How to choose the Signal Provider?

A successful investor activity in the ZuluTrade depends on two main factors: choosing the Signal Provider and settings of the investment portfolio. You may read the rules of the portfolio in the articles Capital Management, and in the examples of completed portfolio as well. In this article the detailed procedure of the Signal Provider selection and statistics analysis provided by the system ZuluTrade shall be reviewed.

In order to view the complete list of Signal Providers of ZuluTrade, please follow the link http://zulutradeinvest.zulutrade.com/. The list includes a brief overview of the main characteristics of Signal Providers. Please note that the system ZuluTrade already sorted the list of experts according to the quality deterioration, and this sorting is called ZuluRank. The most reliable and profitable Signal Providers are at the beginning of this list.

Choosing an expert to be added to the portfolio, you cannot be guided only by the level of profit. Let’s consider the figures presented in the list in more detail based on three Signal Providers.

The first two columns, "ZuluRank" and "Signal Provider" contain general information about a Signal Provider: a nickname (or often it’s a trading strategy name), the country where this expert is working currently, the broker of the trade expert, personal icon (helps you to find the correct expert quickly in the list). "Graph" is a visual representation of the results of the expert work. Graph shall have a triangle shape (like three Signal Providers in the picture above).

In the column "Pips" you may see the profit of the Signal Provider for the whole period of his work. For example Signal Provider FOREXTECHNO - [EURUSD_LT] received 3500 points of profit for 72 weeks or 18 months. Profit is depicted in points because the total income depends on how much money was invested in an expert. To better understand how much income can be obtained from 3500 points please consult the following table (based on the value of on point equal to $10 per each lot):

Lot 1 (the recommended capital is $20,000)	3500 points*$10*1lot = $35,000 per month	$420,000 per year
Lot 2 (the recommended capital is $40,000)	3500 points*$10*2lots = $70,000 per month	$840,000 per year
4 lots (Recommended Capital is $80,000)	3500 points*$10*4lots= $140,000 per month	$1,680,000 per year

In the column "Trades" you may see the total number of transactions performed by the Signal Provider. Number of transactions depends on trading style and trading strategy. It’s sufficient to get convinced that there are over 100 transactions in order the data to be statistically more reliable.

"Avq Pips" is the average profit in points which an expert receives per one trade. The value of this parameter can vary greatly for different experts. It is important that the average profit per trade exceeds 4 points; otherwise the expert will bring too little revenue.

"Win%" is the ratio of profitable trades to the number of loss-making trades of the expert. This is one of the most important indicators of the statistics. Usually for good experts this indicator ranges from 65% to 85%, but there could be exceptions. Let’s consider a Signal Provider FOREXTECHNO. Despite the fact that it makes more negative transactions than positive, the profit from the positive transactions is significantly higher than the loss from the negative. As a result, FOREXTECHNO is very profitable and reliable Signal Provider. Try to avoid Signal Providers with the indicator of 90 and more percent of profitable trades, as very often these experts have a very high level of drawdown.

"Avq Trade Time" is the time before a Signal Provider closes your transaction. As the open transactions are using your money, it is better to choose the experts with a smaller average time, such as one day or less. In this case, your funds will be more often available for other transactions, and the average profit will increase.

The indicator "Weeks" shows the period during which the expert is trading at ZuluTrade. In order the trading strategy would reveal its properties it is sufficient to work during 30-40 weeks. Many Signal Providers test their systems during 10-year period in order to determine the strategy of long-term profitability.

In the column "Max DD%" the per cent value of the Signal Provider’s drawdown is indicated. Forexample, themaximum 20% drawdownfor income of 1000 points is equal to 200 points. Maximumdrawdowngives an idea - which amount can be lost when dealing with an expert. Creatingtheportfoliowith low risk, avoid Signal Providers with the index of drawdown greater than 10%. Also you may protect yourself against losses setting Stop level for each Signal Provider in your portfolio settings.

"Max Open Trades" points to the historical maximum for the number of simultaneously open trades for a Signal Provider.

"Followers" shows the number of investors which added this Signal Provider to their portfolios. The number of subscribers reflects very well the quality of Signal Providers. Most of the good Signal Providers have over 2,000 subscribers. Note that not all of the popular Signal Providers can be suitable for you. In ZuluTrade there are many both conservative and risky investors. A good expert with a high level of risk and profit can attract a lot of investors inclined to take risks. Evaluate the statistics before you add the expert to your portfolio.

To open an extended statistics on a Signal Provider, click on its name. Advanced statistics is needed to consider favorite expertsin more detail. In this section you will be able to view profitability and drawdown schedules, as well as other useful information about Signal Provider. Let’s consider the statistics taking an expert Forex Cruise Control as an example:

On the opened page the graph of the profitability of Signal Provider is displayed. Here you can see the dynamics of profitability, and local recessions as well. Many investors prefer to add a Signal Provider to the portfolio during a downturn, waiting for the start of a new profitable trend.

Above the chart you may see the buttons of switching between different screens of statistics. The most important are the monthly profit and drawdown. Click on the button you need to go to the appropriate screen.

Viewing the graph of monthly profitability you may get sure that the profit of the Signal Provider is distributed by months. At this chart you may also seewhich profit or loss an expert got in each month.

The screen of drawdown displays two graphs: profitability (green) and drawdown (red). The red line should not deviate a lot from the green one. If the red line is strongly deviated, it means that the Signal Provider keeps losing positions for a long time, which leads to additional risks. Normally, experts with the highest profitability have rather high rate of drawdown. To protect your account from unnecessary risk, set a Stop limit for such an expert in options of your trading portfolio.

If you are just starting to work with ZuluTrade, we recommend you to read Signal Providers review. Expert Reviews are constantly updated and at the home pageyou can subscribe to new reviews by email.