Hi there,

I have been with TD Ameritrade/Thinkorswin for years, but I would like to branch out to a broker that has lower margin requirements. I am currently evaluating TastyWorks which seems fine, but I just discovered their trade desk is only open during normal business hours, which is not acceptable to me.

A lot of the brokers I am seeing seem to cater to smaller accounts, so I am bit nervous with entrusting them with millions of dollars.

I am looking specifically for recommendations of brokers that meet the following criteria:
-Low margin requirements (ideally 25%)
-Have quick and reliable withdrawals
-Have so much integrity that you would feel comfortable having your life savings in their account
-Have a real trade desk which is open during all market hours
-Have strong multi-factor authentication so access to my account is secure
-Have flawless order execution

For some more background I am USA based. I trade 6E, ES and ZN exclusively and maintain positions for no more than a few hours.

Thank you so much for your help!

Charles Schwab is the largest brokerage firm with over $7.6 trillion in assets under management (AUM). Average assets per client is around USD 250'000.-- . You can trade all kinds of financial products with them. I guess this should be good enough for you.



https://www.schwab.com/pricing

If you may want to check about other broker houses to be sure you can feel save, here you can do so: https://brokercheck.finra.org/

Symple

Hi,
you can look self on the website from Commodity futures trading commission (CFTC) for "Net Capital Requirement" of all the broker:

https://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/financialfcmdata/index.htm

But intraday margins (25%) The big brokers often do not offer this directly. (only maybe 50% when you find someone.

Greetings

CompoundMagic 

Hi there, I have been with TD Ameritrade/Thinkorswin for years, but I would like to branch out to a broker that has lower margin requirements. I am currently evaluating TastyWorks which seems fine, but I just discovered their trade desk is only open during normal business hours, which is not acceptable to me. A lot of the brokers I am seeing seem to cater to smaller accounts, so I am bit nervous with entrusting them with millions of dollars. I am looking specifically for recommendations of brokers that meet the following criteria: -Low margin requirements (ideally 25%) -Have quick and reliable withdrawals -Have so much integrity that you would feel comfortable having your life savings in their account -Have a real trade desk which is open during all market hours -Have strong multi-factor authentication so access to my account is secure -Have flawless order execution For some more background I am USA based. I trade 6E, ES and ZN exclusively and maintain positions for no more than a few hours. Thank you so much for your help!

Hi @CompoundMagic,

The team at Edge Clear will be happy to assist! As an Introducing Broker, we clear through multiple FCM's and provide competitive day trading margin for accounts of your size. We have clearing relationships with Phillip Capital, Dorman Trading, Ironbeam and finalizing a partnership with ED&F Man. With the information provided in this forum, we believe Phillip Capital through Edge Clear is a great solution that checks your boxes.

Please contact Edge Clear and reference this post. We will assign you to a personal broker who will walk you through the entire setup: https://edgeclear.com/contact-us/

We also suggest going through our CME membership consultation where our expert brokers will calculate your total commissions to date and create a breakdown of the best membership for you: https://edgeclear.com/cme-membership

We look forward to hearing from you!

Best,

Max Timmins
Director of Brokerage Services

CompoundMagic 

-Have so much integrity that you would feel comfortable having your life savings in their account

Not sure you'll ever find that. Alternatively use a broker that you have a great relationship with, so you only keep some of your trading cash in your account, with your broker comfortable that if needed you have the ability to wire in additional funds immediately.

SMCJB 

Not sure you'll ever find that. Alternatively use a broker that you have a great relationship with, so you only keep some of your trading cash in your account, with your broker comfortable that if needed you have the ability to wire in additional funds immediately.

This is great advice by @SMCJB. I would ask you, why do you need the entire $1MM on deposit? Is it absolutely necessary for the execution of your strategy?

I would certainly encourage you to speak to the team at Edge Clear and they will help you determine how to maximize your situation while minimizing your risk exposure. I want to remind you that I founded Edge Clear, so please consider that in your decision. However, this is the type of situation that everyone is trained to handle.

Best,
FT71

I think InteractiveBrokers would fit all your criteria. They would split your cash into up to 20 different FDIC insured banks.
I don't know if their margin requirement is lower though. You should check with their portfolio margin account type. (Not regular margin)

CompoundMagic 

Hi there, I have been with TD Ameritrade/Thinkorswin for years, but I would like to branch out to a broker that has lower margin requirements. I am currently evaluating TastyWorks which seems fine, but I just discovered their trade desk is only open during normal business hours, which is not acceptable to me. A lot of the brokers I am seeing seem to cater to smaller accounts, so I am bit nervous with entrusting them with millions of dollars. I am looking specifically for recommendations of brokers that meet the following criteria: -Low margin requirements (ideally 25%) -Have quick and reliable withdrawals -Have so much integrity that you would feel comfortable having your life savings in their account -Have a real trade desk which is open during all market hours -Have strong multi-factor authentication so access to my account is secure -Have flawless order execution For some more background I am USA based. I trade 6E, ES and ZN exclusively and maintain positions for no more than a few hours. Thank you so much for your help!