Introduction
cTrader Copy is a fully integrated cTrader application and a flexible investment platform that allows for copying trading strategies, as well as providing one’s own strategies for copying by other traders.
It is an easy-to-use reliable solution with a clearly defined fees system and transparent strategies information and history that offers an easy copying mechanism for a better trading experience.
Once a trader is logged in to the cTrader web application with cTrader ID, he can proceed to the Copy section, check the available strategies, compare their history, details, and fees, allocate the funds, and start copying any of them in just two clicks.
All the strategies can be discovered and copied from the cTrader Copy main page without any long-term commitment, and any trader signed in with cTrader ID can invest in a strategy as long as their broker offers cTrader Copy.
While using cTrader Copy, you may encounter these terms:
- Strategy - aggregated actions of a trader provided for copying to investors under certain conditions.
- Investor - a trader who allocates a certain amount of funds from their trading account for copying a strategy under certain conditions (investing).
- Copy-trading account - an account created by allocating a certain amount of funds from a trading account for copying a strategy.
- Strategy provider - a trader who provides their trading strategy for copying by other traders.
General Copying Logic¶
The general logic of cTrader Copy’s actual copying mechanism is that a trader can allocate a certain amount of their funds to copy a specific trading strategy.
The allocated funds from an investor’s account are moved to a copy-trading account, which is a separate trading account under the same cTID that can be used only for copying the specific strategy.
One can understand the copying idea as an investment of funds in trading strategies under specific conditions.
A strategy provider executes trades from their trading account, and all the investors copying the strategy automatically copy all the trades, generating their equity depending on their copy-trading accounts equity and leverage based on the equity-to-equity model.
Warning
Note that cTrader Copy forbids copying any trades made for symbols representing stocks/shares. While a strategy provider can still place new orders and open new positions for these symbols (e.g., AAPL or TSLA), these trades will not be copied by their investors.
Equity-to-Equity Ratio¶
The copying model of cTrader Copy is based on the equity-to-equity ratio which means that the volume of a trade that will be copied, is defined according to both the strategy provider’s and the investor’s equities.
According to the equity-to-equity copying model, a volume to be copied for trade by a copy-trading account is calculated as follows:
Investor’s Equity / Strategy Provider’s Equity * Strategy Provider’s Volume
Example
The strategy provider's equity at the moment of copying is 4,000 USD, and the investor’s equity is 1,000 USD.
The provider opens 4 lots for trading.
This trade will be copied with the copying volume: 1,000 of the investor’s equity divided by 4,000 of the strategy provider equity and multiplied by 4 lots traded equals 1 lot, or:
1,000 ÷ 4,000 × 4 = 1
For example, an investor is going to copy the strategy with the following parameters (you can find them in the strategy summary):
- Own funds: USD 100,000 - the funds on the strategy provider’s trading account. The strategy provider’s own funds can change depending on the provider’s deposits and withdrawals.
- Min investment: USD 100.
An investor allocates 1,000 USD and starts copying this strategy. After some trades, the investor decides to stop copying. The copy-trading history will look as follows:
| Strategy History | Investor History |
|---|---|
| USD 1,000,000 → Buy EURUSD Entry 1.12261 - Close 1.12261 (com -0.10) = -0.06 USD 999,999.94 | Not copying yet |
| USD 999,999.94 → Sell EURJPY Entry 121.161 - Close 121.175 (com -9.00) = -20.55 → USD 999,979.39 | Starts copying: USD 1,000 → Sell EURJPY Entry 121.161 - Close 121.175 (com -0.06) = -0.19 → USD 999.81 |
| USD 999,979.39 → Buy EURJPY Entry 121.145 - Close 121.175 (com -9.00) = 98.19 → USD 1,000,077.58 | USD 999.81 → Buy EURJPY Entry 121.145 - Close 121.175 (com -0.06) = 1.15 → USD 1,000.96 |
| USD 1,000,077.58 → Buy EURJPY Entry 121.268 - Close 121.248 (com -9.00) = -25.50 → USD 1,000,052.08 | USD 1,000.96 → Buy EURJPY Entry 121.268 - Close 121.248 (com -0.06) = -0.25 → USD 1,000.71 |
Note
The prices of the provider and the investor differ because of the different trading conditions and the execution time.
In this way, the platform automatically adjusts the volume of the positions copied by an investor according to the withdrawals or deposits of both - the provider and the investor.
All the withdrawals or deposits are taken into account and position sizes are kept relative to the amounts that each party has invested.
All the strategy provider actions within the strategy are being copied automatically by the investor.
For example, if a strategy provider modifies the existing positions within their strategy (closes half of the positions), then such actions will be copied for the investor as well.
However, note that in certain cases some of the strategy steps will not be copied by the investors.
For example, if there are not enough funds on the investor’s account, if an investor does not have the trading instruments that the strategy provider is operating with; or if the investor's leverage is lower than the strategy provider’s leverage, and there is a chance that the investor’s free margin will not be enough to copy all the trades of this strategy, then such trades can not be copied by the copy-trading accounts.
Deposits and Withdrawals¶
All the actual deposits and withdrawals take place on the investor’s trading account under their cTID.
When an investor adds or removes funds to their copy-trading account, or a strategy provider deposits or withdraws funds from their strategy account, the platform automatically recalculates their equity and adjusts current open positions and future trades according to the equity-to-equity model.
Investors can add or remove funds to and from their copy-trading accounts at any time while copying the strategies.
Just keep in mind that the amount deposited in a cTrader Copy account should be equal to or higher than the minimum investment requirement when copying is in progress.
This means that an investor can only remove the amount above the minimum investment while copying a strategy.
If you want to remove all the funds completely including the minimum investment, then you should stop copying the strategy and remove the funds.
See the Managing copy-trading accounts section for detailed information on how to deposit and withdraw funds.
Note that in case of the recalculation of copied positions due to the balance operation (deposit or withdrawal) on the provider’s or investor’s account, the volume fee will not be charged.
Exceptions¶
When you start copying a strategy, all the existing open positions of the strategy will be opened for your copy-trading account with the current market rates, and all the strategy actions will start being copied.
In some cases, the copying mechanism may undergo some exceptions. For example:
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In cases when after calculation based on the equity-to-equity ratio the volume of a trade to be executed in a copied strategy is lower than the minimum trading volume allowed by the investor's broker, the trade size will be defined based on the step allowed by the broker.
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In cases when the volume of a trade to be executed in a copied strategy is higher than the maximum ticket size allowed by the broker, then no position will be opened.
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In cases when the market is closed for a certain symbol trading in a strategy, the position for such a symbol will be opened only when the market is opened.
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In case of insufficient margin on your account, the position will not be copied.