Thirty Years. Still Trading.
I'm Robert Rother: more than 30 years in the markets, 15 years in Asia, at times 156 million US dollars in client capital, and 2,770 days in prison. Then the restart: Drachenjahre, my SPIEGEL bestseller, and official Bookmap Educator. At times I traded dozens of funded accounts. Today I operate Iceberg Funding, a brand of GEMS4GENS INC. Here you learn what you are buying — and who earns from your challenge.
The documented story on icebergfunding.comA logo tells you little. A disclosed relationship tells you more. I operate Iceberg Funding; for other offerings I distinguish first-hand use from an affiliate partnership. That does not make me neutral — but it does make my conflict of interest visible.
The list stays open. Do you operate a prop firm and want to be reviewed? Request a review →
You are buying a challenge, not depositing into your own brokerage account. The evaluation fee is revenue of the assessment provider. A payout is a contractually defined payment — not proof that the large number on the dashboard sits in the market as real capital.
Passing is not the same as being paid. Industry figures show why fees, rules, and payout conditions have to be read together. The illustration on the right compares 100 buyers; it does not describe Iceberg results or your personal chances.
Different providers, time periods, and definitions produce different rates. An industry example is not a forecast for your challenge.
buy an evaluation
pass the challenge (≈14%)
receive a payout (≈7% of all buyers)
An illustrative order of magnitude from reported FPFX data. Not internal Iceberg figures, and not a probability of success for you. Finance Magnates cites different rates from another survey; those are not mixed in here.
Source: TradeInformer / FPFX interview
You do not have to walk every stage. Method is education; funding is a separate challenge. A later possible contribution as a strategy provider is a separate B2B business — not an automatic promotion after a payout.
Understand and build a routine
Understand Bookmap, VWAP, and order flow. The community is not a requirement for a challenge.
A simulated challenge
Futures: four phases, published rules.
Career path / a chance, not a job offer
A possible role as a strategy provider — a chance for traders, not a guarantee of employment.
Iceberg Funding is a separate offering with its own challenges; client funds do not flow into prop accounts or to prop traders.
Community and education
Iceberg Method is about Bookmap, VWAP, and order flow: understand, observe, and build your own routine. Community membership is not a substitute for a challenge and is not a requirement for one.
Join Iceberg Method →Prop firm
In futures you go through four simulated phases with published rules. After each completed phase, fixed payouts are provided; only after phase 4 does a much smaller live account follow. The nominal size is not live capital.
About Iceberg Funding →Career path — a possible role as a strategy provider
For some traders, Iceberg Strategies can be a path toward working as a strategy provider. Those who get there may work with Iceberg Strategies or may be approached by other asset managers, banks, or hedge funds. It is a chance, not a promise of collaboration or employment. Iceberg Funding remains a separate offering.
Iceberg Funding is a separate offering with its own challenges; client funds do not flow into prop accounts or to prop traders.
The career path and the separate roles →A prop firm sells you a challenge. In the assessment you trade simulated capital and must hit targets without breaking the loss rules. Payouts follow the contract you actually sign. The account size is, first of all, a figure used for the rules — not your balance and not money that is yours to withdraw.
The part that matters is rarely in the largest type: How does the drawdown trail? When may you request a payout? Can a single good day breach the consistency rule? A dashboard full of plus signs answers none of those questions.
At Iceberg Futures the difference is stated plainly: four simulated phases with fixed payouts, then a live funded account. A $50,000 challenge becomes $6,000 of live capital after phase 4 — not $50,000. Other programs have their own rules; read them separately.
This is not an investment and not a path to fast money. It is a paid challenge with the risk of losing your fee. Understand the rules first, then decide whether you want to take part at all.
More in the knowledge section →The five mistakes that cause most funded-account challenges to fail. Free English-language PDF, sent by email.
This site is operated by GEMS4GENS INC., which also operates Iceberg Funding. Links to Bulenox and IQ Capital are affiliate links. This is not investment advice. Assessments are simulated; there is no guarantee of success or profit.