LiteFinance Copy Trading: Social Trading, Four Copy Types and Fees

LiteFinance runs its own copy trading platform, called Social Trading, built into the Client Profile. It works as a social network for traders: you can browse a ranking of traders, message them, follow their news feeds and copy their trades automatically, or become a trader others copy. LiteFinance's Social Trading FAQ says the company charges no extra fees for the service; it benefits from the extra trading volume instead.

Copiers pay the trader a share of profits, set by each trader. Everything else, from copy type to loss limits, you control.

How to start copying

1. Fund the account you've set as your main account in the Finance section.
2. Open the Copy section and filter traders by your criteria.
3. Click a trader's nickname to see their profitability chart and details.
4. Choose a copy type, the amount to copy and your copy stop terms.
5. Click Copy; the trader appears in your Portfolio.

You can copy several traders at once, but not the same trader twice; increase your copy amount instead.

Choosing a trader

The ranking shows each trader's lifespan, profit share, profitability, equity and number of copiers. LiteFinance says it can't recommend traders; you choose based on their strategy, risk, history and following. Profitability in the ranking is compounded across balance operations, so deposits and withdrawals can make the figure move unexpectedly. Look at equity and drawdown, not just the headline return.

Profit share and rollover

Each trader sets the share of copiers' profits they receive. Commissions are settled at a rollover every 24 hours at 01:00 platform time, and only if the copier made a profit since the last rollover or the start of copying. Floating losses are taken into account, so the trader is paid only on profit above any unrecorded loss. Withdrawing money or stopping copying triggers a rollover automatically. A trader can change their profit share at any time, but the change only applies to new copiers; your terms stay as they were when you started.

Limiting your risk

The copy stop lets you set a loss limit in your account currency. LiteFinance's example: copy with $1,000 and a maximum loss of $100, and copying stops when your copying amount falls to $900. If you first earn $300, copying only stops after a $400 loss from the peak, since the limit is measured against the initial amount. Equity is checked against the copy stop every 15 seconds. You can also lower risk by copying a fixed percentage of each trade or a fixed share of your equity.

Speed and differences

LiteFinance says copying takes less than 0.5 seconds, but copied trades execute at current prices, so your fills can differ slightly from the trader's. Trades might not copy at all if you lack free margin or copying has been disabled.

Becoming a trader

1. Verify your email, phone, identity and address.
2. Deposit at least $300 to the account you'll make available for copying.
3. In My profile, set your profit share, partner commission and minimum investment.
4. Turn on 'Make available for copy trading' and add a strategy description.

LiteFinance puts no limits on advisers or indicators on trader accounts, and you can't copy your own trades from another account.

Before you copy

• Read the trader's description, or message them with questions.
• Check their lifespan and equity, not only profitability.
• Set a copy stop you can live with.
• Spread money across more than one trader.

The four copy types

LiteFinance offers four ways to size copied trades, including copying a predefined percentage of each of the trader's trades and copying a fixed share of your equity. LiteFinance suggests the fixed-share option to minimise risk when your funds differ greatly from the trader's or you're unsure about their strategy. Its 'How it works' page illustrates all four.

Whichever you choose, changes to copy settings apply only to future trades, not ones already open.

How profitability is shown

LiteFinance compounds profitability across balance operations, so withdrawals and deposits change how the figure moves. Its own example: a trader grows $500 to $550 (10%), withdraws $50, then loses to $450, and the ranking shows -1%, not 0%. Read the equity chart alongside the percentage.

Trader partner commission

Traders can set a share of their profit to pay partners who referred copiers to them. LiteFinance suggests traders set the default to zero and agree individual rates with each partner. For copiers, this doesn't change what you pay; it comes out of the trader's share.

Copy trading costs at a glance

LiteFinance charges nothing extra for copy trading. Your costs are the trader's profit share on profitable periods, plus the normal spreads, ECN commissions and swaps on copied trades. A swap-free account removes swaps from copied positions held overnight.

Copying should be one part of a plan, not the whole plan. Keep some money outside copy trading and review each trader every month against the losses you set as acceptable.

Frequently asked

Related reading

• LiteFinance account types
• LiteFinance minimum deposit
• LiteFinance withdrawal
• LiteFinance platforms
• RoboForex copy trading
• Our full LiteFinance review