Trading Strategies

Investing in strategies

Skilling Writers Team
2022-01-19
- Trading
- Finance

Once you are logged in to your Skilling account, and you have created a Skilling cTrader account (read about opening a Skilling cTrader account here), you can start investing in the strategies provided by other Skilling clients or start providing your own strategy for others to follow. Demo accounts deal only with virtual money only, but you can still use it for copying Live strategies.

Keep in mind that no real money can be deposited on a Demo account so you will need to create a live account when you are ready to start investing in the strategy. Having a live account with real money does not limit you to following only live strategies; your live account can also be used for copying Demo strategies.

Copying strategies

Copying strategies on cCopy is easy and straightforward. Whether a strategy is demo or live is indicated in the color of the strategy’s icon. Demo strategies are marked with a blue Demo icon and are always free to copy as they deal with virtual money only. Live/Real strategies are marked with a green icon. Live strategies can also be free but this remains at the discretion of the strategy providers. Most providers will charge their followers fees for copying their strategy.

All information about fees is transparent and available on the Start Copying button before starting to copy a live strategy. It’s important to always check information regarding the fees of the strategies you are looking to invest into and be aware of these charges before you start following them.

Management Fee - Followers pay to the strategy provider for following the strategy and is paid regardless of the strategy’s performance. It is an annual percentage of the Investor’s Equity calculated daily and paid at the end of each month.
Performance Fee - Charged as a percentage of the total net profit that has been generated as a result of copying the strategy. It uses a high-water mark model and is paid at the end of each month (or if applicable, when a client stops copying).
Volume Fee - An amount in USD that is paid based on the volume traded and charged for opening and closing each position.

Steps to copy trade in Skilling cCopy:

To start copying: Select the strategy you would like to follow and click Start Copying to the right. Alternatively, you can click on a strategy and use the Start Copying button located on the upper right of the Strategy profile page.
Start Copying form pop-up: Here you must select the amount of funds to allocate/invest in the strategy. Make sure that the amount of funds allocated is equal to or higher than the Minimum Investment specified for the strategy as shown in the example below.

Note that if your account leverage is lower than the Strategy Provider’s leverage, then there’s a chance that your margin will not be enough to copy all the trades of this strategy and you may reach the Stop Out earlier than the Strategy Provider.
When done click Start Copying.: Now the allocated funds from your account are automatically converted into a Copy Trading Account (Sub-account) and you have started copying the strategy. All the open positions of the strategy have been opened on your account at the current market rates, unless some of the markets are closed. In the case where markets are closed, the positions will be copied as soon as the relevant market opens. The Copy Trading Account is now displayed in the Accounts list under the account you have allocated the funds from. You will also be able to see the Sub-account along with it’s balance, equity and open PnL in your “Accounts View” in Skilling Trader web and mobile.

Managing your copy trading account

When copying a strategy, you are still in control of your Copy Trading Account can and you should actively be managing it. As a Follower, you can dynamically add or remove funds, set or remove Stop Equity Loss, stop copying and re-start copying. All the options are available from the Copy Trading Account Settings button to the right of the Copy Trading Account preview.

Adding Funds: Funds can be added to the Copy Trading Accounts at any time, even when actively copying, by simply clicking the Settings button to the right of the Copy Trading Account preview and selecting Add Funds from the drop-down.

Please note that adding funds to a Copy Trading Account, will change existing positions due to the recalculation of position sizes according to the Equity-to-Equity ratio.
Removing Funds: Funds can be withdrawn from a Copy Trading Account at any time. To remove the funds from the Copy Trading Account and transfer them back to the parent account, click on Settings to the right and select Remove Funds from the drop-down.

Please note that withdrawing funds from a Copy Trading Account, will change existing positions due to the recalculation of position sizes according to the Equity- to- Equity ratio.
How to Set an Equity Stop Loss: Setting a Equity Stop Loss for a Copy Trading Account will limit losses when copying strategies. If the equity drops below the specified level, the copying is stopped and all the opened positions copied from the strategy are closed automatically.

To set an Equity Stop Loss, click Settings and select Set Equity Stop Loss from the drop-down. Specify the Equity Stop Loss Level and confirm. Then, if the equity drops to this level, the Copy Trading Account will stop copying.

To remove the stop loss click on the Copy Trading Account Settings, select Remove Equity Stop Loss, and confirm.
How to Stop Copying: An Investor can stop copying a strategy at any time by clicking the Copy Trading Account Settings and selecting Stop Copying.

Please note that when you stop copying a strategy, all the existing open positions for your Copy Trading Account will be closed, unless markets are closed. In that case, positions will be closed as soon as the affected market is opened.
How to Restart Copying: An Investor can restart copying a strategy at any time,given that the strategy is still provided, by clicking the Copy Trading Account settings and selecting Restart Copying.

Your investment profile

An Investment Profile contains detailed information on trading activity and performance for yourCopy Trading Account. This information is similar to what you would find on the Strategy Provider’s account, but in this case it displays the actual history of your sub-account, which is following a strategy.

To view your Investment Profile, select the Copy Trading Account from the Accounts list to the left of the cTrader Copy main page. This will expand the Investment profile to the right.

At The top of the Investment Profile the following information is provided:

Name of the strategy being copied by the account - you can expand the Strategy's profile by simply clicking on it
Number of the Copy Trading Account
Copy Trading Account All Time Return-onInvestment percentage
Current equity of the Copy Trading Account
Equity Stop Loss Level (if one was set)
Copying status (Started, Stopped, Stopping, or Close Only):
1. Started - copying process is on
2. Stopped - copying process is stopped
3. Stopping - copying process is in the process of being stopped. Once the open positions are closed and fees are charged, the status will change to Stopped
4. Close Only - new positions are not being copied, only closing positions are copied. This happens only when specific market conditions require that Skilling set’s affected instruments to close-only mode. In case you see this status, you should contact customer support for more information or any assistance

Do not stop learning about the financial markets

We’ve got a whole host of resources that are ready and waiting to educate newcomers to trading CFDs online, including:

CFD trading account types: Choose the trading account that suits your trading best
CFD trading basics: Learn the core principles of trading the financial markets using CFDs.
CFD trading psychology: Discover the five rules of thumb to mentally master the stock markets.

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