IB SAYS it doesn't but it keeps all the rebate fees that you get from the exchanges and shares with you just a portion of it. Trust me, it has its ways to compensate for the non-selling of order flows just the same.
In a perfectly transparent way, yes. I know exactly what I am getting into. With selling order flow, you don't know anything about the actual cost you incur. It's a hidden cost and even when knowing about it you still don't know until after the fill.
I hate defending IB, so I'll speak in general. All retail and most institutional brokers do not pass through the highest tier of rebates or any PFOF. You can't expect your broker to not mark up anything, offer low rates and still make money.
On a related note, I think I know the answer to this question, but I'll ask it anyway.... I was registered with FINRA (not anymore), and currently work for a trust company. I manage stock portfolios. However, our firm does NOT transact or otherwise touch futures. Not allowed in any sense. I have ZERO professional connection to the futures industry. So, while I am pretty clearly a "professional" from the POV of a stock exchange, could I pass for a non-professional in a futures only account, that is only for my personal use? Knowing the exchanges, I am guessing that the answer is a big fat NO, and I am doomed to professional designation should I open a futures account.
Does Futures exchanges data provider distinguish between "professional" and "non-professional" users? I think they charge everybody the same fee, no? It's only the stock exchanges that charge the fees differently.