Hi everyone, A little confused about all this. I am a self-directed retail trader and I need institutional level access for some of the trades I'd like to make, and wanted to clear through JPM Securities using the Trading Technologies platform. I was told I am being given access through GIO (Global Investment Opportunities) and be given DMA to execute my trades directly. I believe GIO is part of the Private Bank side of the firm, so I don't know if I'm going to be given the same access as say hedge funds when they broker with JPM. Maybe the route I'm going through GIO (but self-directed, cutting out the middle man and being given DMA) still clears through JPM Securities? Do all institutions that make trades through the IB side of the firm clear through JPM Securities? Even if so, I wonder what I'm missing out on by doing this through the Private Bank side of the firm in terms of accessibility, features, risk management, algo order routing etc.
Most FCMs offer TT. If you are a retail trader, and this will not be a $50mm account, I'm not sure what the advantage is of using a large bank with a small retail account.
Why do you need institutional level access if you are a retail trader, and why would anyone grant you that? You should probably address this concern to your account manager or whoever your point of contact is at JPM.
Thanks for your response Robert. It is a sizable account, but more importantly I am unable to do the trades I’d like to do at a retail broker. When I said I am a retail trader, I only meant I use the regular online discount brokerages everyone is familiar with. A few things I would need: Most importantly, a broker which doesn’t cater to retail clients and therefore doesn’t have hard coded risk software processes that can’t be modified on an individual basis. I don’t want risk stopping my trades and reviewing them because of their size, or asking me to modify them and break them down to smaller size. Want to be able to move in and out with size on SPX options to the tune of hundreds of thousands of contracts in as fast a time as my algo can find liquidity and execute (hundreds of milliseconds to seconds). These trades are very illiquid, deep out of the money and same day or next day expiry. Most retail brokers tell me there is a chance risk might review the order if such size and speed is presented, ask me to break it down, go in slower, etc. These are long options, so they pose no risk to the firm. No margin. I doubt any big IB would care to do the same, as this would be catastrophic for the strategy regarding my index (but also etf and equity option) trading. The ability to trade SPX options and other index options that become available overnight (and with size and speed as I see fit, exception of course being any exchange-set limitation) the ability to close massive positions (usually in the index options, especially overnight, and to a lesser extent etf and equity options) without moving markets - block trades, multiple contacts, better support on institutional level, good access to multiple liquidity pools, etc The ability to trade futures (thousands of contracts of emini sp500 or nasdaq equivalent per day) but with good day trade margin and very low commission not having (or at least reducing as much as possible) as many limitations on max position size, daytrade margin, max clip size per market order or limit order, etc. again, well aware there are exchange limits. Bonus: do all this fairly cheaply, I know people with /ES commission at a nickel per contract at JPM that are trading roughly my size for example (their day trade margin is $2k per contract and their max position size is usually 1,000 contracts with ~4k contract turnover per day) Hope all that helps
Depending on where your capital gets you they will become cheaper. The fastest and most productive-accessible firm you'll be using as a broker. Especially broad selection if you qualify for international products and any not listed exchange opportunities.
Well, this is much more complicated then the OP. It sounds like you need a PMA for your SPX options and futures account for your ES future. It also sounds like you need internal cross margining and very high limits that they can provide if your PMA is over $5mm and JPM sees a substantial balance sheet. Reading this now, I’m unsure as to what information you were hoping to gather with your post.
Yea, the OP was just a question about brokering with an investment bank through their private bank side of the firm as opposed to brokering through their investment bank side (S&T I guess). I have no idea what difference that could make as it regards features, access, routing, execution, risk management processes, etc. How do hedge funds do it? Guessing its through the IB side? You asked me why I needed it and/or for some clarification so that's why I went on that tangent! I think my question in the OP was clear. If not, I have summarized it again in the first paragraph. I don't think I need PMA for SPX options? They are purely directional trades and am trading them outright. Largely just long puts and long calls, no margin, no risk to the firm. I don't want to have to separate the options trading from the futures trading either.
Is this topic about investing? No silly girl. Investing and trading may both involving stocks (or futures) but there are certainly not the same. "I recently discovered trading, I never knew it was a thing, I thought it was for Wall Street people."