Managed Account
Also known as: managed forex account, discretionary managed account, money-managed account, power of attorney account
What is it?
A managed account is a trading account in your own name that a professional trades on your behalf under a limited power of attorney, so the money stays yours while the decisions become theirs. The structure is what separates it from copy trading. You sign a limited power of attorney that lets the manager place trades but never withdraw funds, and you agree a fee schedule, commonly a performance fee of 20 to 30 percent of new profit and sometimes a small management fee on the balance.
Managed account vs copy trading: where control actually sits
Managed account
- A manager trades your account under power of attorney
- No per-trade veto; the discretion is theirs
- Stopping means revoking authority through the broker
- Fees are typically a share of new profit
- The manager can adapt to conditions in real time
Most delegation, least ability to intervene
Copy trading
- A copier mirrors a leader's trades into your account
- You set the size, the caps and the stop level
- You can stop the copier mid-trade at any moment
- Fees are often a spread markup or a subscription
- The leader cannot adapt to your account's constraints
Less delegation, and an off switch you hold
On a 20,000 dollar account that gains 3,000 dollars in a quarter, a 25 percent performance fee takes 750 dollars and leaves you 2,250. The critical difference from copying is the off switch. In copy trading you can stop the copier mid-trade and manage the open position yourself.
In a managed account the manager holds discretion, so stopping them usually means giving notice or revoking the trading authority through the broker, and there is no per-trade veto in between. That trade-off buys you a manager who can adapt to conditions, and costs you the ability to intervene while they are doing it.
Why it matters: A managed account hands a professional discretion over your trades but never access to withdraw your funds, which is a very different trade-off from copying a trader.
Performance fee = (new profit above the high-water mark) x the agreed fee rate
Discretion sits with the manager, so their drawdown becomes your drawdown with no per-trade veto available to you while it develops.
Real-world example
An investor watched a 14 percent drawdown develop over three weeks and could not close the positions themselves; the trading authority had to be revoked through the broker before the account stopped trading.
How SignalBots handles it
SignalBots is not a managed-account service. Signals arrive with entry, stop and target, and every position is opened by you or by your own connector, so discretion never leaves your side.
See /risk-warning.
Pro tip
Confirm in writing that the power of attorney is trading-only and excludes withdrawals, and that the account is in your name at a regulated broker rather than pooled into the manager's.
Common pitfalls
Choosing a manager on headline return without asking for the maximum drawdown, the full fee schedule and the notice period needed to stop them trading.
Frequently asked questions
How is a managed account different from copy trading?
In copy trading the trades are mirrored into your account and you can stop the copier at any moment. In a managed account the manager holds discretion and there is no per-trade veto, so exiting normally means revoking authority through the broker.
Can the manager withdraw my money?
Under a properly written limited power of attorney, no: it grants trading authority only. Read the document before signing and confirm that withdrawal rights stay with you alone.
What fees are typical?
A performance fee of 20 to 30 percent of new profit is the common structure, usually with a high-water mark so you are not charged twice for recovering the same losses. Some managers add a small annual management fee on top.
Is a managed account regulated?
It depends entirely on the jurisdiction and the manager. Some are licensed and supervised; many operating in retail forex are not. Verify any licence with the regulator directly rather than trusting a certificate reproduced on a website.
What happens during a losing period?
You absorb the loss in full. Performance fees apply only to profit, and a high-water mark means the manager earns nothing until the previous peak is regained. That protects you from paying twice, but it does not protect the capital. Your capital is at risk.
Trading involves substantial risk of loss. Historical and backtested results do not guarantee future performance. Read the full risk warning.
