HotForex offers a copy trading service called “HF Copy”.
Traders called “Strategy Providers” who have passed HotForex’s screening process will deliver their trade signals.
All you have to do is create an account for HF Copy and follow your favorite strategy provider.
The strategy provider’s trades will be copied and your MT4 will automatically trade in the same way.
If you follow a good strategy provider, your money may grow on its own without you even leaving it.
This article will explain the details of HotForex copy trading and how to get started.
- What is HotForex copy trading service “HF Copy”?
- Difference between Copy Trading and EA (Automatic Trading)
- Features of HF Copy
- How to start HF Copy
- How to choose a good strategy provider
- What is Copy Trading?
- The people who should use copy trading.
- The difference between copy trading and EA (automated trading)
- What is HF Copy
- Features of HF Copy
- HF Copy is a highly transparent MAM
- Strategy provider’s performance is disclosed in detail.
- Need to create a dedicated account for copy trading.
- You can follow and unfollow strategy providers at any time.
- No initial cost
- No need for difficult setup of tools
- No need to prepare an environment such as a VPS or dedicated server
- Basic rules for HF copy trading
- How HotForex Copy Trading Works
- How to choose a good strategy provider
- How to start copy trading with HotForex
- Recommended parameters
- Summary
What is Copy Trading?
Copy trading is the process of copying and automatically trading the same content that professional or advanced traders actually trade.
It is also sometimes referred to as mirror trading or social trading.
If you can find a good provider, it is not impossible to leave your money in his hands and earn profits by leaving the rest to him.
The number of lots you can order can be adjusted depending on the amount of money you have and other settings. This allows you to copy trade with less money and less risk.
The detailed settings for HotForex copy trading are described below.
The people who should use copy trading.
Copy trading is recommended for the following people.
- Lack of confidence in discretionary trading.
- I’ve been losing a lot lately.
- Busy and don’t have time to trade.
- I want to learn the methods of advanced traders and professional traders through practice.
- Want to make money without effort.
As a beginner, you may not be able to do technical analysis and even know when to enter the market.
By finding a distributor with a good track record, you can not only increase your chances of making a profit, but you can also improve your own trading skills by learning from the actual trades of such advanced traders.
The basic premise is that even if you copy trades, you will not always win.
If the person you follow makes a mistake in a trade, you may lose money.
Even if you lose money, no one will compensate you for it.
You need to understand that you are solely responsible for your own actions.
The difference between copy trading and EA (automated trading)
You may be thinking that copy trading and EA (automated trading) are the same, but there are differences as follows.
| Criteria | HF Copy Trading | EA (Automated Trading) |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Cost | Free | Need to purchase EA tool |
| Usage Fee | Need to pay performance fee | Basically, No. But depends on EA tools. |
| Operating environment | No need. Only MT4 is needed. | Yes. You need to prepare VPS or server that can run 24h. |
| Installing the tool | No need. | Yes. Expertise required. |
| Screening of distributors | Yes. All is passed. | No |
| Are the distributors actually trading too? | Yes | No / Uncertain |
Copy trading with HotForex does not require any particular purchase of tools, difficult settings, or preparation of a dedicated environment.
For HotForex copy trading, you need to pay a post-transaction fee based on the amount of profit you have earned, called “Performance Fee”.
The remuneration setting varies from strategy provider , but it is usually 20-30% of the profit earned.
In the case of EA (automated trading) tools, you first need to find an excellent tool. Many EA (automated trading) tools are available on MQL forums for MT4 and MT5.
You should consider that the best EA (automated trading) tools are paid first. I sometimes see EA (automated trading) tools being distributed free of charge on the Internet or Twitter, but these tools require the use of a specific forex broker. These tools require the use of a specific forex broker, and by having the customer open an account with a specific broker, the broker pay an introduction fee to the tool author.
Also, EA (automated trading) tools require a dedicated environment.
EA (automated trading) tools are installed in the MT4 or MT5, and some technical knowledge is required.
As you can see, although copy trading and EA (automated trading) tools are similar, there are actually major differences in terms of cost and operation.
Personally, I think the biggest difference is whether or not the distributor is also doing the actual trading.
In the case of HotForex copy trading, the distributor (called “Strategy Provider”) is also trading on its own real account.
Of course, they are trading with their own money, so they are desperate. Naturally, they are trying their best to avoid losing money. HotForex’s copy trading is a way to copy those desperate trades.
In the case of EA (automated trading), we do not know if the person who created the tool (the creator) is using the tool to trade in the same way. Maybe the purpose is to get money for selling EA (automated trading) tools, and they don’t care if EA tool really make a profit or not. In fact, it is a fact that there are such malicious EA (automated trading) tools out there, and in the case of EA (automated trading), the first and most important point is to find a really good tool.
Personally, I think that copy trading is easier for beginners to start with.
What is HF Copy
HotForex offers a copy trading service called HF Copy.
The distributors are called Strategy Providers, and they are all traders who have passed HotForex’s screening process.
As of April 2021, HotForex has 730 strategy providers.
By following these strategy providers, you can copy the trades they make and trade them.
In order to copy trade at HotForex, you need to open a special account for copy trading, separate from your regular trading account. The account dedicated for copy trading is called a follower account.
| Definitions | Meanings |
|---|---|
| Strategy Provider | Trade Distributors |
| Follower | You |
| Follow | Copying a strategy provider’s trades |
| My Follower Account | Dedicated HotForex Copy Trading Account |
Features of HF Copy
Copy trading at HotForex has the following features.
HF Copy is a highly transparent MAM
There are two types of copy trading: the MAM method and the PAMM method.
HotForex copy trading is a highly transparent MAM method.
There are specific differences between the MAM and PAMM methods as follows.
In MAM, you can view your trade history, which means that you are doing the same thing as if you were doing a discretionary trade yourself, only you are copying it, so when you view it in MT4, you can properly see it as your trade history.
With PAMM, you cannot see the trade history.
HotForex also offers PAMM. It’s not that one is better than the other, but that they are very similar and very different.
MAM is a copy trade, while PAMM is like putting your money in the hands of a money manager called a fund manager and having him manage it for you.
| MAM （HFCopy) | PAMM | |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic Place Order | ✔ | ✔ |
| Automatic Close Order | ✔ | ✔ |
| View Order History | ✔ | ❌ |
| Close Position by Yourself (e.g. Urgent Case) | ✔ | ❌ |
Strategy provider’s performance is disclosed in detail.
HotForex provides detailed information on the performance of strategy providers.
You can see not only whether they are profitable or not, but also the maximum unrealized loss (drawdown) in the past, the history of their balance, and the status of their deposits and withdrawals in the past. You can evaluate these results and follow the strategy providers that look good.
I will explain in more detail later on how to look at each strategy provider’s performance and how to specifically choose one.
Need to create a dedicated account for copy trading.
In order to use copy trading at HotForex, you need to create a special account called “My Follower Account”.
It is not possible to use your regular trading account for copy trading.
This means that you can accurately monitor the performance of your copy trade by separating it from your discretionary trading account.
You can follow and unfollow strategy providers at any time.
You can follow and unfollow strategy providers whenever you want.
If you do not see the performance you were expecting after following a strategy provider, you can unfollow it immediately.
There is no contract period, so you will not be charged any penalties. You can cancel even on the same day you follow it.
No initial cost
There is no initial cost to start copy trading with HotForex.
You don’t need to buy any tools like EA (automated trading), and you don’t need to pay any fees to start using it.
No need for difficult setup of tools
Copy trading with HotForex can be started as long as you have MT4.
There is no need to install any additional tools or make any difficult settings like with EA (automatic trading).
No need to prepare an environment such as a VPS or dedicated server
In the case of EA (automated trading), you need to keep the EA tool, which is additionally installed in MetaTrader, running at all times, 24 hours.
Since it is difficult to keep a home PC running 24 hours a day, a dedicated virtual server environment called a VPS is usually built when using EA tools. This costs a monthly fee and also requires expertise in building the environment and remote desktop connection.
HotForex copy trading does not require a specialized environment, so you do not need to have any specialized knowledge or build an environment.
Basic rules for HF copy trading
This section explains the basic rules that you need to know in order to start copy trading with HotForex.
Each person can create up to three My Follower accounts.
You can open up to three My Follower accounts in total.
Each My Follower account allows you to follow one strategy provider.
This means that you can follow up to 3 strategy providers at the same time.
HotForex allows you to create up to 7 additional accounts, but you can also create up to 3 My Follower accounts for copy trading.
Account specs are fixed.
The account specs for My Follower account are fixed.
The leverage is also fixed at 1:400 and cannot be changed.
Leverage : 1:400
Min Deposit (1st time): 100 USD
Min Deposit (2nd time~) : 50 USD
Stop out level : 20%
Margin call level : 50%
Account base currency : USD Only
Only MT4 is allowed
The only trading tool available is MT4.
If you have been using only MT5 account at HotForex, you will need to install MT4.
No bonus applied
No deposit bonus will be applied when you deposit to your My Follower account.
Pay commission only if you make a profit.
This is a very important point.
If you make a profit, you will pay the strategy provider a specified percentage of the profit you make.
On the other hand, if you do not make a profit but have a negative result, you do not have to pay the commission.
Commission payments are made every other Saturday, and the total profit and loss for the two weeks is used to calculate the commission.
If you make a profit on one day and a loss on another, the commission will be calculated based on the total profit. If the total is negative, no commission is due.
The commission rate varies from strategy provider to strategy provider, but it is usually 20-30%.
Minimum deposit is 0
The minimum deposit to My Follower account is $100.
The minimum deposit for the second and subsequent deposits is $50.
Minimum starting amount varies by strategy provider
Each strategy provider has a minimum amount that you can start with.
This depends on the strategy used by the strategy provider. However, most strategy providers have a minimum starting amount of $100 and do not require a lot of money.
The maximum number of followers for a strategy provider is 400.
Naturally, the best strategy providers with the best results are the most popular.
In order to avoid overloading the server, HotForex has set the maximum number of strategy providers to 400 followers.
The image shows Hally, a very popular strategy provider on HotForex, who already has 390 followers. When the number of followers reaches 400, you cannot follow him any more.
It has already been about a year and a half since he started delivering his trades, and his total profit margin is an amazing 15622%. It’s no wonder it’s so popular.
If you can find an excellent strategy provider like this one, it will increase your assets on its own.
How HotForex Copy Trading Works
HotForex Copy Trading is a system that allows you to trade by copying the actual trades made by the strategy providers you follow.
The currency pair, entry and close timing will be exactly the same as the strategy provider, but the number of lots to be traded will be automatically calculated considering the difference in the amount of equity.
The number of lots to be traded is calculated using the following formula.
Your Equity ÷ Strategy Provider Equity × Volume Allocation ＝ Lots
The Trading Volume Allocation percentage is a parameter that you place when following a strategy provider.
It can be set in the range of 20% to 100%.
If you set it to 100%, the number of lots will be as automatically calculated.
If you specify 50%, the system will trade with an additional half of the automatically calculated number of lots.
Let me explain the example in the figure.
For example, suppose the amount of funds was as follows
| Trader | Equity | Volume Allocation |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy Provider | $5,000 | – |
| Follower A | $400 | 100% |
| Follower B | $400 | 50% |
| Follower C | $10,000 | 100% |
This means that Follower A and Follower B have 8% of the strategy provider’s equity, and Follower C has 200% (double) of the strategy provider’s equity.
In addition, Follower B has set its volume allocation to 50% to reduce risk.
With this setup, if the strategy provider places an order for 1.0 lot, the order volume for each follower would be as follows
| Trader | Calculation | Order |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy Provider | – | 1.0 Lot |
| Follower A | 400 ÷ 5,000 × 100% | 0.08 Lot |
| Follower B | 400 ÷ 5,000 × 50% | 0.04 Lot |
| Follower C | 10,000 ÷ 5,000 × 100% | 2.0 Lot |
In other words, if you have less money, it will automatically trade with less lots.
On the other hand, if you have more money, it will automatically trade in larger lots.
In addition, you can adjust the parameters of the volume allocation.
Many strategy providers trade in small lots such as 0.01 lots, so if you want to pursue more profit immediately, you can add more funds.
The minimum order lot size in HotForex is 0.01 lot. If the above calculation results in less than 0.01 lot, the order will not be executed.
However, you can use the parameter to round up the order to 0.01 lot even if the result is less than 0.01 lot. The details will be explained later.
How to choose a good strategy provider
Here I will explain how to choose a good strategy provider from my point of view.
There are over 700 strategy providers in HotForex.
The results and financial status of all strategy providers are available to the public, and you can search for a strategy provider that seems to have good results.
I think the following is the key to choosing a good strategy provider.
- Have a track record of at least 3 months
- Has maintained a positive profit margin in the recent past
- The maximum drawdown is small
- Not trading extremely large lot sizes
- Maintain a certain amount of money
I will explain in detail while looking at the screen.
Strategy List
First, look at this list to find a strategy provider that seems to be somewhat of a candidate.
The list of strategy providers includes the name, Gain (total profit margin), maximum drawdown, number of followers, stability score, and number of active days.
You can sort the list by clicking on each column title.
Click “Show Filters” to narrow down your search.
Performance
From the list of strategy providers, click on “View Profile” of the strategy provider you are interested in to see the performance of each strategy provider.
The first thing you will see is a graph of performance.
The image shows the performance of one strategy provider over the past year and a half or so.
In addition to the graph, you can also see the monthly profit margin for each month.
This person has been accumulating profits steadily, but you can see that in July and August of 2020, the monthly performance was negative. However, if we look at the total annual performance, it is positive, so we can say that this trader has a very good performance if we use it for the long term.
The triangles in the graph are the records of deposits and withdrawals. If you mouse over the triangle, you can see when and how much you have deposited/withdrawn.
Equity vs Balance
You can see the status of your strategy provider’s fund balance.
The key point here is whether the balance is being managed properly.
You can see that the strategy provider in the image has been controlling the margin balance to be around $1000 at all times recently. As a result, this provider withdraw money frequently when they make a profit.
The fact that he controls his margin balance to be a certain amount means that the number of lots he trades in the aforementioned copy trade will also be a certain amount.
In addition, we can see that this person is not a gambling trader who would increase the number of trading lots by compounding interest even if he were to make a profit.
Financial Statistics
These are the total historical performance figures.
This strategy provider has a total earned profit of $9846 on a total deposit of $1134. That’s a pretty good performance.
Trading
Here are the details of the trade.
In the pie chart on the left, you can see the symbols that the strategy provider trades.
Although he trades GBPUSD the most, he also trades other currency pairs and gold. This shows that he is a trader with some knowledge of the broader market.
The numbers on the right side show the average number of trades.
The average trading lot is 0.1 lots, indicating that he is a trader who does not trade large lots, but rather accumulates profits steadily while keeping risks low.
Trading Activity
You can see the details of the most recent trade that the strategy provider did.
You can see that this person is not doing extreme scalping, but day trading to swing trading.
One trade was closed 5 days after the order was placed, and we can see that he made a profit of $5. Probably, he is placing orders when he predicts the price movement based on prior analysis, with setting stop loss and take profit.
In this way, you can get a good idea of the strategy provider’s trading style by looking at their performance, money management status, and recent trade records.
Compare this to your own evaluation criteria and find a good provider.
How to start copy trading with HotForex
Now let’s start copy trading!
I will explain the specific steps to start copy trading HotForex.
The general flow is as follows.
- Open an account with HotForex and complete the verification process
- Make a deposit to your wallet account
- Create an account for copy trading
- Choose a strategy provider
- Set up your copy trade
Open an account with HotForex and complete the identity verification process.
First, you need to open an account with HotForex and complete the identity verification process.
If you haven’t opened an account yet, please do so while reading the separate article “HotForex | How to Open an Account“.
This article also explains in detail how to upload your personal identification documents.
＼Just 3 minutes!!／
The procedure for opening an account is as follows.
Click on “Open Live Account” from the top page.
From the official HotForex website, click on Open Live Account.
Enter basic information
Enter your basic information. You will then receive an email to activate your account.
Log in to myHF and enter your personal information
You will receive an email with login information to myHF (myHotForex Portal).
Login to myHF and enter your personal information.
Upload your personal identification documents
Follow the on-screen guidance to upload the file.
Make a deposit into your “MyWallet”
Deposit funds in your wallet account in advance to fund the account where you will be copy trading.
The minimum deposit amount is $100, but you should deposit more than the minimum starting amount defined by the strategy provider you are following, which will be explained later.
The deposit method is the same as for a regular account, and the flow is as follows
However, for the transfer of funds to the My Followers account in ②, the amount specified when setting up the start of copy trading will be automatically transferred. Therefore, it is necessary to make a deposit in advance before starting copy trading. See below for details.
- Deposit funds to your wallet account (myWallet) using your preferred deposit method
- Transfer funds from your Wallet account to your My Follower account
The HotForex deposit procedure is carefully explained in the separate article “HotForex Deposit Methods | Fees and Conditions“. Please refer to this article to make a deposit.
Create an account for copy trading.
Login to the HotForex member page “myHF” and select “My Follower Account” from the HF Copy menu.
Alternatively, you can also create a follower account from the HF Copy area at the bottom of the myHF area.
Answers to the Appropriateness Test
In order to start copy trading with HotForex, you need to pass the aptitude test.
After answering the questions on the screen, click Submit Answer. If there are no problems, you can proceed to create a My Follower account.
Opening a follower account
Open a follower account.
As mentioned above, the leverage is fixed at 1:400, and no other account specs can be specified.
When you open an account, you will be shown the login information for MT4, so make sure you remember your account ID, password, and connection server name. In addition, you have also received an email with the same information. Please check it.
Follow Strategy Providers
Let’s quickly follow the strategy provider.
From the myHF area, follow HF Copy -> My Follower Accounts to view the list of My Follower Accounts.
Click “Follow a Strategy” in the My Follower account you created.
A list of strategy providers will be displayed. Select a trader whose performance looks good and click “Follow”.
I will explain in detail how to select and view the results of strategy providers later.
Setting up a copy trade
By following the selected strategy provider, a copy trade will be initiated.
In this screen, you can specify various parameters (settings) for copy trading.
Each item is explained below.
Choose Follower Account :
You can select which of the My Follower Accounts you have created will be used to follow a strategy provider.
You can create up to three My Follower accounts.
Amount (USD) to be added under strategy :
Specify the initial amount of funds to be invested.
Here, I have specified $100, which is the minimum amount specified by the strategy provider.
The amount you specify here will be automatically transferred from your wallet account to your My Follower account. Please make sure you have made your deposit in advance.
Choose Volume Allocation :
When copying a trade from a strategy provider, you can set whether you want to copy it same (100%) or with a slightly reduced number of trading lots.
The distribution percentage can be selected in the range of 20% to 100%.
As mentioned above, HotForex copy trading automatically calculates the difference between the strategy provider and your capital amount, and if your capital amount is low, it will trade with the corresponding number of lots.
You can further reduce the lot size by setting the allocation ratio.
For example, if you set the allocation ratio at 20%, you would normally place an order for 1.0 lot (at 100%), but now you can place an order for 0.2 lots.
Choose Rescue Level :
This is similar to the stop out level, which can be selected in the range of 0-40%.
When the margin maintenance ratio reaches the percentage you specify here, all positions will be automatically closed, and the remaining funds in your My Follower account will be automatically transferred to your Wallet account.
In other words, the system not only automatically closes the position in case of danger, but also transfers the entire balance of the account to zero to protect it from being automatically placed the next time.
It’s safe.
Copy Minimum Volume 0.01 :
HotForex has a minimum order quantity of 0.01 lots. If the amount of orders for copy trades, calculated based on the difference between the strategy provider’s and your funds, as well as the aforementioned volume allocation ratio, is less than 0.01 lots, then basically no orders will be placed.
However, if this parameter is set to “Yes”, the order volume will be automatically rounded up to 0.01 lots if it is below 0.01 lots.
Install MetaTrader4(MT4)
See the following article to install MT4 for PC or MT4 for smartphone application.
Use MT4 to confirm your copy trade positions and to manually close them in case of sudden price changes.
Of course, you can also do trading by yourself using a different account from your copy trade account.
If you don’t have a laptop pc, you can use just the smartphone app.
You can do basic things such as viewing charts and trading with the MT4 smartphone app.
The login information for MT4 is sent to you by e-mail when you open a trading account.
Please login with your MT4 account ID, password, and the server information.
Recommended parameters
Depending on how you want to copy the strategy provider’s trades, I recommend setting the following parameters.
In this way, by controlling the amount of money and each parameter, you can considerably lower your risk and also increase your profit at once.
| How do you want to copy it? | Amount to be added under Strategy | Volume Allocation | Rescue Level | Copy minimum volume 0.01 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I expect the results to be as good as the strategy providers. | About the same amount of money as the strategy provider (e.g., $1,000) | 100% | 10% | Yes |
| I would like to see a similar win rate, though with a smaller amount of funds. | Less than the strategy provider’s funding amount (e.g., halve the amount) | 100% | 10% | Yes |
| I will have the same level of funding, but I want to see how it performs first. | About the same amount of money as the strategy provider (e.g., $1,000) | 50% | 30% | Yes |
| Normally, I copy the same amount of funds, but I want to reduce the risk since it is before the release of economic indicators. | About the same amount of money as the strategy provider (e.g., $1,000) | 20% | 40% | Yes |
| I have a lot of money. I want to make a profit rapidly. However, I want to hedge my risk to some extent. | Several times the strategy provider’s funding amount (e.g., $10,000) | 100% | 30% | Yes |
After setting the above parameters, click “Start Following” to start copy trading.
Summary
How did you like it?
HotForex copy trading allows you to operate with less risk by disclosing the performance of the strategy provider and setting the parameters of the copy.
If you are just starting out in forex and are not confident in discretionary trading, or if you want to make a profit by leaving things alone, why not try it with a small amount of money for now?
＼Just 3 minutes!!／
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