Overview
PEAK6 is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with roots at the Chicago Board of Trade. It started in 1997 as a proprietary options trading firm, the business now called PEAK6 Capital Management.
PEAK6 Capital Management trades US-listed equities and provides liquidity to the US options market. It builds up long and short options inventory and holds it for anything from days to years.
In 2023 its CEO called US-listed equity options the core of the business. A February 2023 PEAK6 article put PEAK6 Capital Management at 226 people, about 70 of them traders.
In December 2020 PEAK6 bought Hardcastle Trading AG, a trading firm in Rapperswil, Switzerland, to add liquidity in electronic options markets in the US and Europe.
In December 2024 PEAK6 announced it would move its global headquarters from Chicago to its Austin office from 1 January 2025, and that it would keep the Chicago office. Its New York office at 888 Seventh Avenue opened in 2019 for a PEAK6 Capital Management team.
Programmes
PEAK6 hires Trading Associates, and for college juniors it runs Trading Experience for Women+ and the Trading Bootcamp. PEAK6 Capital Management runs the Women+ internship, and Bootcamp participants are considered for future full-time roles there.
Trading Associate (graduates)
The Trading Associate role is PEAK6's entry-level job: an 18-month programme built around education and growth.
The 2027 class is for bachelor's or master's students graduating between December 2026 and June 2027, with an August 2027 start. You need to be able to relocate to Austin, Chicago or New York City.
Trading Experience for Women+
Nine weeks in Chicago, June to August, for women-identifying college juniors. The 2027 class is for juniors graduating between December 2027 and June 2028 who can relocate to Chicago for the internship, and PEAK6 pays travel and housing downtown.
You learn advanced option theory and the basics of volatility trading, and you work on the trading floor next to experienced traders. You rotate with traders, pitch them trade ideas and trade on instant news.
You also execute trades and play risk-taking games, and traders run a weekly poker session tied to trading concepts. You own a project from concept to delivery and present it to senior leadership, with a dedicated 1:1 mentor and weekly 360-degree feedback on the programme.
Trading Bootcamp Micro-Internship
One week on equity options and markets, open to undergraduate juniors. You get educational sessions, hands-on project work and access to a trading desk, and you work on deploying a real-world trading strategy.
Seasoned traders give you feedback on your assumptions, mental models and frameworks. The week is fully funded, flights and housing included.
There are two 2027 sessions: 24 to 28 May or 16 to 20 August. You need junior standing with graduation between December 2027 and June 2028, and legal authorisation to work in the US.
Application and timing
The Trading Associate 2027 role went up on PEAK6's Workday board on 11 Aug 2026. It is listed in Chicago, with Austin and New York City as additional locations.
As of November 2026 the Bootcamp posting is open for applications, and PEAK6 will start interviewing for it in January 2027.
For the Women+ internship, PEAK6's campus page says applications open in July with interviews through the autumn.
Assessment
The campus page says you receive an assessment once you've applied. A 2023 PEAK6 article says a Women+ intern took a short online assessment, then a few interviews.
Our read: the Women+ posting asks for probabilistic decision-making and the Trading Associate posting asks for excellent quantitative skills, so timed probability and mental maths are the best use of your prep time before the test.
Interviews
The first interview is one hour on Zoom and mixes technical and behavioural questions.
All three programmes teach options. On top of probability, we'd learn what calls and puts pay at expiry and what it means to be long or short volatility, so you can talk about the markets PEAK6 trades.
Each 2027 posting asks for a slightly different mix:
- Women+ internship: probabilistic decision-making and risk-taking skills, exceptional problem solving, and the ability to pick up new technical concepts and languages such as Python.
- Bootcamp: analytical and quantitative ability, plus curiosity and passion for the markets.
- Trading Associate: excellent quantitative and problem-solving skills, strong communication, teamwork, and readiness to learn and apply coding.
For the behavioural questions, the Trading Associate posting lists PEAK6's core values as collaboration, grit, ownership and adaptability. In 2023 the CEO of PEAK6 Capital Management named the same four plus curiosity, and said the firm can't hire selfish people.
In 2021 PEAK6's campus programme manager said the firm wants people with unique experiences and interests. Have one thing you do outside your degree that you can talk about in detail.
Final interview
The final is a half day on Zoom. You meet leadership and the people who would be your future team. PEAK6 may take up to two weeks to give you its decision afterwards.
Trading Associate training
Trading Associate training has four phases:
- Basic training: market mechanics and option theory, taught in classroom sessions and group discussions.
- Basic trading: you trade in a group environment.
- Long-term rotations: you build new tools with trading teams.
- Individual portfolio: you manage a portfolio and its risks.
You must pass the Series 57 licensing exam within two months of your hire date, then you start trading firm capital straight away. You're encouraged to explore both automated and discretionary trading.
The Trading Associate posting says PEAK6 lets employees work remotely up to two days a week.
How to prepare
- Practise expected value questions where you decide whether to take a bet and how much to risk. The Women+ posting asks for probabilistic decision-making and risk-taking skills, and the internship itself has risk-taking games and weekly poker with traders.
- Do timed mental maths before the assessment. The Trading Associate posting asks for excellent quantitative skills, and a 2023 PEAK6 article says a Women+ intern took a short online assessment.
- Practise quoting a price, taking the fill and managing the position you end up holding.
- Prepare one story each for collaboration, grit, ownership and adaptability, the core values in the Trading Associate posting. You get behavioural questions in the one-hour Zoom interview, and the half-day final is with leadership and future team members.
- Bootcamp interviews start in January 2027, and the posting asks for analytical and quantitative ability. If you're applying, do the daily test every day until then.
Practise:Probability practiceMental math trainerDice Market MakingPremiumFree reasoning testsSuper Day prepDaily Tests
FAQ
Does PEAK6 have a graduate programme?
Yes. The Trading Associate role is an 18-month programme. The 2027 class is for bachelor's or master's students graduating between December 2026 and June 2027. It starts in August 2027, and you must be able to relocate to Austin, Chicago or New York City.
What is the PEAK6 assessment?
It is the step after your application. A 2023 PEAK6 article describes a Women+ intern's as a short online assessment. We'd practise timed probability and mental maths, since the postings ask for probabilistic decision-making and excellent quantitative skills.
How many interview rounds does PEAK6 have?
Two stages after the assessment. First a one-hour Zoom interview with technical and behavioural questions, then a half-day Zoom final with leadership and future team members. PEAK6 may take up to two weeks to give you its decision.
What internships does PEAK6 have?
For college juniors, PEAK6 runs Trading Experience for Women+ and the Trading Bootcamp. The Women+ internship runs for nine weeks in Chicago, June to August, for women-identifying juniors, and PEAK6 pays travel and housing. The one-week Bootcamp runs on 24 to 28 May or 16 to 20 August 2027 and is fully funded, flights and housing included.
What maths should I prepare for PEAK6?
The postings ask for probabilistic decision-making, risk-taking and quantitative problem solving, and the Women+ internship, the Bootcamp and Trading Associate training all teach options, so we'd prepare probability, expected value, fast arithmetic and options basics.
Who can apply to the PEAK6 Trading Bootcamp?
Undergraduate juniors graduating between December 2027 and June 2028 who are legally authorised to work in the US. Participants are considered for future full-time roles at PEAK6 Capital Management.