MAM Help Manual
MAM Help Manual
User Guide
Copyright ©MetaFX,LLC
1
Disclaimer
While MetaFX,LLC make every effort to deliver high quality products, we do not guarantee that our
products are free from defects. Our software is provided “as is,” and you use the software at your own
risk.
We make no warranties as to performance, fitness for a particular purpose, or any other warranties
whether expressed or implied.
No oral or written communication from or information provided by MetaFX,LLC shall create a warranty.
Under no circumstances shall MetaFX,LLC be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or
consequential damages resulting from the use, misuse, or inability to use this software, even if
MetaFX,LLC has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Copyright Notice
Warning: This Help Manual and the Software that accompanies it, Multi Account Manager application
are protected under international copyright laws and treaties.
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this program, or any portion of it, may result in severe civil
and criminal penalties and will be prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law.
Table of Contents
Disclaimer ...................................................................................................................................................... 1
Copyright Notice ........................................................................................................................................... 1
Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 2
Overview ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
Logon and initialization ................................................................................................................................. 3
Accounts ........................................................................................................................................................ 4
Allocation methods ....................................................................................................................................... 6
Lot Allocation ............................................................................................................................................ 6
Percent Allocation ..................................................................................................................................... 7
Proportional by Balance Allocation ........................................................................................................... 8
Proportional by Equity Allocation ............................................................................................................. 8
Equity Percent Allocation .......................................................................................................................... 9
Allocation by Equal Risk ..........................................................................................................................10
Lot Multiplier Allocation..........................................................................................................................11
Lot Multiplier with Volume Fix ................................................................................................................12
Percent Allocation by P/L ........................................................................................................................13
Proportional Allocation by P/L ................................................................................................................13
Master Orders .............................................................................................................................................14
Sub Orders ...................................................................................................................................................15
Reports ........................................................................................................................................................16
Commissions ...............................................................................................................................................17
Overview
Multi Account Manager (MAM) is designed to provide the professional trader the essential integrated
software tools to quickly and conveniently allocate and manage funds under master account
arrangement in live trading conditions.
Allocations by Volume:
Lot Allocation
Percent Allocation
Proportional by Balance Allocation
Proportional by Equity Allocation
Equity Percent Allocation
Allocation by Equal Risk
Lot Multiplier Allocation
Lot Multiplier with Volume Fix
Allocations by P/L:
The MAM software can be used by the discretionary or automated systems traders. This Help manual
will form the ongoing core knowledge base of the software system.
When MAM Client application is loaded for the first time it is required to initialize the accounts before
trading can be performed. To initialize the master account it is required to select one of the allocation
methods.
To initialize the sub accounts it is required to select the sub accounts and then use Activate Selected
menu item from the popup menu.
After the accounts are initialized in MAM Client application the trading can be performed on the master
account through the MT4 Client Terminal or MAM Client application (depends on broker permissions).
Accounts
The Accounts tab of the MAM Client application contains information about the managed accounts (sub
accounts) and MAM allocation parameters. The sub accounts table contains all available sub accounts
and their properties. The properties can be changed right on the table. The next parameters of the sub
accounts can be changed:
Active – this parameter is used to enable the sub account for trading. The MAM allocates trades from
the master account to the Active sub accounts only. The Active property of the sub account is used for
opening trades only. This parameter is ignored when trades are closed because when closing trades
MAM already knows what sub accounts the trade was allocated to. So the number of Active sub
accounts can be changed while positions are opened on the master account.
Lot – this parameter is used by the “Lot Allocation”, “Lot Multiplier Allocation” and “Lot Multiplier with
Volume Fix” methods. This parameter defines the number of lots to allocate to the sub account.
% (percent) – this parameter is used by the “Percent Allocation” and “Equity Percent Allocation” and
“Percent Allocation by P/L” methods. This parameter defines the percentage amount of the master
trade volume (or P/L) which will be allocated to the sub account.
It is possible to copy the same value of the parameter to more than one sub account. For this one needs
to select the sub accounts to copy the parameter to. Then right click on the parameter which needs to
be copied and in the popup menu select Copy Parameters option.
Allocation parameters can be exported and imported from Excel. To export sub accounts to Excel select
the sub accounts that need to be exported and in the popup menu select Export to Excel option. The
Excel spreadsheet can be modified and saved.
To Import sub accounts’ parameters from Excel in the popup menu select Import from Excel option. The
parameters of the sub accounts listed in the Excel spreadsheet will be imported and applied for the sub
accounts.
The Summary tab shows the most essential parameters for allocation.
Sum Lot – the sum of Lot parameter for the active sub accounts.
Sum percent – the sum of percent parameter for the active sub accounts (this parameter should be
100%).
Balance – total balance of all the sub accounts (both active and inactive).
Active Balance – current balance of the master account (should be equal to the sum of balances of
active sub accounts1).
Allocation methods
At the heart of MAM is the ability for the trader or Managed Funds Manager to allocate the trades by
individual sub account lots, percentage or proportional allocation to suit the overall structure to their
trading or fund management style. Alongside the allocation method is the allocation parameters for
quick and efficient implementation.
Lot Allocation
This allocation method is used to divide volume of the master trade to the sub accounts according to the
set Lot parameter of the sub accounts. Lot Allocation allows trading with variable lot sizes on the master
account. The allocation to the sub accounts will be proportional to the set lot sizes provided for each of
them.
When using Lot Allocation make sure to set Lot parameter of at least one of the active sub
accounts greater than zero.
Where:
For example, consider there are two active sub accounts with Lot parameter set as 2 and 3 lots
respectively.
1
To fix the balance of the master account it is required to Activate/Deactivate one of the sub accounts.
If master account opens 10 lots then the volume of the sub orders is calculated as follows:
Percent Allocation
This allocation method is used to divide volume of the master trade to the sub accounts according to the
set Percent (%) parameter of the sub accounts. The allocation to the sub accounts will be calculated as a
percentage of the master trade volume.
When using Percent Allocation the sum of Percent (%) parameter of all the active sub accounts
must be 100%.
Where:
For example, consider there are two active sub accounts with Lot parameter set as 30% and 70%
respectively.
If master account opens 10 lots then the volume of the sub orders is calculated as follows:
This allocation method is calculating proportion of the master trade volume according to the balances of
the sub accounts. This method doesn’t require additional settings. The fraction of the master trade
volume is calculated automatically.
Where:
For example, consider there are two active sub accounts with balances of 10,000 and 6,000 respectively.
If master account opens 10 lots then the volume of the sub orders is calculated as follows:
The volume of the sub accounts is rounded according to the lot step. For example, if lot step is 0.1 lot
then the sub accounts will be allocated 6.3 and 3.7 lots respectively.
This allocation method is similar to the Proportional by Balance in a way that proportion is calculated
automatically. The difference is that Equity is used instead of Balance. This method doesn’t require
additional settings. The fraction of the master trade volume is calculated automatically.
Where:
Equity Percentage allocation is used when the user requires allocating to sub accounts on a percentage
basis of each individual sub account. The idea of this allocation method is to make it possible to define
the risk for each individual sub account. For example, if the risk percentage of the sub account is set to
30% it means that 30% of the sub account equity will be traded at any time. The volume traded on the
master account is calculated as a sum of volumes of the sub accounts.
This allocation method is using Percent (%) parameter of the sub accounts to define the percentage of
the sub account equity which will be traded in every trade.
When using Equity Percent Allocation the volume of the master trade is changed to reflect the
sum of volumes of the sub trades. No matter what volume is put in the initial trade request the
volume of the opened trade will be different.
Where:
For example, consider there are two active sub accounts with Percent(%) parameter set to 10% and 20%
respectively.
Then the sub orders will be opened with the volumes as follows
And the master trade volume will be calculated as the sum of sub trade volumes
Allocation by Equal Risk is introduced to address the problem of margin control on the sub accounts.
Sometimes the sub accounts are stopped out because of the low margin level. No other allocation
method is taking into consideration the margin level of the individual sub accounts. But with the
Allocation by Equal Risk it is possible to set minimal Margin % level for each of the sub accounts. If the
minimal Margin % limit is reached there will be no allocation to such sub account.
∑ ∑
Where:
For example, consider there are two active sub accounts with one opened trade on the master account.
This trade is allocated to the sub accounts and current margin level of the sub accounts is significantly
different (1008.16% on the first sub account and 498.79% on the second sub account).
If we leave it as that then there is a possibility that one of the sub accounts can reach margin call level
earlier. Now if we switch to the Allocation by Equal Risk and open another position on the master
account this volume will be redistributed to the sub accounts so that to make their Margin % as much
the same as possible. So for example, we open 10 lots on the master account.
And now we can see that the new margin % of the sub accounts is almost the same.
This is still more than 100% (which is set by the Percent(%) parameter). If the margin % was less than
100 then the trade could not be opened on the sub account thus preventing it from the risk of margin
call.
This allocation method is used to copy trades from the master account to the sub accounts. This is
simple implementation of the trade copier. The Lot parameter of the sub account is used as a multiplier
factor for the master trade. The volume of the master trade remains unchanged.
When using the Lot Multiplier Allocation method the volume of the master trade will always be
different from the sum of volumes of the sub trades.
Where:
For example, consider there are two active sub accounts with set Lot paremter of 1.3 and 2.5
respectively.
If master account opens 1 lot then the volume of the sub orders is calculated as follows:
This allocation method is used to copy trades from the master account to the sub accounts. This
allocation is much similar to the Lot Multiplier allocation. The Lot parameter of the sub account is used
as a multiplier factor for the master trade. But the only difference is that the volume of the master trade
is changed to reflect the sum of volumes of the sub accounts.
When using the Lot Multiplier with Volume Fix method the volume of the master trade will be
different from the trade request volume. The volume will reflect the sum of volumes of the sub
trades.
Where:
This is one of the two allocation methods by profit/loss. The allocation by P/L is made without opening
positions on the sub accounts. But when the master position is closed the allocation to the sub accounts
is made with deposit/withdrawal transaction. The allocation methods by P/L are more precise in
general. Their precision is always one cent regardless of the minimal volume settings. These methods
are also working differently with the allocation parameters. The allocation parameters are read and
allocations are calculated when the trade is closed on the master account.
Percent Allocation by P/L is used when the user requires allocation to the sub accounts on a percentage
basis according to the set Percent(%) parameter similar to the Percent Allocation method.
Switching from P/L based allocation method to the volume based allocation method is restricted
if there are opened trades on the master account.
The allocation method is similar to the Percent Allocation by P/L in a way that no trades are opened on
the sub accounts. The deposit/withdrawal is made to the sub accounts when master trade is closed.
Proportional Allocation by P/L is used when the user requires allocating to sub accounts proportionally
to their balances (see Proportional by Balance Allocation for more details).
Master Orders
This tab displays the master orders and the sub orders. When master order is selected the list of sub
orders is shown for it.
Each individual sub order can be closed by the MAM Client application2. Whenever the sub order is
closed the master order is closed partially by the volume of the closed sub order. To close the sub order
it is required to double click on it. The Order Execution window will be opened. Then press Close Order
button.
2
If broker enables closing of the sub orders with the MAM Client application
The master trades can be closed the same way. Double click on the master order to open Order
Execution window and close the master order.
Sub orders cannot be closed partially. Master orders can be closed partially.
Trades can also be opened on the master account from the MAM Client application if broker permits
this option. To open new trade on the master account from MAM Client application double click on the
Symbol from the market watch window. The Order Execution window will be opened. Set all required
parameters of the trade in the Order Execution window and press Buy/Sell button.
Sub Orders
The sub orders tab is used to track all the sub orders. Sometimes there can be unallocated trades on the
sub accounts (due to that the sub accounts were trading separately from the master account for
example). This screen is showing all the trades on the sub accounts regardless of their allocation status.
The sub orders table allows flexible visualization mechanism by means of columns grouping. Grouping
can be made by any column. By default the grouping is made by master order. When expanding the
grouped row the sub orders will be shown for particular master order.
To export sub orders to excel select the sub orders and then right click on the sub orders table. Use
Export Sub Orders option from the popup menu.
Reports
This tab is showing the history of trades on the master account and its corresponding sub trades in a
master-detail format. To request history report select From and To dates. Then press Request button.
Expanding the master trade record will display the sub orders allocated for it (the sub orders are lit
green).
Select any number of trades and right click on the table. This will bring the popup menu from which you
may choose to Export to Excel or Export to HTML.
Commissions
This tab is used to calculate commissions of the fund manager. Commissions can be calculated based on
the High Watermark (HW) algorithm or as a Volume Based fee.
The High HW algorithm is calculating commissions based on the amount earned by the sub account
which is higher than the amount earned for the previous period. The high-water mark ensures that the
manager does not get paid large sums for poor performance. So if the manager loses money over a
period, he or she must get the fund above the high watermark before receiving a performance bonus.
For example, say after reaching its peak a fund loses $100,000 in year one, and then makes $250,000 in
year two. The manager therefore not only reached the high-water mark but exceeded it by $150,000
($250,000 - $100,000), which is the amount on which the manager gets paid the bonus.
The Volume based fee is charged for volume traded on the sub account. So for example, if volume
traded on the sub account since the last charge period is 1000 lots and Per Lot fee is $0.5 then the
Volume Based fee for the sub account will be $500.
The first table of the Commissions tab is showing all the sub accounts and their parameters. The second
table shows the history of trades on the selected sub account.
1. In the Settings menu select the From and To date to retrieve the history of trades. Click on the
Get History for Sub button and select Get History for All option. The history of trades for all the
sub accounts will be retrieved.
2. Select the sub account from the top table and find the last withdrawal transaction from the
bottom table. Select the withdrawal transaction and right click on it. In the popup menu select
Set as Last Withdrawal option. This will let the system know when the last commission was
charged. After the withdrawal transaction is picked up it will be lit red and the information for
the sub account will be updated. The P/L will be calculated for the sub account since the last
withdrawal transaction.
3. An alternative way to define last withdrawal transaction for all the sub accounts at once is to
find it by the trade transaction comments. If commission withdrawal transaction has a comment
string which is the same for all such transactions then it is possible to define the comment string
in the edit box on top of the Find Last Withdrawal button. Use regular expressions where * sign
substitutes any portion of the string. Then press Find Last Withdrawal button.
4. In the Settings menu set the HW Commission and/or Per Lot Commission and press Refresh
Commission button.
5. The commissions will be calculated for all the sub accounts. The total commission to be charged
will be output in the Settings area. The commission to be charged per sub account will be
displayed for each sub account.
6. It is possible to export the commission information to the Excel. Then give an order to the
broker to charge commissions for the sub accounts.