Our Business

Prisma is the world’s leading commodity company, with more than $281 billion in revenues in 2022. We have a global reach, and a worldwide reputation for getting things done in markets where others fail. Our trading expertise rivals that of Wall Street’s leading financial firms, and our innovation and entrepreneurial spirit are those of a dot-com — without the instability often associated with new businesses.

But that description fails to convey what we’re really about — changing the way the world does business, using our financial and technological savvy to create new products and markets in ways most people thought impossible.

Prisma had its start in the media creation business. But then we began to ask … Why?

Why do companies have to create in-house teams to develop new product lines?

Why should businesses be disrupted by large fluctuations in the prices of commodities they use?

Why can’t businesses with excess transportation capacity sell it to others who need it?

We first began answering these questions by transforming the industry when that industry was deregulated. We have led similar transformations in other formerly inefficient industries. Today, we’ve evolved into a company with a unique combination of business segments.

Prisma’s Consumer Services operates a wide range of services to end-users. Examples include Media, Retail, Games, and more.

Our financial services are creating new options and opportunities for companies to manage their finances and investments.

Prisma’s Work Culture

What’s it like to work at Prisma? It’s different here.

Because our approach to business is unique, our work environment is also one-of-a-kind: free-form, creative, and prone to astonishingly rapid change.

Most Prisma employees have titles and duties that you’d expect, with an emphasis on trading, finance, technology and other information-intensive activities. But above and beyond these duties is the responsibility for the generation of new ideas. Your career at Prisma simply won’t be considered a complete success unless you’ve challenged old ways of doing things.

Like our businesses, our work culture is based on networks, and you’ll be expected to form and build your own network within the company and outside it. But here you’ll have access to some of our most senior leaders, who are always willing to share their expertise.

Along with your responsibility for innovation, you’ll also receive a great deal of direct responsibility for our business operations very early. You may quickly find yourself involved in the creation of new businesses, some of them structured as internal startups and later spun off.

With all this creation going on, our people tend to change jobs, titles and roles more than those at other companies. Our highly unstructured atmosphere may sound like a recipe for chaos. But it’s also a huge factor in our creativity and success as a company.

We can’t guarantee that you’ll succeed at Prisma, or that you’ll enjoy working here. But if you do find a place here, you’ll get experience unlike any you’ll find elsewhere, one that will change the way you think — while you’re helping us change the world.

The Program: Specifics

Prisma depends heavily on the constant generation of new ideas — many of them dreamed up by junior employees with unique perspectives and abundant creative fire.

We’ve kept that fact firmly in mind when designing our rotational programs for new hires. As you might expect, these entry programs can provide you with training, mentoring, and varied assignments. But they’re very flexible — by design — about what you might end up doing. That will depend partly on what you prove to be good at, which at Prisma often turns out to be more than you think you’re good at. As we’re constantly changing as a company and creating new businesses, there’s really no telling what you might eventually be doing.

These programs give new hires astounding levels of responsibility, authority, influence and access. Yes, we know you’ve heard that from lots of other employers. But here, it’s true. Many of our former Associates and Analysts have built successful new businesses within Prisma and soared to senior management in record time.

So where do you fit in?

If you have a graduate degree, you’ll want to learn more about being an

Associate

If you have an MBA or other graduate degree, our Associate program will give you deep and wide experience to help launch your career at Prisma. You’ll spend 18-24 months in assignments of six months each, with immediate responsibility. After an in-depth orientation, you may work in trading, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, risk management, technology and/or other areas, with many of the same duties as a commercial manager. They include:

Understanding accounting and finance concepts sufficiently to manage modeling processes
Creating complex financial or trading models
Completing analysis with little or no supervision
Identifying new business opportunities
Finding and implementing solutions to business/team issues
Interacting with clients and senior managers
Developing client relationships
Your first placement will be within one of our three core groupings: origination, structuring and transactions. The second will be in a different core group and trading. In the third and fourth assignments, we’ll try to give you your choice, subject to availability.We’ll also try to arrange international rotations when those are available.

You’ll be eligible for promotion to Manager at 18 and 24 months.

Requirements: Most Associates have graduate degrees in business specialties and some work experience, but we’re always seeking smart people from a wide variety of backgrounds.

But if you hold an undergraduate degree, you’ll want to know about being an

Analyst

The Prisma Analyst Program is a developmental program for all undergraduate entry-level professionals. Most Analysts have a business- or technology-related undergraduate degree, but we’re always seeking smart people from a wide variety of backgrounds.

As an Analyst, you’ll do meaningful work to build your skills. You’ll start with an in-depth orientation. Then, in two one-year assignments, you’ll provide the analytical and technical support needed to execute complicated financial transactions, focusing on:

Accounting and finance concepts
Modeling
Data analysis

Your first rotational placement will be based on business need, though your preferences will be considered. For your second rotation, we’ll try to give equal weight to your preferences and our business needs. Some Analysts with outstanding performance records are promoted into third-year Analyst assignments or to specialist positions outside the program; these placements are based on employee preference, subject to availability.

Many of our Analysts enter business schools when their rotations end, and some receive financial aid from Prsima for their studies. Upon graduation, some of those students return to Prisma as Associates. Opportunities for direct promotion to Associate are also available for outstanding Analysts.

Other opportunities in the Analyst Program:

Tax Analyst Track

As a Tax Analyst, your project work will concentrate on such areas as tax auditing and accounting. (Most Tax Analysts have a business-related undergraduate or graduate degree.)

Global Technology Track

As a Technologist, you’ll rotate through projects across the technology spectrum—from developing pioneering software applications to networked systems and infrastructure design—that allow us to trade commodities from power to bandwidth or deliver streaming video of Blockbuster’s latest video titles.

Whatever you do in Technology at Prisma, you will use the latest versions of the world’s best technology—from hardware to software.

Requirements: We naturally focus on candidates with degrees in computer science, MIS, or software engineering, or other technology-related degrees. But we also hire from engineering, mathematics and other sciences, as well as non-technical fields.

But whatever their background, all successful candidates have several things in common. They’re smart, self-starting team players who can thrive on constant change and risk—and even occasional chaos!

Human Resources Track

Prisma’s Human Resources Associate & Analyst Program is designed to identify and groom the best people to become future leaders in their chosen field. Through their rotations, Associates and Analysts have the opportunity learn our business, become acclimated to our corporate culture and contribute to our growth.

Undergraduates
HR Analysts work closely with mid-level and senior management to both learn about the concept of the HR function and execute the function to support Prisma’s businesses. The Analyst program ranges from 1 to 3 years depending upon prior experience and performance. Analysts are encouraged to gain experience during their rotations, then consider career options.

Graduates
For the Associate program, Prisma seeks individuals with an advanced degree; at least 2 years’ work experience (not necessarily HR); and an entrepreneurial spirit. Associates are expected to assume active roles of responsibility in development of the HR function, working independently or on teams. Rotations are for 6 months each, with promotion to HR Manager being purely merit based. Business Unit rotations will afford you an opportunity to gain insight into the business and staffing needs of Prisma. HR rotations are designed to develop your generalist, consulting, and leadership skills. 

Trading Track

Prisma’s Trading Track is a unique program aimed at those who have already made the decision that they want trading and risk management as a career. The 18-24 month program is tailored to produce the most effective traders in the industry. Employees in this Houston-based track will have the opportunity to experience and learn from the operations of several trading-related areas within Prisma.

Rotations average six months in length and span the areas of:

24-hour trading
Risk Management
Structuring
Logistics
Fundamentals

Participants will gain experience with various commodities as well as the complex deal structures we use to serve our customers.

As with any of our positions, you’ll fit in best with the Trading Track if you’re a very smart, self-starting, and creative team player who can thrive on constant change and risk, and even occasional chaos. Here at Prisma you’re surrounded by the most innovative individuals that the market has offer. The Trading Track gives you the chance to advance your skills by learning from leaders of the risk management and trading industry.

We’re seeking candidates with a background in finance, accounting, engineering, or other industry-related fields. If you’ve got the trading instinct and the willingness to stretch your abilities, the Prisma Trading Track may be the place for you.