NT8 and IB FA accounts

[Rocket130713]

Wanted to ask what is the purpose of NT8 supporting IB FA accounts, if automatic percentage Pre-Trade allocation can not be done within TWS or Ninja or via some add-on software? For example, if I place a block trade (bunched order) for long 100 gold contracts in my IB FA account, I need these 100 contracts to be allocated to 100 clients where each client would get allocated 1 gold contract in their futures account. Can this be done? If so how do I set this up? Thanks in advance. Regards, Rod

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello Rod,

When an order is executed on the master account, it will be allocated to individual client accounts as per the logic on IB's back end which you can configure in TWS. Unfortunately I am not how you would configure allocation in TWS. Please contact Interactive Brokers for instructions.

Please expect the following behavior when trading IB FA accounts in NinjaTrader.

Active orders will only show in the master account in NinjaTrader (when submitted to the master account). Active orders allocated to the client accounts will not show in NinjaTrader.

Executions and positions appear under the appropriate client accounts only. The executions are not sent back to the master account. So the active order is seen in the master account. However when it executes, the position is not shown in the master account, but only in the individual client accounts.

Order actions (modifying or cancelling orders) are not replicated across accounts. You must manage orders individually for each account.

Please note that ATM strategies and automated NinjaScript strategies are not supported on the master account. You can use them on individual client accounts.

[Rocket130713]

Hi Jason,

Thanks for your reply. We had a few more questions regarding IB FA accounts and NT8, which are as follows:

If at 2:00 AM, I place a LIMIT order to buy 100 gold contracts in the IB FA master account and have 10 clients each with $100,000 equity, will each client be allocated (at 2:00 AM) a LIMIT order (working order) to buy 10 gold contracts i.e. the "order" allocation would happen automatically and straight after the limit order is placed in the master account, or will the allocation only be done after the limit order is 100% filled or cancelled i.e. the order has been executed? Are actual active orders allocated to client sub-accounts, or does the allocation take place only once the order is actually executed e.g. when the limit order is 100% filled or cancelled? How does this work?

Second question, when the limit order is Filled and i then call the OrderStatus() ninja function on the master account will i get a "filled" string returned? I need to know (at all times) if the "working order / LIMIT order" that I placed in the master account has been filled, part-filled or cancelled, is this possible?

Will active orders (e.g. a working limit orders) submitted to the IB FA master account, and then allocated to the 10 client sub accounts, show up in TWS? Or will only trade executions and positions show up in TWS once the orders have been filled? Sorry for the confusion here.

When ninja says that NT8 now officially supports IB FA accounts, does this mean we can do automated trading via TradeStation (where TS generates the buy/sell signals) and Ninja DLL method (where Ninja is used as a "bridge" between TS and our futures broker who is IB) in an IB FA master account and allocate block trades to a number of client sub-accounts? Is this the purpose of Ninja 8 now officially supporting IB FA accounts?

Also, can the IB FA account and trade allocation logic/methods be fully tested using a demo FA account at IB and connected up to NT8?

Thanks in advance. Much appreciated.

Regards, Rod.

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello Rod,

The active limit order will only show in the master account in NinjaTrader. When the order executes, it will be allocated to the client accounts (as per the logic on IB's back end)

Unfortunately I am not a programmer myself. Can you please create a new post under NinjaTrader 8 Add-On Development for this question.

I am not sure about the behavior in TWS. I assume active orders on the master account will show up in TWS as well as positions in the client accounts.

Yes, we officially support IB FA accounts in NinjaTrader 8. If you submit an order via the DLL interface to the IB master account, it will be allocated to the client accounts (once the order executes).

Yes, you could use the FA demo account to test.

[Rocket130713]

Hi Jason, thanks for your reply. I already have paid for a life-time single broker license key 10 years ago and currently execute via RCG broker using Ninja. Would I need to buy a multi-broker license key just to simply test out a TradeStation 9.1 + NT DLL method + IB FA "demo" account trading setup (and doing this test at the same time as I'm connected to RCG broker for live trading)? Thanks in advance. Regards, Rod

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Yes, you would have to upgrade your license key to a multi broker license key. To trade IB accounts, whether demo or live, your license key needs to be enabled for Interactive Brokers. Your current license key is only enabled for the broker technology that RCG uses.

[Rocket130713]

Thanks Jason for your help. I found the following info on the IB website, but was quite confused when it says that a single order can't be allocated across more than 1 client sub account, what does this mean in simple terms? does this limitation mean that NT8 and IB FA accounts cant be used to do automated trading via NT8 DLL method? Here is the info from IB's website:

Q: Is Ninja Trader compatible with IB’s Financial Advisor and Friends & Family account type?
A: Yes, although not with the full order allocation functionality provided directly through the TWS. While Ninja Trader can be used to submit orders for a client sub-account through the Advisor master account, it does not allow for a single order to be allocated to more than one sub-account. This is in contrast to the TWS user interface which provides for multi-client trade allocations from a single order (through the Account Group or Allocation Profile options).

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

There is no allocation functionality in NinjaTrader 8 itself. However if you submit an order to the master IB account in NinjaTrader 8, it will be allocated to the client accounts as per the logic you have setup in TWS. I suspect the information applies to NinjaTrader 7. I do not see any mentioning of "NinjaTrader 7" or "NinjaTrader 8" on that IB API webpage.

The first screenshot shows a working limit order submitted to the master account. The 2nd screenshot shows after the execution of the limit order. The order is allocated to the 3 client accounts.