Partitioning a large account to limit operational risk

I say this because you have to split your cash over more than one account and each account will be margined independently. If you have enough money and don't push your margin, this is not an issue.

Me, I would not do it.

 

I have a LP structure at IB with 10 sub-accounts. I do this to isolate strategies for easier attribution. Note that the accounts are not 'fire-walled' from each other. In other words if you have a large margin event in one account, that margin counts toward the aggregate margin of all sub-accounts.

 

Do you have any documentation from IB that lays out cross account liability in the case of a margin call?

 

That is true. but it has failed on more that one occasion (particularly around corporate actions).

Furthermore, such filters can not bind IB legally if they fail. They have cleaned their hands from an operational failure.

 

don't have a link to that but you should talk to their institutional services helpline for info on that.

 

I believe IB has two types of master/sub-accounts.

1. For SMA-Each sub-account is really a master account (Different owners and SS#s) but under one manager-the master for control.
2. For one owner-An LP, LLC, individual account etc, where there is one "owner" but you want to segregate strategies or authorized trader.

#1 should keep each account independent with regard to margin/equity etc.
#2 should have some type of monitoring for combined risk and margin.

 

IB's lack of documentation on this point is scary!

 

Take a look at section 11D of the account agreement. They can liquidate one account to make up a deficiency in another or go after your personal assets. There are some old threads here where this has happened. I'm not sure if the liquidation of other accounts is automatic, so it's possible you could get some extra time to do an orderly liquidation.

You could form separate LLCs, but there's still the risk of them piercing the corporate veil. You'd have to pay separate professional data fees and couldn't readily transfer funds between them.

 

Thank you! Written information, at last!
Risky business indeed.

 

I am now reaching the unfortunate conclusion that margined accounts are simply too risky to my taste. I may have to roll back to cash only....