Trading is one of those industries everyone seems to have an opinion on, yet very few truly understand. Most people view it through the Hollywood lens of Wall Street—a world driven by adrenaline, impulse, and “instinct,” where everything revolves around quick cash and that one big score. Furthermore, traders are frequently confused with brokers, whose primary role is executing trades for clients. In reality, professional proprietary traders independently assume market risk, make their own trading decisions, and operate using their own or the firm’s capital.
Jason Berry, co-founder of Positive Equityja — a proprietary trading firm operating out of Croatia and Dublin—has spent years dismantling this exact perception of the industry through his track record and work philosophy. In Jack Schwager’s new book, Market Wizards: The Next Generation, one of the most seminal titles in the trading and investment world, Berry is featured as one of the 15 most prominent global traders of his generation. This selection is a massive industry accolade, proving that professionals from our regional business and finance ecosystem can compete on a global scale. Ahead of the book’s worldwide release, we sat down with “Mr. Consistency”—as he is dubbed in the book—to discuss what true performance actually looks like behind the closed doors of the trading industry.
For decades, Schwager’s book series has been considered the “bible of the trading industry,” historically profiling the most successful and influential traders in the world. The new edition brings the stories of leading next-generation traders, revealing how they managed to build long-term, sustainable performance. The narratives span from a musician who dropped out of school to pursue a trading career and now boasts nearly $500 million in cumulative profits, to a former security guard who turned a $5,000 stake into over $100 million in less than 12 years—all the way to a trader who, operating out of Croatia, has spent years quietly building one of the most consistent track records in the industry.
Berry’s story begins in Rhinebeck, a small town about two hours outside New York, where he attended an unconventional school for the children of hippies, completely devoid of traditional grades. He went on to study at Clark University in Massachusetts, but his first real exposure to the trading world came after securing a six-month UK work visa to work for his cousin on the exchange floor of London’s LIFFE. He continued to build his trading business in Dublin, and today, through Positive Equity—a proprietary trading firm operating out of Dublin, Zagreb, and Split—he brings together a team of professional traders from Europe, Asia, and the US. Over decades in the business, Berry has remained consistent, adaptable, and deeply invested in the development of others. Internally, he is often described as a “builder of traders”—someone who builds people just as much as he builds track records. His approach stands in stark contrast to the industry’s dominant narrative. That is precisely why his inclusion in this book represents such a profoundly significant professional endorsement within the global trading community.
“Trading isn’t about predicting the market; it’s about process, risk management, and the time it takes to build your edge—your unique advantage in the market. The best trades come from research, observation, and the constant pursuit of new opportunities. Most traders hit a plateau after a while because they stop analyzing their own decisions, refining their skills, and accepting coaching. That is exactly why at Positive Equity, we don’t just hand traders capital; we actively invest in their development. We teach them that risk management always comes first, and that time, structure, and feedback are vital for long-term growth. At the same time, we expect our people to keep learning and innovating, because no edge lasts forever. Many traders think they’re done learning after a few years, but retaining a ‘trainee mindset’ is the true key to long-term success. I believe this constant drive to learn and innovate is one of the main reasons I’ve stayed in the market for so long. If you don’t enjoy the process of researching and hunting for that edge, you’re probably in the wrong business,” noted Jason Berry.
For years, Jason Berry has been recognized within the trading industry for his consistent performance and highly disciplined approach to the market. His methodology is rooted in strict risk management, keeping losses small, and a long-term decision-making process, rather than aggressively scaling up positions and chasing spectacular “home run” trades. Ultimately, his market adaptability, the daily analysis of his own decisions, and an unwavering focus on sustainable performance are exactly what set him apart in the global trading community today.
Berry believes that most traders don’t fail because of one catastrophic loss, but rather because, over time, they stop analyzing their decisions, abandon their review processes, and lose the drive to learn. That is why he maintains meticulous daily trading journals—tracking not just profit and loss, but his emotional reactions, his level of discipline, and whether he exited a trade too early or overstayed his welcome. He outlines potential market scenarios in advance—ranging from macroeconomic shifts and wars to broader geopolitical changes—so that when market chaos erupts, he is executing a pre-existing plan rather than making reactive decisions in the heat of the moment. At the end of each month, he reviews everything again to identify inefficiencies and areas for improvement. One of his defining traits is a near-reflexive ability to cut losses. Berry refuses to “sit” in a bad trade hoping the market will turn in his favor; if a position doesn’t work for him quickly, he gets out. Instead of hunting for spectacular blockbuster trades, he focuses on small, repeatable decisions, rigorous risk management, and constant market adaptation. It is precisely this discipline that has secured his stable, long-term success across multiple market cycles.
“While I may not have suffered massive blowups, I still endure periods where trading is exceptionally grueling. When volatility dries up and opportunities are scarce, staying motivated is tough. Staring at screens all day with zero price action makes it incredibly easy to succumb to boredom. That’s precisely when it takes the utmost discipline to stay dialed in and keep making solid decisions. I find myself waking up and trading at all sorts of ungodly hours. Putin invaded Ukraine in the dead of night. Trump fires off market-moving posts right before hitting the pillow and the second he wakes up. The market waits for nobody. Trading can be psychologically brutal. After a string of losing days, even I start second-guessing my decisions, my abilities, and how long anyone can actually sustain this job at an elite level. It’s a fleeting thought, but it always lingers in the background. The moment I feel myself slipping into that headspace, I immediately scale down my trading, strip everything back to my absolute best setups, and focus on regaining my rhythm with one solid, clean green day,” Berry pointed out.
A firm with no clients, no retail courses to sell, and no “get-rich-quick” illusions—only traders quietly compounding professional performance year after year. Positive Equity stands out as one of the rare proprietary trading firms in the region that deploys its own capital to systematically train, cultivate, and develop talent through years of live market exposure. Here, trading is not viewed as an innate gift or a “gut feeling” for the market. Instead, it is treated as a highly rigorous craft honed over years of mentorship, discipline, research, risk management, and the daily dissection of one’s own decision-making. Stripped of the hype and empty promises, the firm’s core focus is on long-term human development, a collaborative team environment, and a structured process that takes years before an individual truly evolves into an elite professional trader.
One of the core principles Jason Berry imparts to traders at Positive Equity is rooted in what he calls the “Three Cs”—Control, Consistency, and Confidence. In his framework, a junior trader’s primary goal isn’t profitability, but rather gaining control over their P&L and proving they can cap losses at a predefined level. Initially, most junior traders only lose money; the objective is to shift their daily results from a constant downward trajectory to a stabilized flatline. Only after a trader learns to strictly control losses can they begin to build consistency. Once consistency is established, confidence follows—this is the turning point when a trader can scale up position sizing, hold trades longer, add to winning positions, and expand into new markets. Berry emphasizes that he applies this exact same principle to his own trading. The moment he feels he’s losing control over his results, he pulls back from the markets where he isn’t performing well. He strips everything down to focus exclusively on areas where he knows he has control and consistency, remaining there until his confidence and performance stability are fully restored.
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“I like to surround myself with smart people to stay sharp and have extra sets of eyes on the market. I firmly believe we all trade better when we are surrounded by talented individuals. The competitive dynamic of being on a floor with great traders, combined with collaborative market research, makes all the difference. If we hired 100 people, 50 of them might be ‘maybe’ candidates. Out of those 50, you’d probably get 5 to 7 solid traders. But out of the other 50—the clear-cut A-players—the success rate could be anywhere from 50 to 70 percent. It is incredibly rewarding to watch a trainee evolve from a complete novice into a formidable trader. I genuinely celebrate every single one of their milestones, because for some of them, this career is literally life-changing,” concluded Jason Berry.
Video – Full Story / Source: Bloomberg Adria