A Plus Account (Margin) allows you to trade without limits as long as you have available Buying Power. Additionally, if you choose, it gives you the ability to use funds borrowed from the broker to purchase more assets or make withdrawals without selling positions. Its use is not mandatory.
Many clients hold Plus accounts to access their other benefits without needing to use borrowed funds. The use of margin is a form of financial leverage, where you use a portion of your own money as collateral to access a larger amount.
Under U.S. regulation, a person can only have a maximum of one (1) Plus (Margin) account. If you have multiple Personal Accounts, only one can be Plus. There is no limit on the number of Basic (Cash) accounts per client.
A Plus (Margin) account has no cost. You only pay interest if you use the loan, calculated daily based on the amount used.
To use the loan, the account must have a minimum capital of $2,000. Its use is not mandatory — it is simply a tool available if you choose to use it. You will start using the loan once you have invested all your available cash. We will update your account value to reflect availability or the borrowed amount.
To use leverage, you must first use all your own funds. If you have free funds, you will see it in the Cash field in your account.
If that value is positive, you are not using borrowed funds and have your own funds available to invest. If that field is negative, the value shows the amount you are currently borrowing.
If you are using borrowed funds from Folionet, you have two options to stop:
Both methods are not mutually exclusive, so you can use a combination of both: deposit funds and sell positions.
The use of margin entails greater sensitivity to changes in your account balance. This involves both benefits and risks.
Benefits include:
Risks: