Also known as: Fixed Fee, AUM Fee, Maintenance Fee
A Management Fee is a fixed charge — a percentage of assets or a flat amount — levied periodically by a money manager or trading-system provider simply for managing a client's capital, independent of trading performance. It is standard in PAMM and MAM setups and is the counterpart to the performance fee.
The fee is anchored to Assets Under Management (AUM), not to profits. A manager quoting a "2% annual management fee" charges 2% of the capital they manage each year, whether that capital grew, stayed flat, or shrank over the period. Because it is decoupled from results, it produces steady, predictable revenue in exactly the conditions when performance fees dry up.
Management fees are usually accrued frequently and deducted on a cycle. A common pattern is to calculate the fee daily on the current AUM and deduct it monthly, so a client sees a small, regular debit rather than one large annual charge. On a $100,000 account, a 2% annual fee is roughly $2,000/year, or about $167/month.
For partners, the management fee is the stable leg of managed-account income. Performance fees swing with markets; the management fee keeps paying as long as the capital stays put — which is why retention and AUM growth, not just trading wins, drive a manager-linked IB's earnings.
The manager sets a management-fee rate in the broker's PAMM/MAM configuration — an annualized percentage of each investor's allocated capital. The platform accrues the fee against current AUM (often daily) and deducts it from investor accounts on the settlement cycle, typically monthly, before or alongside any performance fee.
Because the charge is proportional to assets, the manager and any fee-sharing IB earn more as AUM grows and less as it shrinks — but they earn something in every period regardless of P&L. That makes the management fee a retention-driven income line: keeping capital in the strategy matters as much as trading it well.
Where an IB has negotiated a fee split, the broker attributes the management fee to the referral chain and pays the IB their agreed percentage on the same cycle the client is charged. This sits alongside per-lot rebates and any performance-fee share to form the partner's total managed-account payout.
An annualized management-fee percentage is defined in the PAMM/MAM setup, e.g. 2% of AUM per year.
The platform calculates the fee against each investor's current assets, commonly on a daily basis.
The accrued fee is debited from investor accounts on the settlement cycle, typically monthly.
Where a fee split exists, the broker credits the referring IB their negotiated percentage of the fee.
Why it matters for partnership: For IBs partnering with money managers, the management fee is a stable, recurring revenue stream. Because it is based on AUM rather than winning trades, a share of it provides predictable income during flat or losing market periods when performance fees pay nothing.
A PAMM manager on a broker such as RoboForex or FXTM charges a 2% annual management fee. An IB refers $1,000,000 in investor capital to the manager, producing a $20,000 annual fee. Under a negotiated split, the IB receives a steady 30% cut — about $6,000 a year, or $500 a month — simply for keeping that capital invested, even in months with no trading profit.
| Aspect | Management Fee | Performance Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Charged on | Assets under management | Profits above a high-water mark |
| Paid when | Every period, regardless of P&L | Only when the strategy makes new profit |
| Predictability | Stable and recurring | Variable, market-dependent |
| Investor appeal | Lower — pays even in flat months | Higher — aligns manager with results |
When a high management fee is deterring sign-ups, promote managers who charge zero management fee and rely purely on performance fees — investors convert more easily when they only pay when they profit.
Burying the management fee in the fine print leads to angry clients when their balance quietly shrinks during a no-trade month, driving churn and complaints that cut off your recurring income.
It depends on the broker's system, but they are commonly accrued daily on current AUM and deducted monthly, so investors see small regular debits rather than one annual charge.
Yes — a management fee is charged on your assets regardless of performance, which is exactly why it differs from a performance fee that only applies to profits.
In retail managed accounts it commonly ranges from about 0.5% to 2% of AUM per year, but rates vary widely by manager and jurisdiction and are set in the manager's terms.
Yes, where the agreement allows — the broker attributes the fee to the referral chain and pays the IB a negotiated percentage on the same cycle the client is charged.
No. A management fee is fixed and based on assets; a performance fee is variable and charged only on profits above a high-water mark. Many managers charge one, the other, or both.
A management fee is deducted on schedule regardless of trading activity, so a flat or inactive month can still show a small fee debit — it should be disclosed in the manager's terms.