Trading for a family member? Am I legally allowed to trade their accounts?

T

TheNotSoGreatGatsby

I've been trading for a bout 2 years. I traded for an equity prop firm for a short 6 months but had a horrible experience. I sucked ass and switched to futures and I've been trading my own account ever since. Being 21 and still living with my Father, you can say I trade for a living as it's my own source of income, but with such a small account, I'm not making much after expenses to grow my account. I'm just trading 1 contracts /ES.

A family member wants to open an account and have me trade for him. My Grandpa to be exact. But he wants to pay me a salary, and not a profit split. He wanted me to come up with a contract and he'll let me know if he agrees with the terms. Am I allowed to trade his account like this? Is there an example contract of such trader for hire services?

Anybody who has experience with this, can you give me some pointers? We are located in the US if that matters, and I trade futures via NinjaTrader Brokerage (Dorman Trading). He invests through IB. I don't know if broker matters or not.
 
I believe you can trade up to 15 accounts before having to register with the sec. Make sure your grandpa knows the risks involved so you don't end up with family problems. Good luck sir.
 
You'll feel like a piece of shit if you lose your friend's or family's money.

What is your performance like the past two years? Largest Drawdown? Annualized return on your money? You don't have to answer me but ask yourself honestly. Having more money won't help you much if you can't trade profitably at small size.
 
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onemoreshot said:
I believe you can trade up to 15 accounts before having to register with the sec. Make sure your grandpa knows the risks involved so you don't end up with family problems. Good luck sir.
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Thanks. Do you know where I could find a legal contract template of a "trader for hire"
 
Zr1Trader said:
You'll feel like a piece of shit if you lose your friends or families money.

What is your performance like the past two years? Largest Drawdown? You don't have to answer me but ask yourself honestly. Having more money won't help you much if you can't trade profitably at small size.
More...

I wouldn't feel comfortable disclosing my financial information publicly. I feel confident in my performance. I've never had a losing month. I must admit though, that I have never traded more than 1 contract at a time. If he agrees to give me the funds, I would be capitalized enough to trade 10 contracts considering intraday margin + my max drawdown*10
 
My best advice is be honest with yourself and grandpa. I'll be honest with you. Don't do it.

You're still young, get a few more years under your belt trading, get a part time job on nights or weekends to help pay your bills while you learn, keep your expenses as low as possible. Scale yourself up to a meaningful level with a good track record before even thinking of managing other peoples money.

Trading is very hard. You should leave other doors open as well in case this doesn't work out for you.
 
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