PFG’s prop firm review evidence standards separate what an operator says, what its published terms establish, what a desk test observes and what remains unanswered. The label attached to a finding controls how far that finding can travel into a review, grade or comparison, and the grading scale sets out what each letter means and how the six factors are weighted. A polished claim does not become proof because it appears on an official website.
- Verified 0 records
- Seen on an account bought with our own money, with the artefact on file. Reserved for a completed desk test.
- Reported 191 records
- Published by the firm in its own terms, help centre or pricing page, and re-read on every release.
- Claimed 0 records
- Asserted in marketing with no contractual source behind it. Recorded, never used to lift a grade.
- Refused 0 records
- We asked and the firm would not answer. Silence is a fact about a firm, so we publish it.
What the four evidence tiers mean
The tier describes the support behind a statement. It does not describe whether the statement is favorable or unfavorable.
Verified
PFG observed the event on an account it bought and retained an artifact that connects the event to that test. The standard a payout test has to meet is set out in our payout verification standard.
Reported
Reported terms come from the firm’s own rules or contract. They establish the promise the firm makes, not that the outcome occurred. Each challenge listed in our FTMO review carries this label.
Claimed
Claimed statements come from marketing with no controlling rule or contract behind them. They stay claimed even when the firm’s official website prints them.
Refused
PFG asked a material question and the firm declined to answer. A question that has not yet been asked is an unknown, not a refusal.
Source type is not conclusion strength
A source can establish that a statement was made without establishing that the promised result occurred. An official pricing page can establish the displayed offer. Terms can establish the contractual rule in force for the identified route. Neither proves that a withdrawal was delivered, that an order reached a live market or that support handled an account as described.
First-hand observation also has a boundary. One completed desk test can establish what happened to that account under the rules in force at the time. It cannot establish a universal payout rate, future conduct or the experience of every trader.
Official does not mean independently verified
A firm’s contract is the correct source for the promise it makes. PFG labels that promise as reported until a separate observation establishes the outcome. Marketing without a controlling rule remains claimed.
How a finding moves through a review
- Define the exact firm, legal entity, market, product, tier and stage to which the finding applies.
- Capture the source, effective date and wording without combining different routes.
- Assign the evidence tier and state the limited conclusion that source can support.
- Escalate conflicts, missing material or judgment calls for review by our team.
- Replace the finding when later evidence changes its meaning or freshness.
Missing, refused and conflicting information
Missing information stays unknown unless the methodology defines a specific treatment. It is not converted into a favorable promise or an adverse operator fact. Refused is narrower: PFG must have asked for material information and received a refusal or no substantive answer after the documented contact process.
When current sources conflict, PFG keeps the disagreement visible. A help page and contract may apply to different products, stages or dates. The newer source does not automatically win if the contract defines precedence or the scope remains unclear. A named comparison waits until the conflict is resolved or can be presented with its consequence.
Freshness and material changes
Prop firm rules can change after a review is written. PFG attaches findings to the source version and product checked. A new contract, payout rule, legal entity, platform, price route or restriction can trigger a targeted re-check and re-rating. A capture date shows when a source was read; it is not a guarantee that the page remains unchanged.
When a funded-trader agreement is unavailable
Some firms put the profit split, scaling plan and payout terms in a separate funded-trader agreement. Until PFG has obtained and reviewed that agreement, its profit split and scaling are left unscored. They do not get full credit, because that would create a favorable score from missing evidence. They are not scored as zero either, because PFG not holding a copy is not a fault of the firm. The public terms, rules and prices are assessed as usual, and the grade is shown as Preliminary.
Unscored terms say nothing about the unseen clauses, payout rights, execution, recourse or suitability. If a firm refuses or prevents access to the agreement before purchase, that can be recorded as a separate finding. Once PFG reviews the agreement, it scores the actual terms and recalculates the grade.