IB has a fairly large PB service now. Any legitimate fund or major trader in the energy space (eg Bone) uses webICE (or its replacement once it gets out of beta) so how does that work with a shop using IB as PB? Give up agreement and use another broker that has webice to execute and IB just holds overnight? But then does IB follow the SPAN default margins provided by ICE for the webice products? I really like IB’s portfolio margining on the equity side and that in combination with their universal account has been hard to replicate elsewhere via margin financing agreement. First, you need a FCM that has an associated BD like Wedbush or Macquarie. Then you need them to offer margin financing that takes equity portfolios as collateral. Then you need them to not have usurious rates and or massive haircuts. Haven’t found that yet.
We do not offer Universal accounts but we do offer PMA and many third-party platforms for futures including WebICE. If you prefer to Prime at IB, and they will accept a Give UP agreement, I'd be happy to discuss an execution-only arrangement but I expect we can all your business.