Can one person fund the entire master account and bear all the losses, while splitting any profits amongst several parties? Or does each account need to be individually funded?
What kind of an idiot does this? REWARD without RISK? I am sure everyone wants to be the "several parties"
You cannot trade in the master account at all. It is only for paying market data fees if applicable. You get a separate 'individual account' for your own trading, along with accounts for your FF. Each account is individually funded. You could setup a billing structure so that you receive a share of the profits in the individual's accounts. However, you cannot transfer money back to make up for their losses. You cannot transfer money into other people's accounts through IB at all. If what you want is to setup a formal 'don't worry, I'll cover the losses' guarantee to get some FF money to invest, you would need to setup an LLC with a member agreement that specifies the profit/loss allocation you want.