DislikedThanks, Blacksun. Is it more or less understood, or even explicit, that when one opens an inst. account, then one is open to trading with the Bank's funds for the Bank's clients at some point? Or is that a proposition that arises after one has been in the inst. account for a while....?Ignored
it depends on the bank/broker. a quick thing to note, you dont need to be an institutional type trader to manage people's funds. for example, interbank FX recruits regular retail traders to be CTA's for them. i knew a guy who managed accounts for IBFX and his total amount of traded funds was only 47K.
if you do want to reach for higher money, you can negotiate deals with the banks. i know that some people (like peregrin financial or currenex) will recruit people as IB's or CTA's. you would have to contact the bank/broker to find out for sure, but they are out there.
now, another quick thing to note. in order to trade more than fifteen clients' accounts, you have to register as a COmmodity Trading Advisor (CTA) with the NFA. this is called the series 3 test. it's pretty simple, and you can find plenty of information about it on the web. i suggest looking at the NFA website.
most banks are going to require you to be a CTA if you are going to get referrals from them, or trade their clients accounts as you mentioned. you can, however, bring in up to 15 of your own clients, and not have to register, as long as their total funds dont excede 500K or so. im not to quite sure on that number, however. it's been a while since i took the test. you'll have to check up on all these facts dude. things might have changed in the past two years.
i hope this all helps.