Currently I am researching and drafting up documents for a CTA. I am looking on advice for brokerages. I use transact currently for my prop account and haven't had any problems. Although my trades are not high frequency, my holding time can be very short term depending on market speed (few seconds). Seeing as I will obviously be trading a larger amount of contracts for multiple accounts, fills and execution will play more of a factor. I have seen youtube videos of transact vs zenfire and transact obviously lags a bit. I am looking for insight from any CTA's out there. What broker/platform do you use? Do they offer a single DOM for all accounts? I will use this thread for further questions as I know I will have more.
IB has a terrible data feed, it is slower than transact and just looking at Eagle's site turns me off. There is no mention of services for CTA's.
Since you are drawing up your own disclosure documents, have you figured out how you plan to explain the conflict between your duty to seek best execution for your client, and your need for hand-holding from an FCM?
It seems you are offended, sorry about that. I'm sure my clients will appreciate me opting for the best FCM that provides transparency with customer funds, allows give ups, sends daily statements, doesn't have a website from 2004, etc etc. Sorry, I don't want to risk client money with your CBOT boys club FCM. http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Eagle-Market-Makers-Reviews-E315561.htm "Misleading and unorganized Erratic and irrational management" "Little coaching and/or mentoring. No guidance Some of the highest fees in the industry" Your right, THAT is the kind of place I want to hold customer funds! If wanting an FCM that doesn't sound like that is considered hand holding, then you're damn right I want an FCM that will hold both my hands. Go tell your senior management they need some serious upgrades, this isn't 2004 anymore. Classic elite trader.
I would like you to consider our brokerage for CTA clearing. We use Rithmic (low latency+unfiltered data) as our backbone to fuel many platforms: Ninja, Multicharts, Sierra, etc You will have access to each individual account you trade and at the same time have a control account for your entire account trading. Our back office staff will help your customers with paperwork and accommodating individuals needs: IRAs, LLCs, etc Since some of your trades will be of short time span, we can offer drip order, time sensitive orders, and real time reporting categories (filtering open/closed/cancelled, etc) In the event that your customers don't want to leave their FCM, we can open give up agreements with other firms. We have done so with RJO,IB,Straits,etc Naturally, you can view,test and get a demo of anything you need before you make a switch. I wish you well in the growth of your CTA, and hope you find a good solution for your trading needs. Thank you.
You should let your clients choose their preferred FCM or introducing broker, if any. T4 is solid for execution on multiple accounts.
Right. But shouldn't all accounts be centralized with 1 FCM? The client can choose their preferred FCM as long as it accepts give ups on behalf of my FCM? Am I right with that logic?