Also known as: Investor Account, Copier Account, Slave Account, Sub-account
A Follower Account is a client trading account linked to a Master Account inside a copy-trading, PAMM, or MAM system. It automatically duplicates the master trader's positions, sized proportionally to the follower's own equity, so the follower mirrors the strategy without placing trades themselves.
The follower does not decide what to trade; they decide who to follow and how much to allocate. When the master opens a position, the platform opens a matching position in every connected follower account, scaled to each follower's balance and risk settings. When the master closes, the copies close too. The follower's role is capital and configuration, not execution.
Proportional sizing is what keeps this fair across very different account sizes. If a master with $10,000 equity opens 1.0 lot and a follower has $1,000 (one-tenth the equity), the follower's account opens roughly 0.1 lot. A common way to express the copied size is: Copied Volume = (Follower Equity ÷ Master Equity) × Master Trade Volume. Multipliers and risk caps then adjust this up or down.
For the partner ecosystem, follower accounts are the unit that scales. One master strategy can be mirrored by hundreds of followers, and every follower is a funded, trading account generating volume. That makes the follower account the foundational building block of social-trading monetization — the thing IBs and affiliates actually recruit.
A follower connects their account to a master through the broker's copy-trading, PAMM, or MAM engine. From that moment the engine watches the master's activity and replicates each trade into the follower account in near real time, scaling the lot size by the equity ratio and any multiplier the follower set.
Risk controls sit on top of the copy logic. Followers can usually set a multiplier (copy at 0.5× or 2× the proportional size), an equity stop (auto-disconnect if losses hit a threshold), and sometimes symbol or lot filters. These keep the copied risk aligned with the follower's tolerance rather than blindly mirroring an aggressive master.
Every copied trade is real volume on the broker's books and is attributed to the IB who referred the follower, paying a per-lot rebate. Because the follower is passive, retention depends less on their own skill and more on the master's consistency and the partner's guidance on sensible settings.
The client opens a follower account under the IB's link and deposits capital — the funded balance sets the copy scale.
The follower selects a master strategy or money manager from the broker's leaderboard or the IB's recommendation.
Configure multiplier, equity stop, and any filters so the copied risk matches the follower's tolerance.
The engine mirrors the master's trades proportionally into the follower account with no manual action needed.
Each copied lot is recorded and credited to the referring IB as rebate income.
Why it matters for partnership: Follower accounts are the lifeblood of social-trading affiliates: referring clients who open and fund follower accounts generates volume-based rebates without the client needing any trading skill. More funded followers means more recurring, hands-off income for the IB.
An affiliate refers an investor who opens a follower account with $1,000 at a broker such as FXTM or Vantage and links it to a master trader running $10,000. When the master opens 1.0 lot on EUR/USD, the follower's account auto-opens about 0.1 lot. Every proportional lot copied earns the referring IB a rebate — with no action required from the passive investor.
| Aspect | Follower Account | Master Account |
|---|---|---|
| Who trades | Nobody — it auto-copies | The strategy provider / money manager |
| Decision made | Who to follow, how much to allocate | What, when, and how to trade |
| Earns from | Strategy performance (own P&L) | Performance/management fees + own P&L |
| Skill required | Minimal | High |
Coach clients to set a multiplier and equity stop that match their personal risk tolerance the moment they connect — correctly configured follower accounts churn far less than ones left on default aggressive settings.
Letting clients manually intervene in their follower accounts overrides the automated risk management, desyncs positions from the master, and typically turns a manageable copy into an avoidable loss.
No — the whole point is that trades are copied automatically from a master. You choose who to follow and how much risk to allow, but you do not place trades yourself.
Yes. A follower account mirrors the master's losses as well as gains, so your capital is fully at risk; there is no guaranteed outcome in copy trading.
In most retail copy systems yes — followers keep control of their funds and can usually unlink from the master or withdraw, subject to the broker's settlement rules.
Proportional sizing scales each trade to your equity, so a smaller follower opens smaller lots — a multiplier lets you fine-tune this up or down.
Copies are scaled by the equity ratio and any multiplier or risk cap you set, so the lot size will rarely match the master's exactly.
They overlap — a PAMM/MAM investor account is a type of follower account, but pure copy-trading follower accounts often let you copy per-trade rather than pooling capital under one manager.