... for smart Investors
Please click on question to go directly to answer:
iHow do I open an account?
Do I have to open my own brokerage account to participate in a managed account program?
Can I choose my own broker and ask the fund manager to use it for managing my account?
If I already have an existing self-trade account at the managed account's broker,ican it be used in the iiiiiiiimanaged program?
Can I open my account as an IRA, and transfer funds from an existing IRA into it?ii
iDoes a managed account ever close to new investors?iWhat if I am in the process of opening my account iiiiiiiiwhen that happens?
iHow do I fund my brokerage account?
iWhy do some accounts have a minimum deposit higher than others, and yet the net profit history is iiiiiiiilower than the others?
iHow do I withdraw funds from my account?
iDo I need to keep my money in the managed account for a certain period of time,ito avoid penalties like iiiiiiiimutual funds?
iDoes the trader for my managed account have access to my funds?
iIf I do not withdraw profits, do they reinvest -- i.e. compound -- automatically?
Once my new account is funded,ihow long before it will start being traded by the fund manager, when will iiiiiiiiI start seeing trades being placed?
iHow do I verify the status of my account?
If I have a question about trades in my account, who do I contact?
iCan I open or close trades in the account that is being managed for me?
iCan I stop my account from being traded at any time I choose?
iIs the Power of Attorney permanent?
Will my account have exactly the same results as you post on your website?
iHow is profit share/performance fee calculated? What if there is a loss?
iWhen is the monthly profit share/performance fee deducted from my account?
iI see a commission taken out on every trade -- what is that?
Do I have to pay taxes on profits made in a managed Forex account?
iDo the owners or employees of this website manage these accounts?
What are the risks involved with a managed Forex account?
iI have seen articles warning of forex frauds and scams -- how can I determine if a program is legitimate?
iHow often do you introduce new managed account programs on this website?
iWhat are the benefits of portfolio diversification,isuch as by opening a managed Forex account in iiiiiiiiaddition to my other investments?
DEPOSITING AND WITHDRAWING FUNDS
Q. How do I fund my brokerage account?
A. Most brokers accept funding by bank wire or personal check, cashier's check, or bank draft, but not by credit card. See the broker's web page for details.
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Q. Why do some accounts have a minimum deposit higher than others, and yet the net profit history is lower
than the others?
A. A lower net profit history usually comes in association with a lower history of drawdown, or lower risk of loss. The reason one might choose such an account is motivated as much or more by lowering risk, as by making profits. But because of the lower profit objectives, the account provider makes less money from their profit share -- and they have a certain minimum they wish to make, which they aim to achieve by requiring a higher minimum account size. It is not uncommon to see minimums of $100k, all the way up to $1 million -- so what we are able to present to investors here is an exceptional set of opportunities.
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Q. How do I withdraw funds from my account?
A. To withdraw funds, you simply execute a withdrawal just as you would normally from any other brokerage account, according to the procedures the broker uses. Usually this involves submitting a form that you sign requesting the withdrawal, which also specifies the means by which you wish to receive the money, such as by bank wire or check. See the broker's website for details.
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Q. Do I need to keep my money in the managed account for a certain period of time to avoid penalties like
mutual funds?
A. No, there are no penalties for withdrawing from the managed account program at any time you choose.
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Q. Does the trader for my managed account have access to my funds?
A. No, the funds in your Forex trading managed account are in your name at the broker. You are the proprietor of this account and the only one who can make deposits to or withdrawals from this account. The only power you grant to the trade manager for the managed program is the power to trade your account through a Limited Power of Attorney, which also authorizes deduction of the agreed performance fee/profit share ("incentive fee") stated on the Power of Attorney.
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Q. If I do not withdraw profits, do they reinvest -- i.e. compound -- automatically?
A. Yes, eventually profits left in your account will be considered an addition to principal, and will be factored into trade size calculations for future trades. How long it takes before they are included varies according to the period used for assessing profit share deductions and the trade strategies used in the managed program. Some account programs use cycles of trades that are interconnected, and it takes times for new funds to be fully integrated in the cycle. It could take up to a month before your profits were fully reinvested.
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TRADING IN YOUR ACCOUNT
Q. Once my new account is funded, how long before it will start being traded by the fund manager, when will I
start seeing trades being placed?
A.This varies according to the trade strategies used by the program in which your account is participating. Sometimes it will only takes days before you see the first trades being placed, and sometimes more than a month. As soon as your account is funded, the trade manager for the managed account sees that it is ready for inclusion in the next new cycle of trades -- you need do nothing, the trade manager is automatically alerted by the broker.
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Q. How do I verify the status of my account?
A. When your managed Forex trading account is opened at the broker, you are issued a Username and Password which enables you to view and monitor the status of your account 24 hours a day. Through this Login, you can view a complete history of all closed trades as well as the status of any open trades.
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Q. If I have a question about trades in my account, who do I contact?
A. The broker is the main contact for all questions about your account. Because we refer a lot of clients, there are particular people in the brokerage who are most familiar with the managed program in which you are participating. In the Instructions for filling our your Account Application, we give you the direct contact information for these people. You will not have direct contact with the trader. Sometimes the broker will refer questions about the trader or trading style back to us to answer if we can, because we are familiar with the trader's background. With a managed account you let the trader do the trading and periodically evaluate the results, however frequently you wish. We post monthly results here which you can also check.
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Q. Can I open or close trades in the account that is being managed for me?
A. No. A managed account can only be traded by the trade manager you authorize with a Power of Attorney. You can revoke the Power of Attorney to regain the ability to place trades in the account yourself, and then it will no longer be a managed account.
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Q. Can I stop my account from being traded at any time I choose?
A. Yes. To stop trading, you submit a revocation of the LPOA which originally authorized the trade manager for the managed program to place trades in your account. You submit this to the broker using the link found on the broker's web site. Their web sites are open 24 hours a day. To withdraw funds, you simply execute a withdrawal just as you would normally from any other brokerage account, according to the procedures the broker uses.
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Q. Is the Power of Attorney permanent?
A. No. You can revoke the Limited Power of Attorney on your managed Forex account at any time.
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Q. Will my account have exactly the same results as you post on your website?
A. Individual results may vary. The results in your account should be very close, if not identical to what we post here. Because some managed account programs have a large number of accounts participating in them, the fills obtained on a particular trade may sometimes differ a little from one account to another. It all depends upon how the software the trader uses is set up by the broker, how fast the market is moving when trades are made, the size and number of the accounts, and other factors. If your results are not identical, they may sometimes be a little better or worse, but in the long run will be extremely close to those in other accounts. Do be aware that the first month you join a program, your results will not be the same, since your account did not fully participate in trading for the whole month. With some programs, it may take up to several months for your account to be fully integrated in all the trades the program is taking. We strongly encourage an evaluation period of at least 3 months to guage the performance in your account.
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FEES
Q. How is profit share/performance fee calculated? What if there is a loss?
A. At the end of the first month after your account begins trading, if there is a profit, the broker will deduct the performance fee/profit share, technically called the "incentive fee", that has been authorized on the Power of Attorney you sign when opening your account. Each month they will do the same. The incentive fee is a percentage of the net profits per month from the "watermark" of previous highs. If there are no profits in a given month, there are no incentive fees. The high equity point established after incentive fees are calculated creates the "watermark" which must be surpassed before any future profits may again be calculated. Example: you start with $10,000 in an account with an incentive fee of 40%, and during the month there is $4000 in gross profit. The incentive fee deducted would be 40% of $4000, which is $1600, so your net profit would be $2400, and your account would now have a "watermark" new balance of $12,400. If in the next month there was a loss of $1000, there would be no incentive fee deducted, since there is no profit, and your new balance would be $11,400. Your "watermark" is still $12,400. In the third month, if there was $3000 in gross profit, then the incentive fee would be calculated on only $2000 of that, since the first $1000 in profit gets your account back up to its "watermark" of $12,400. So the incentive fee would be 40% of $2000, or $800, and your net profit for that month would be $2200 (which is $1000 + $1200), and your new account balance would be the new "watermark" of $13,600 (which is $11,400 + $1000 + $1200).
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Q. When is the monthly profit share/performance fee deducted from my account?
A. The monthly profit share, or incentive fee, is usually deducted by the broker on or near the first of each calendar month. Only the broker can say exactly what date they use, however, though generally you can expect it will be about the same time every month.
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Q. I see a commission taken out on every trade -- what is that?
A. Some brokers are able to offer the managed account traders the benefit of a smaller fixed spread for trades they make. To do this they must charge a small commission. It is the "price" of having a low fixed spread. In most cases this is more than offset by the additional profits that derive from the lower bid-ask spread. This is especially likely during times of greater market volatility, when most brokers widen their spreads making trades much more costly to open and close. We strive to feature managed programs that use brokers with the lowest spreads possible, and prefer those who can offer fixed spreads for these reasons.
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Q. Do I have to pay taxes on profits made in a managed Forex account?
A. You are responsible for paying all taxes on your income, according to the laws of your country. Profit made in your managed Forex account is income in every classification of which we are aware, upon which taxes would be due.
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