Greetings, I found that IB's portfolio margin requirement is way higher for collar than a risk-equivalent call spread, sometimes 10 times higher for some stocks. The comparison is set up like the following: K1 is the lower strike, S is the stock price, K2 is the higher strike. K1 < S < K2 Collar: 100x stock + 1x put @ K1 - 1x call @ K2 Call spread: 1x call @ K1 - 1x call @ K2 Both strategy should have the same risk profile: _/▔. How would they have such different margin requirement? What am I missing? Thanks!
I know it makes it tough to convert from D1 to a collar/synthetic bull spread (earnings, etc) when you have no idea WTF IBKR's haircut is going to be. Clown shoes. They have become a joke. https://optionsroute.com/ I haven't used them but know someone who speaks well of them.
Dumb question maybe: what did you mean by "D1"? Also, the reason I'm interested in the margin of collars is they seem to have a smaller slippage than call spreads.
I am using TD ameritrade with portfolio margin and use their API. I was thinking of moving to IB as the margins from TDA was higher than IB. But in IB there is a 30% margin rule for concentrated positions. Do you know what that means?