For asset managers
One decision, every client account, each sized on its own.
For small funds, independent advisers, family offices and small prop desks running several client or strategy accounts: decide the trade once, and each account takes its own share.
One ticket, several accounts
Place the trade once
Build the trade once and set the lots for each account on the same ticket. Before Send, the Review asks the broker what the order does to each account: its margin change and its commission.
Every account then gets its own orders, its own fills and its own line in the blotter.
Lots are set per account; no figure adds accounts together.
Allocations
Each account sized by its own allocation
An algo decides once when to trade. The Allocations table decides how much each account takes: its capital, the most contracts per trade, the share of margin it may use, and whether it takes part at all.
The table says what that buys today for each account, so a smaller account takes a smaller trade from the same decision.
Capital, most contracts per trade, margin share, on or off: per algo, per account.
Per account
P&L and risk never mixed
Each account is its own pot of money. Positions, P&L, margin and the payoff chart are shown per account, and no total adds one client's figures to another's.
Positions, P&L, margin and payoff are shown one account at a time.
Recorded
Every allocation change has a who, a when and a why
Changing an allocation asks for a reason and shows the change before it is made. The history keeps who changed what, when, from what to what, and why.
Orders and fills are recorded per account, as they happen.
An allocation change asks for a reason and keeps before and after.
Brokers
Interactive Brokers today, more brokers coming
Today the multi-account ticket and the allocations work with Interactive Brokers accounts, through TWS or IB Gateway. Support for more brokers is coming, so one decision can reach accounts held at different brokers.
Today: Interactive Brokers accounts. Coming: other brokers.