Berkeley Futures

[bulldozer]

Hello BF,

Thanx for your reply.

I stopped trading with your firm about 2 yrs ago, mainly because of your margin rules and the insurance cover on funds.

I notice there has been much improvements on your rules but very little change on the insurance side.

My present broker has much higher insurance level cover than BF and a little better on margin rules.
As for fees? i dont think i'm all that bothered, as its not on my list of priorities. But i hope you are competative as most people make this issue top of their priorities.

Plz give my regards and a hello to Steve, Richard, Frank, Charles de R, and Andrew.

Bull [John C ]

PS: If you want to make a private reply to my post? you can use the PM [ private message]service or you can use my e-mail >> [email protected]
Than you.

 

[bulldozer]

BF,

I know a broker in the US who would intefere with clients positions if the margin-call is UNDER a thousand $ :cheesy: as if this is going to send the firm down :cheesy: and not even a single day grace and without making contact with client first. [i guess thats because of costs, :cheesy: thats what hapens when they charge peanuts for commissions] :cheesy:

I also wonder how many clients of Refco got their full funds covered by the firms insurance?

rgrds

Bull

 

[anley]

8) Your funds will be segregated at Berkeley and if we treat you as a private customer it is my understanding that you would have access to the Financial Services Compensation scheme which would cover you for up to a maximum of £48,000.

Classic non-answer to a question Berkley. But hey, I'm not blaming you because this is exactly what I would have said.

Interesting piece in this month's Applied D Webzine which argues that the regulators still don't tell us what/who gets compensated.

Perhaps because it's a real mess. In fact I'd bet that less than 5% of all traders know the rules but over 90% think there money is 100% safe...........

Having said all of that if you are classed as a Private Trader then your money all things being equal is guaranteed up to £48k but I'd still bet the FSA would try and play tricks. That's the good news, the bad news is it's hard to get classed as a PT if you want to start selling options or dealing in futures/cfds etc.

 

[bulldozer]

Classic non-answer to a question Berkley. But hey, I'm not blaming you because this is exactly what I would have said.

Interesting piece in this month's Applied D Webzine which argues that the regulators still don't tell us what/who gets compensated.

Perhaps because it's a real mess. In fact I'd bet that less than 5% of all traders know the rules but over 90% think there money is 100% safe...........

Having said all of that if you are classed as a Private Trader then your money all things being equal is guaranteed up to £48k but I'd still bet the FSA would try and play tricks. That's the good news, the bad news is it's hard to get classed as a PT if you want to start selling options or dealing in futures/cfds etc.

Anley,

Most clients are not to concerned on the insurance aspects or Marg rules.

Thats why i advocate dealing with more than just one broker.:
1. Is for insurance purpose on max payout. Lets say your account is at £100K your max pay out wont even be 50%.[thats if you get paid the max? they may pay only 20K ] So it would be wise to have 2 brokers and split the capital in half.
2. And also In case the company goes belly up. like Refco and Muire Pace. Its less likely 2 companies go bust.

Bull

 

[anley]

I agree 100% Bull, but the FSA still makes the rules very cloudy indeed. And I fear with the ever more complex nature of the markets and deriviatives nobody really understands if their money is safe or not.

It always seems to be a verbal 'don't worry your money is segregated, or you're part of the ICS etc etc'

Let's not also forget that not so long ago Refco was a powerhouse in the global markets and then in the time it takes someone to smoke a cigarette it was gone and people all over the world are suing to get back what they can.

PS. As we're on the Berkley futures thread I'd say that both they and IB have merit. But if direct contact is what you like and need then Berkley would suit one far more than IB.

 

[bulldozer]

Anley,
I was always more than happy with the service at BFand the speed in answering the phones. They always repeat the order back to be double sure its correct and all trades are tape recorded.
I left cause i was offered a better deal on magin rules.

CHELSEA ARE OUT! BEATEN 5-4 BY CHARLTON :cheesy: AT THE BRIDGE TOO :cheesy:

Happy trading

Bull

 

[BerkeleyFutures]

I agree 100% Bull, but the FSA still makes the rules very cloudy indeed. And I fear with the ever more complex nature of the markets and deriviatives nobody really understands if their money is safe or not.

It always seems to be a verbal 'don't worry your money is segregated, or you're part of the ICS etc etc'

Let's not also forget that not so long ago Refco was a powerhouse in the global markets and then in the time it takes someone to smoke a cigarette it was gone and people all over the world are suing to get back what they can.

PS. As we're on the Berkley futures thread I'd say that both they and IB have merit. But if direct contact is what you like and need then Berkley would suit one far more than IB.

Anley,

You are right to say that my answer was not clear. This is because the regulators themselves don't make it crystal clear. The best protection you have is to be treated as a private customer and it is likely that a private customer will have the greatest protection and have access to the compensation scheme.

When discussing how safe your funds are then you need to have segregation and as a private customer you will be guaranteed that. This would not necessarily be the case if you are being treated as an an intermediate customer. The other areas that you need to look at for protection is whether the company propriety trades or not which would suggest that the company's profits are affected by market movements.

This together with general management of the company ie; their margining policy and whether they insist on margin calls being met etc will provide you with a greater level of comfort.

For your interest we will treat any customer as private if they wish to be deemed as such and we do segregate all client money whether we have to or not and we don't propriety trade.

BFL

 

[Dentalfloss]

expensive.
they are charging me £45 for a cfd trade.whereas i can get the same thing from city index for a tenner. a bit of a rip off

 

[anley]

Anley,

You are right to say that my answer was not clear. This is because the regulators themselves don't make it crystal clear. The best protection you have is to be treated as a private customer and it is likely that a private customer will have the greatest protection and have access to the compensation scheme.

When discussing how safe your funds are then you need to have segregation and as a private customer you will be guaranteed that. This would not necessarily be the case if you are being treated as an an intermediate customer. The other areas that you need to look at for protection is whether the company propriety trades or not which would suggest that the company's profits are affected by market movements.

This together with general management of the company ie; their margining policy and whether they insist on margin calls being met etc will provide you with a greater level of comfort.

For your interest we will treat any customer as private if they wish to be deemed as such and we do segregate all client money whether we have to or not and we don't propriety trade.

BFL

Yep, I agree with you Berks, it's not your fault it's the FSAs. They seem incapable of telling it like it is......

 

[oildaytrader]

Hi guys

anyone got an update on bfl service ,products.execution ,prices.

I downloaded their currenex demo platform.Interested is the Ninja trader /bereley for currencies.

Anybody using them?

O D T

 

[challenger78]

I would be interested to know too some recent opinions on bfl service for currency trading with ninja trader. Also, one thing that is slightly worrying is that the phone support service is not 24/5 and forex works 24 hours...