How to trade Futures for several client ?

December 24th, 2012, 08:09 AM

SARdynamite

I have a practical question about what is called "block trading".

What if I use limit orders on futures contracts. If the market happens to just touch the price and not drill through, how do I know that my friends account did not get a partial fill only ?

How is the queue line handled ? Is the advisor in front of friends and family ? Are we set up to be "one and only" ?

Is there a console for the advisor allowing him to monitor what's happening on friends and family accounts ? in oder to avoid bad synching problems between all accounts for whatever reasons.

ya, I agreed with SARdynamite.

can any one address SARdynamite concern and how to overcome it ?

BTW, do we need any licence to run this "Friend & Family" account and what's the mixumum no of account can be handle ?

mattz · December 24th, 2012, 09:29 AM

SARdynamite

I have a practical question about what is called "block trading".

What if I use limit orders on futures contracts. If the market happens to just touch the price and not drill through, how do I know that my friends account did not get a partial fill only ?

How is the queue line handled ? Is the advisor in front of friends and family ? Are we set up to be "one and only" ?

Is there a console for the advisor allowing him to monitor what's happening on friends and family accounts ? in oder to avoid bad synching problems between all accounts for whatever reasons.

You have a good question and partial fills can happen. If they happen in a block account, you need to maintain a certain ratio which would be the same as the original allocation. To the best of my knowledge, if there are odds trades that need to be allocated, the best approach is to randomly allocate them and legally not show favoritism.
When you trade in a block account, there is no preference to the advisor.

December 26th, 2012, 10:27 PM

DavidHP

Interactive Brokers has a 'Friends and Family' account that will allow you to trade for several 'clients' at the same time. Your trades can be grouped by account size or percentage of total, etc.

Be careful when setting this up. If you are a 'professional' you will be charged at a professional rate (usually higher). If you are doing it for 'friends and family' you can get by as a non-pro.

The biggest issue I have with it is the structure for trading. IB requires that I use a 'dongle' to log into the account and that is pain to always have it with me when I trade the account.

Hi DavidHP,

What is the criteria to open "Friends and Family" account with Interactive Brokers ?
I was told you need to have 6 months account with profit, is that true ?

December 28th, 2012, 07:48 PM

starbucks

Hi DavidHP,

What is the criteria to open "Friends and Family" account with Interactive Brokers ?
I was told you need to have 6 months account with profit, is that true ?

I just did your homework. I went to the IB site and typed "Friends and Family" in the search box and it says:

Accounts are geared towards professional/active traders and investors; therefore we require the following from customers:

Good or extensive product knowledge for any product you wish to trade.
Prior execution of 100 or more trades (any product).
A minimum equity deposit in cash or stock of USD 10,000 (or USD equivalent) or USD 5,000 for advisor client accounts and IRA accounts (or USD equivalent).

--
So it looks like you would be fine if you have enough experience.

How to trade Futures for several client ?

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How to trade Futures for several client ?