ZuluTrade: Choosing the best signal providers
Start by looking at the performance chart of ZuluTrade's traders (see below image or click here to see it live on the ZuluTrade website).
ZuluTrade's ranking is updated daily, it is based on a number of criteria which are not openly disclosed. You can see each trader's statistics: a performance chart, pips earned, number of trades, ROI (return on investment), average profit per trade in pips, percentage of winning trades, maximum drawdown, average duration of trades, number of followers and amount of money allocated to the trader.
You can display this list by using variables to see, for example, the traders that have attracted the most followers or who have the longest trading history on the ZuluTrade social trading platform.
If you want, you can narrow your search, you can select the advanced search screen. This screen allows you to enter a wide range of settings to filter the list of ZuluTrade traders signal providers. For example, you can display:
- traders who use their own money
- traders who have investors/followers with real accounts
- traders who have a minimum/maximum number of weeks of trading experience on ZuluTrade
- traders who have a minimum/maximum percentage of winning trades
- traders who have earned a specific minimum average number of pips per trade
- the maximum slippage (the difference between the price at which a trade is fulfilled in their account versus the accounts of followers)
- the maximum number of trades open at the same time
Popularity
Followers - Choose signal providers that have at least 100 followers. Also, make sure that they have "live" followers.
Rank - ZuluTrade's ranking helps you eliminate bad traders. So make sure that you choose providers that rank in the top 100.
Notes - Choose signal providers with at least 3 stars, and, more importantly, read the comments of other live users regarding these signal providers.
Risk of ruin
Maximum drawdown in pips - It is important that you only select signal providers that have a small drawdown. The drawdown curve should be close to the profits curve.
Total number of trades - Choose signal providers that have a history of at least 100 trades (more is better).
Chart - Select signal providers with a steady performance curve: the chart's trend curve should be constant.
Performance
Winning trades - Avoid signal providers with a rate of 100% winning trades, because it means that they don't use a stop loss.
Number of pips - Select signal providers that have made at least 1000 pips of profit.
Average number of pips - Select signal providers that earn at least 10 pips per trade (to limit the effect of slippage).
Efficiency
Average duration of a trade - Choose signal providers whose trades last less than one day. This will help you free your margin as fast as possible with less exposure to changes in market direction (news, etc.).
Maximum number of open trades - Choose signal providers that have less than 10 trades open at the same time in order to have some margin available for other signal providers and to reduce your overall risk.
Other criteria
Pairs - Diversify signal providers across a few pairs, this will help you to reduce the volatility associated with economic news and your portfolio's overall risk.
Slippage - The slippage will eat your profits! It is very important that you choose a broker who places orders with minimal slippage. The best broker for ZuluTrade is AAAFX.
Monthly performance - Select signal providers that achieve consistent monthly profits.
The simulation tool is very useful to identify the best combination of signal providers and to refine the risk management parameters. (see the account and risk management article).
