Risk types

The four sizing strategies, and which to use when.

Every copy needs a lot size. The risk strategy is how Trademetry decides it, and it is the most consequential setting on the copier.

The four strategies

Proportional

Auto-sized to the account ratio. No number to set.

The follower gets the parent's lot size scaled by how big the follower is relative to the parent:

follower lots = parent lots × (follower / parent)

A parent with $180,000 opening 1.00 lots, copied to a $45,000 follower, gives 0.25 lots. Both accounts take the same percentage risk on the same trade.

This is the default answer for a managed book. It self-adjusts: as the follower deposits, withdraws, and profits, its sizes track without you touching anything.

Ratio

Proportional, with a manual multiplier.

follower lots = parent lots × (follower / parent) × risk value

Proportional with a dial on top. A risk value of 1.0 is identical to Proportional; 0.5 is half the risk; 2.0 is double.

Use it when a follower wants the leader's shape but not the leader's intensity — a cautious client on 0.5, an aggressive one on 1.5 — while keeping the self-adjusting property.

A value above 1.0 means the follower takes proportionally more risk than the leader does on their own money. It is a legitimate setting; it is not a free one.

Lot multiplier

A flat multiple of the parent's lots. Account sizes are ignored.

follower lots = parent lots × risk value

A parent trading 1.00 lots with a multiplier of 0.25 always produces 0.25 lots on the follower, whether the follower holds $5,000 or $500,000.

Use it when you want predictable, unchanging sizes — a demo mirror, or a follower whose balance you do not want driving anything.

Nothing about this strategy adapts. If the follower withdraws half its balance, copy sizes stay exactly where they were, and its risk per trade doubles. Pair it with Max Lot and check it after cash flows.

Fixed lot

Always this exact size.

follower lots = risk value

The parent's size is ignored entirely. Every copy is the same volume.

Use it for a follower on a fixed allocation, or where the broker or the mandate requires uniform position sizes. It is the bluntest option and the easiest to reason about.

Balance or equity

Proportional and Ratio both ask for a basis.

Balance is settled cash. It moves on closed trades, deposits, and withdrawals, and not otherwise. It is stable — sizing does not shift underneath you while positions are open.

Equity is balance plus unrealised profit and loss on open positions. It moves continuously. Sizing is more responsive: a follower deep in drawdown automatically takes smaller new positions, and one running profit takes larger ones.

Balance is the conservative default and the one to pick if you are unsure. Equity's responsiveness cuts both ways — it de-risks into a drawdown, which many people want, but it also sizes up into an unrealised gain that has not yet been banked.

What happens after the calculation

The raw number from the strategy is not what gets sent. Three things happen to it, in order:

Rounded down to the broker's lot step
Always down, never up. 0.237 becomes 0.23 at a 0.01 step.
Capped by Max Lot
Your ceiling on the copier, and by the broker's own maximum.
Checked against the broker minimum
If the result is below the minimum — normally 0.01 — the trade is skipped entirely, unless Force Minimum Lot is on, in which case 0.01 is placed.

That last step catches people out. A very small follower under a very large parent can compute 0.004 lots, which rounds to zero and is silently not traded. If a small follower is copying nothing, this is the first thing to check.

Force Minimum Lot is not free. Placing 0.01 where the maths asked for 0.004 is 2.5 times the intended risk. On a small account that is a real difference, and it is a deliberate choice to accept it rather than miss the trade.

Currency conversion

When the parent and follower are denominated in different currencies, the balance and equity ratios are meaningless until one is converted. Currency Adjusted, on by default, does that conversion before the ratio is taken.

Leave it on. It only matters for the ratio strategies — Fixed Lot and Lot Multiplier never look at balances.

Choosing

Situation	Strategy
Managed clients of varying size	Proportional, basis Balance
Same, but this client wants less risk	Ratio at `0.5`
Demo or shadow account	Lot multiplier
Fixed allocation, uniform sizes	Fixed lot
Follower should de-risk in drawdown	Proportional, basis Equity