I realized that collective2 was made for publishing general trading advice. Is there any plans to add support for trading advisors who are registered with the SEC and NASD? Perhaps creating a subsystem that verifies a trading advisor with the NASD (I believe they have an electronic system that can verify). Then listing the trading advisor as SEC/NASD registered.
Barry:
That’s an interesting idea. Are you looking simply to add another column to the system listing tables - for example, containing a checkmark for registered advisors?
On a more philosophical level, I have some questions. Do you think such an addition would imply that non-registered trading system developers are somehow less competent than registered advisors? And don’t you think that trading system developers are in an entirely different category than registered investment advisors? Wouldn’t we be comparing apples to oranges?
One danger is that perhaps the mere act of adding such a listing category bestows some kind of imprimatur where in fact none ought to exist.
I’m interested in knowing what you think, and also - from a personal perspective - if you are a registered advisor.
Matthew
I am a registered advisor. Registered advisors are legally allowed to cater advice to a specific indivdual or institution and can also be contacted to manage the strategy since most registered advisors work for or with a broker/dealer.
Of course being a registered advisor does not mean being more competent then a non-registered trading system devlopers.
The reason I bring this up is because there are now many hedge funds who are looking to offset parts for their portfolios to individual advisors for micromanagement. If someone is not a registered advisor they can not legally manage money for someone else.
If such a system where implemented, collective2 could become a great resource for hedge funds and investment advisors.
It’s just my opinion of course, but I think results are what count. That’s what makes it a level playing field. If you can manage a portfolio here that beats the market and all of the other systems offered here it will be apparent to everybody. Then if you want to tell the subscribers to your system that you are a registered advisor that’s fine, but subscribers to your system will probably care only if your system has proven itself over time. If your system is not one of the best offered here it won’t matter that you’re a registered advisor, and very few people are likely to care.
I have my own credentials that exceed being an investment advisor, but I don’t think it matters unless my system works consistently.
Also, by the way, I was very skeptical about this web site at first, but after testing it with a lot of trades I’m pretty impressed. The only real shortcoming I see is the fact that standing limit orders seem to fill slowly if at all from time to time. This seems to be a problem with many trading programs like collective2, and in real time with actual trading this does not happen because orders are actually in the stack, and fill in order of entry.
Ryan:
Thanks for your kind response (regarding this Web site).
I am continually working on upgrading the software and servers, to make fills “seem” as fast as they would occur in real life. I hope I do not sound defensive, but I do want to point out something which you (and other others) may find interesting about how the Collective2 software works with standing limit/stop orders.
It is indeed true that during peak times (9:30 am, for example) fill notification may be delayed by several minutes. But when the fills do get processed, they are “back-filled” down to one-minute granularity.
Let me explain what I mean. As an example, let’s say you have a limit order which ought to get filled at 9:32 am. But due to system backlogs, the “fill processing routine” doesn’t get around to processing it until 9:35. Well, in that case, when the fill is actually processed at 9:35, the software will realize that the fill should have happened at 9:32, and will give you the price you would have received then.
Now, this doesn’t solve all problems, because orders which are contingent on the original slow order will themselves be slow to fill and, in these cases, you won’t be “backfilled” on conditional stop/limit orders. But if you are not using conditionals, you probably will receive pretty accurate fills overall.
Of course, this does not address the issue of massive system failure (e.g. on June 10, when I told the software that the exchanges were closed on Thursday, when in fact they were closed on Friday). You can design decent software, but when the person operating it is a moron, then there’s no way to prevent problems.
Matthew
let’s say you have a limit order which ought to get filled at 9:32 am. But due to system backlogs, the “fill processing routine” doesn’t get around to processing it until 9:35
. let me bring another issue, which maybe in connection to this. Often pages on collective2 load very very slow even if there isnt any order to fill, it takes sometimes 1-2min to get the page with details of the system to load. So, I wonder if theres any way to speed it up since faster response means often difference in trading.
Wieslaw:
Yes, that is the second really huge issue I am always working on improving. (The first being trying to simulate very accurate real-life fill prices.)
I won’t bore you with the technical details, but most of the problem in this case is caused by the real-time quote server. We are still running C2 on a bit of a shoe-string, since revenues are much much smaller than expenses. So the software shares a quote server with my real-life trading operation, a fact that often causes delays in displaying your details page (it takes a few seconds to figure out how to mark-to-market your open positions. If you have a lot of these, then the delay can be too long).
Currently, I am finishing up work on the Robot Hedge Fund feature (I strongly encourage everyone to check it out as it nears completion - it’s going to be very cool) but when I am done with that, I will re-focus my attention on solving the display delays. I know that it is really a big user-interface turn-off and I intend to solve it. Thank you for pointing it out. I will update everyone on my progress as it occurs. - Matthew
