Feb 2024
- EverythingQuant forum, "Flow Traders Graduate Trader First Round Interview Prep", 2025
- Blind, Virtu Financial interview discussions, retrieved Sept 2026
- h1bdata.info, Flow Traders H-1B filings, retrieved Sept 2026
- h1bdata.info, Virtu Financial Operating LLC quantitative trader H-1B filings, retrieved Sept 2026
Frequently asked questions
- Is Virtu or Flow Traders harder to get into?
- Neither publishes an acceptance rate. Quantt estimates Flow Traders hires roughly 30 to 50 graduate traders a year globally, and Virtu's graduate trading hires come mainly through a 10-week internship in Austin, Chicago or New York. The gates differ: Virtu's trading internship screens with a HackerRank test (its 2027 posting), which Extern describes as five easy-to-medium coding questions in 75 minutes, while Flow Traders screens with a timed numerical test of mental maths and sequences (its graduates page).
- How much does Flow Traders pay a new grad in New York?
- Its Graduate Quantitative Trader posting for a Fall 2027 New York start states a base of $175,000 plus annual discretionary variable remuneration (retrieved 26 September 2026). Its Summer 2027 quantitative trading internship states a prorated base of $150,000. H-1B filings on h1bdata.info show New York trader bases of $135,000 and $150,000 in 2024, so the base has moved up.
- How much does Virtu pay quantitative trading interns?
- Virtu's 2027 Internship - Quantitative Trading posting states $5,000 to $5,800 weekly, excluding sign-on bonuses, housing and meals (retrieved 26 September 2026). Over the 10-week programme that is $50,000 to $58,000 before those extras. Virtu does not post a full-time New York graduate trader salary.
- Do Virtu and Flow Traders sponsor visas?
- Flow Traders' graduates page says visa sponsorship is available for international candidates and their families, but not for interns. Virtu's postings do not make a statement either way beyond asking the sponsorship question, though H-1B filings for Virtu quantitative traders appear on h1bdata.info. Both firms hire outside the US: Virtu in Dublin and Singapore, Flow Traders in Amsterdam and Hong Kong, per their Greenhouse boards on 26 September 2026.
- Which firm is more stable?
- Both are public and publish quarterly numbers. Virtu reported Q2 2026 total revenues of $1.19 billion and net income of $284.9 million (30 July 2026). Flow Traders reported Q2 2026 net trading income of EUR 147.8 million and net profit of EUR 40.8 million the same day. Virtu also has a client execution business worth $138.0 million of adjusted net trading income that quarter, which smooths results when market-making spreads are thin.