What does it mean to copy funded traders into a live account?
Quick answer
It means automatically replicating a funded trader's simulated trades in a real brokerage account, usually scaled down. If the trader is profitable, the real account earns too, offsetting the payout. It turns a pure payout liability into a trading strategy, with real market risk and execution costs.
Detailed answer
Practical issues:
- Execution differences: real fills, slippage and spreads differ from the simulation.
- Scaling: decide the copy ratio per trader.
- Timing: copies lag the original slightly.
- Strategy fit: very short-term or news-driven strategies copy poorly.
- Capital and legal: a brokerage account, margin and possibly regulatory questions.
Firms that do this usually copy only selected traders after several payouts. Selection relies on good data about consistency, drawdown and trade duration. PropExecutor's API provides per-account analytics and full reports, but copying itself is done with separate trade copier tools.
Worked example
A funded trader on a $100,000 simulated account is copied at 20% into a real $20,000 account. If the trader makes 4% in a month, the real account gains about $800 before costs, partly offsetting the $3,200 payout at an 80% split. If the trader loses, the real account loses too.
Start small
Firms usually begin by copying one or two traders at a low ratio.
PropExecutor team · Updated