What is the Freestyle Trading Program?
Freestyle Trading Program is a new funded trading program for forex traders that was just launched by The5ers. Freestyle Trading Program is a BETA offer, which means some modifications may be made as time goes on, depending on the feedback and data gotten from traders as they partake in the program.
Freestyle Trading Program is unlike any other funding program currently operating, because the selection of traders will be done based on their ability to demonstrate their trading skills and prowess over a series of trades rather than over a specific time or a profit target.
Freestyle Trading Program has no time limit like other programs, which removes the enormous pressure on traders. At the same time, there is the absence of a profit target, which is good because the profit target can sometimes be difficult and ridiculous to achieve.
Becoming eligible for funding is simplified with the Freestyle Trading Program, as traders are only expected to trade over 100 positions using their strategy. Once the trading ends in profit, the trader can then receive funding or start afresh (for free) according to the level of performance and consistency.
The major thing The5%ers is looking for in traders is to see the level of risk taken to make a certain amount of profit, as well as the profit earned through consistent trading rather than just lucky trades. If the trader can generate more profit than the capital risked on the total portfolio of 100 trading positions, then such a trader gets funded. It is preferable if the trade ends profitably with a Performance Factor greater than 2 irrespective of the profit made.
Keep reading to get all the information you need about the Freestyle Trading Program.
What is the profit split at the Freestyle Trading Program?
The traders will take 100% of the earnings when they become funded, and this is quite different from the profit split of other funding programs which range from 50:50 to 70:30 to 90:10.
For the freestyle trading program, once the trader starts making profits with the firm’s funds, all the profit belongs to the trader.
How can The5ers give 100% profits to the traders?
Some people may think that the Freestyle Trading Program is a scam, but it is not.
Getting 100% of profits is made possible because every trade initiated by a trader will be executed on the market, after which it will then be copied onto another account that is managed by the risk management team of The5ers firm.
What is the price of the Freestyle Trading Program?
The price required to sign up for the freestyle trading program is a one time fee of €550. But you can get 5% off here.
How to succeed in the Freestyle challenge?
To pass the challenge successfully, traders need to meet the following objectives:
- Trade 100 positions.
- A performance factor that is equal to or greater than 2 needs to be achieved.
- Achieve and maintain a consistency threshold.
- Attain a winning factor that is equal to or greater than 30.
Bellow detailed information about those trading objectives.
Make 100 positions
Traders are expected to trade 100 positions, which is where their ability to display consistency across a significant number of trades is measured.
This consistency is measured by taking the total amount of lots being traded and dividing it by the number of trades taken by the trader and then multiplying the result by 2.5 , which gives the consistency threshold of the trader.
The formula is given as:
Consistency threshold = total amount of lot/number of trades x 2.5
which translates to: Average lot size x 2.5
The5ers is not interested in traders who choose to enter a larger trading position just so they can complete the challenge in one try via lucky trades. The benchmark is 100 trades so that the firm can observe the level of consistency that traders will demonstrate.
Performance Factor > 2
The performance factor examines the level of risks that the trader is undertaking to realize the eventual profit gained at the end of the trades. The value of the performance factor is calculated by dividing the total profit by the maximum relative drawdown as shown in the formula below:
Performance factor = total profit% / Max. relative drawdown%
Examples to calculate the Performance Factor
For example, if a trader should make a total profit of 10% over the required 100 trades while having a maximum relative drawdown of 5%, the performance factor based on the earlier formula is then given as: 10/5 = 2.
While it is incredible to make a total profit of 10%, that is not necessarily the benchmark for any trader to be eligible for funding. The most important thing is for the trader to ensure that the ratio of the total profit to maximum relative drawdown equals or exceeds 2.
Let us examine another example in which the total profit is 1.8% while the trader only experiences a maximum drawdown of 0.6%. Going by the formula, the performance factor, in this case is 3, which is better than that of the trader in the first example who made a total profit of 10%.
Winning factor
This is to check the profitability level of a trader, which means traders need to have a minimum of 30 winning trades to be eligible for funding.
A winning trade is when the P/L is above 10% of the trader’s average profit.
If for example, a trader has 50 profitable trades across the 100 trades with an average profit of $40, any profitable trade that is less than $4 will not be considered a winning trade. As long as the winning trades are up to 30, then the trader will be due for funding.
What are the specifications of the Freestyle Trading Program?
Let us examine some peculiar features of the freestyle trading program.
Platform: MT5 Netting
The Freestyle Trading Program is hosted on the MetaTrader 5 platform (MT5), and the account is going to be a Netting account which is different from a hedging account that is used by other funding programs.
What is a Netting MT5 account?
The netting account is different because traders can only have one bias in the direction of their trades which means they can only trade in one way. As a result, multiple trades cannot be put in different directions.
For example, choosing to buy a particular asset means that the trader cannot sell that same asset simultaneously.
Another thing with netting is that if a trader has the habit of averaging into trades or breaking trades up into multiple positions, netting will not break the positions down but rather give the trader a single net position.
It should be noted that this has no effect on the P/L which is an indication that the P/L between a hedging account and a netting account is virtually the same. The major thing is that the two accounts have different modes of operating.
With netting, it is possible to take partial profits which can be done by entering a new position directly opposite to the position that was initially entered for a particular trade. One major advantage of netting is that it is easier to use and chart navigation is much better as the charts are less messy and much cleaner.
Can we reset the challenge of the FreeStyle Program?
There is a free reset option that traders can use if they are unable to pass the challenge successfully on the first try. Generally, traders are eligible to use the reset option as long as their account still maintains a positive equity value. It translates to mean that if the performance factor for the account is less than 2 but not lower than zero, then the trader can use the reset option.
However, if the performance factor happens to be less than zero, that signifies negative equity, and the account will subsequently be terminated.
It should be noted that there is only one free reset option assigned to each account and traders should be aware of this.
What is the Leverage used for the FreeStyle Program?
The leverage is fixed at 1:30 and it cannot be changed, which is why traders need to be adept at how to use this leverage without exposing themselves to an immense level of risk.
What are maximum accounts for traders in the FreeStyle Program?
The maximum number of accounts that a trader can have is one. There is no room for running multiple accounts on this program like some other programs afford traders. Therefore, traders are expected to perform to the best of their abilities and make the most out of the one account that is available to them.
What are the assets that can be traded at the FreeStyle Program?
Trading activity on this program is restricted to gold, silver, and major forex currencies and their combinations: USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CHF, AUD, NZD, CAD. Below is a full list of the forex assets that can be traded on the freestyle trading program:
Forex majors that can be traded include:
- EUR/USD
- GBP/USD
- USD/JPY
- USD/CAD
- AUD/USD
- NZD/USD
- USD/CHF
Forex major crosses that can be traded include:
- NZD/CHF
- NZD/JPY
- NZD/CAD
- GBP/NZD
- GBP/JPY
- GBP/CHF
- GBP/AUD
- GBP/CAD
- CAD/JPY
- CAD/CHF
- CHF/JPY
- EUR/CHF
- EUR/CAD
- EUR/JPY
- EUR/GBP
- EUR/AUD
- EUR/NZD
- AUD/CHF
- AUD/CAD
- AUD/JPY
- AUD/NZD
What are the rules that don’t exist in the Freestyle Trading Program?
No maximum drawdown
There is no maximum drawdown, as traders only need to focus on delivering consistent trading performance to show that they are methodical in their approach to trading, and are worthy of being funded by the firm. The absence of maximum drawdown makes it easier for traders to recover their accounts.
No profit targets
This is another feature that separates Freestyle Trading Program from other funded trading programs, as there are no profit targets. The major thing is for traders to focus on how they perform after trading 100 positions. Traders should have a performance factor that is equal to or more than 2, while also having 30 or more winning trades so that they can be eligible for funding.
No time limit (no minimum or maximum days)
For the requirements to become a funded trader under the freestyle trading program, time limit is not one of them. This means traders can take as long as they need to successfully pass the challenge and meet the requirements to get funded.
There are no minimum or maximum trading days for traders to worry about.
News trading is allowed
There is no restriction on trading the news as long as traders are capable of utilizing whatever information they can get from the news to their advantage.
No restrictions against holding open trades overnight and over the weekend
With the freestyle trading program, traders are allowed to hold open positions overnight and over the weekend as well although it is advised that they monitor such trading positions. This way, the traders will not get careless and expose themselves to unnecessary risks.
What happens when traders win the challenge?
Once the challenge is passed successfully, the trader is eligible for funding and is then assigned an account with a balance of $50,000, which can then be used for trading on the live markets.
After the trader has completed 50 trades, he or she can withdraw the profits made.
There is an option for traders to grow their account after every 100 positions as long as they keep delivering a Performance Factor that is higher than 2.
Pros and cons of the Freestyle Trading Program
The freestyle program is great, and it is open to all kinds of traders as long as they have the confidence and skill to demonstrate what the firm is looking for. However, as incredible as it is, the program has some flaws, and this section will be highlighting its strengths and weaknesses.
What are the advantages of the Freestyle Trading Program?
- The profit completely belongs to the trader: 100%.
- There is no pressure of profit target which enables the trader to be more flexible in trying to achieve the requirements needed for funding.
- There is no time limit.
- It is suitable for all kinds of trading strategies.
- There is the free reset option which makes it possible for traders to recover their accounts.
What are the disadvantages of the Freestyle Trading Program?
- The MT5 platform coupled with the netting account might make it a bit difficult for traders to navigate especially if they are not familiar with such.
- The signup fee is slightly costly and might discourage some people. You can get 5% off here.
- Traders cannot operate multiple accounts simultaneously as they are limited to only one account per trader.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that FreeStyle Trading Program is the most revolutionary funding program to date, especially with its absence of profit target, drawdown, and time limit thus providing traders with more flexibility than ever. However, just like other programs, it is looking for traders that will display consistency except in this case, instead of over a particular time frame, the consistency is to be displayed over a certain number of trades. This will allow the firm to determine the suitability of a trader for funding.
