indeed.. IB has over-simplified margin calculation they don't even bother if you have negative-correlated products in the same sector given their size, IB should have a much better risk management system
It seems IB is not the only broker with these issues.... https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...fter-999-house-maintenance-margin-met.306344/
Is this a typo, or do you think that the IB 'exposure fee' has anything at all to do with "possible gain"?
I am also looking to switch out of IB. Any brokers who can trade futures from Canada please let us know.
A lot of people are moaning about IB but so far none of them volunteered their new great brokers. Very telling.
I already moved all my equity trading off them to ToS. I only do futures trading on IB because I live in Canada and there isn't much choice.
I think the fee is IB saying they really don't want these types of higher risk accounts. They obviously know which products they are exposed to the most, so that list must be it. FX products that the OP mention as an example probably don't pose so much of a risk based on what their clients are holding. This is good for IB & other IB Customers who dont take so much overnight risk. The highest risk customers will go elsewhere to avoid this fee.
Agree fully while not denying that improvements can be had on IB's side in terms of estimating and measuring risk. What a lot of the smaller players do not understand is the enormous impact one single high risk event can have on a financial institution. The mistake here is to look only through the own lenses and not considering the aggregate risk a broker may be exposed to. Even contracts like Eurobor do not move much in absolute terms, the aggregate net notional exposure for a broker may look very different.