Which Forex MAM Is Best, IC Markets Or Alpari?

Forex trading MAM or Money Manager accounts have been popular over the past few years with scores of skilled money managers appearing on the forex scene and displaying some big profits. Deciding on the best money manager is naturally crucial, however it is the equipment that the money manager employs that can provide him with a genuine advantage in the forex market. There are plenty of reviews on-line comparing money manager performance however there are very few which give an analysis of the tools successful money managers use to give them with an edge. In this brief review we are going to compare the MAM tools offered by 2 of the world’s best brokers offering MAM accounts, Alpari and IC Markets.

I will start this evaluation by saying that both providers are outstanding and have allot of experience on the subject of offering MAM accounts and offering some great tools to money managers. Both fx brokers do however have very different offerings this is what prompted me to write this appraisal.

There are actually just three main aspects that make a great MAM offering they are:

1. Manager and Client Reporting

2. Trade Allocation Methods

3. Deal Management

Before scripting this review I consulted eighteen separate money managers from six countries around the world in an effort to obtain a sense about what skilled money managers themselves want and need in a MAM. In addition to consulting the money managers I asked them what they thought of the MAM offerings supplied by both Alpari and IC Markets, this helped me in writing the content of this review.

So to cut to the chase I will separate this evaluation up into three components, in each part we’ll discuss the 3 core aspects of both brokers MAM offering.

Part 1 – Manager and Customer Reporting

Superior reporting is a vital aspect of any good MAM tool, it is because of this we are going to discuss this key aspect to start with. Both IC Markets and Alpari have excellent reporting systems which permit the manager to observe client accounts in addition to the manager accounts. IC Markets on the other hand provides a few added features like web based reporting, outside of the MT4 console, most managers which I called see this as a tremendous benefit as people are able to log into their web based reports from any location without having to down load the Metatrader 4 terminal. Web based reporting also makes it possible for money managers to check their MAM remotely without having to log into a VPS, managers using IC Markets web based reporting also have the edge of being able to run reports on the fly and verify logs without needing to extract messy files from MT4. On the reporting front IC Markets really does give managers in addition to their clients an edge over the extremely simplistic system offered by Alpari.

Part 2 – Order Allocation Strategies

Deal allocation versatility is essential for those money managers operating a number of unique trading strategies based on varying deal allocation logic. The most typical forms of order allocation techniques utilized by money managers are percentage based; money based or set size allocation methods. Not surprisingly both IC Markets and Alpari handle each of the common allocation techniques fine, where the difference arises between both fx brokers are more on the technical side and how each forex broker performs technical calculations such as the allocation of residual lots and balances. Many of the money managers that I contacted favored the methodology employed by IC Markets regarding the allocation of profits and losses incurred by residual order exposure. IC Markets MAM breaks down the profits and losses incurred by residual balances by automatically debiting and crediting customers accounts on an automatic basis. Comparatively speaking this is quite advanced when compared to the system which Alpari uses to allocate residual Profits and Losses, which are simply allocated back to the manager’s trading account. IC Markets are well in front of Alpari regarding this feature.

Part 3 – Trade Management

Having control over the deals that money manager’s place is necessary in any MAM setup. The majority of MAM tools these days just allow for simple trade management from the managers MAM console. Luckily both Alpari and IC Markets let managers fully manage their trades. The Alpari MAM tool enables money managers to place, amened and cancel orders from the manager’s console, which suits most money manager’s very well. IC Markets also enables trades to be controlled in the identical way from the manager console; however IC Markets MAM has an advantage over the Alpari MAM in that it provides money managers the ability to also amend other deal elements such as allocation methods from the MAM console on the fly. IC Markets also allows the remote management of trades though their web based MAM management tool, this means that deals can be managed without the need to log into a virtual private server.

Summary

Both Alpari and IC Markets provide money managers with some excellent MAM tools the majority of which will suit most money managers just fine. However if you’re a money manager and you want tools which are more advanced than most, IC Markets would definitely be a fantastic pick. A few of the benefits that IC Markets provides money managers are very significant when put next to the Alpari money manager offering. IC Markets has truly kept up with technology when it comes to designing MAM systems for money managers, and in my opinion they have the very best MAM offering in the world.

I strongly advise you get a hold of an IC Markets Metatrader 4 demo and trial an IC Markets MAM.