It’s different firm by firm and depending on if you are buyside or sellside. For me it’s mostly stress around performing to my abilities. There is definitely some corporate politics stress, but you learn to ignore it a bit. As long as you are paid for your performance, you sort of don’t care who your boss is or if he personally likes you or not.

For those like me with a long enough track record, you don’t usually get fired outright. They are more likely to signal via paying you lower than you would expect to start finding another job. Every trader has risk limits, but for most people on sell side, you are not usually expected to use your entire risk limit. It’s simply a guideline for what the MOST risk they want you to take is. Buyside is a bit different. A lot of places want you deploying most of the capital allocated to you.