Read before you copy

Gizmo risk warning

This page explains how copying Gizmo can lose you money. It's long because the risks are real, so please read all of it before you open or fund an account.

1. How the losses happen

Gizmo uses a grid. Now trades AUDCAD only (early trial trades included XAUUSD). When the price moves against the open positions, the strategy adds more positions, and later ones can be bigger (a martingale-style method). If AUDCAD keeps going the same way, losses on those positions can grow faster than the price move itself. In a sharp or prolonged move, that can wipe out the whole account. A long run of winning trades says nothing about how big the next losing spell will be.

2. Leverage and margin

Your Vantage account is leveraged, so you control positions worth far more than your deposit. That makes small price changes matter: a move of a fraction of a per cent in AUDCAD can produce a large gain or loss compared with your balance. If your equity falls far enough, Vantage can close positions automatically (a "stop out"), usually at a loss. Vantage's own risk disclosures set out the margin rules for your account, so read them before you deposit.

3. What automation can't fix

Following rules removes guesswork. It doesn't remove market risk. Losses can turn out bigger than expected because of:

• price gaps over weekends or around major announcements;
• thin trading and slippage, where orders fill at a worse price;
• delays or failures in copying trades between Gizmo's account and yours;
• outages at Vantage, V Social or MetaTrader 5.

4. What the track record does and doesn't tell you

The MyFXBook figures show what happened in Gizmo's own account over a short period. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Your results may differ from the published record because of when you start, your balance and proportion, the performance fee, spreads, swaps and slippage. The maximum drawdown shown is not a ceiling. Future drawdowns can be deeper.

5. Your settings

The proportion you choose sets your trade size relative to Gizmo's account. A higher proportion means bigger positions and bigger swings. A lower one reduces size, but it can still produce large losses, including losing everything. The get-started guide suggests a soft stop level in V Social's copier drawdown settings. No setting guarantees that losses will stop at a given level.

6. Deposit bonuses

A Vantage deposit bonus doesn't make copying any safer. Bonus credit increases the size you can trade, and Vantage's terms say some or all of it can be removed if you withdraw. You can still lose the money you deposited.

7. Who should not copy Gizmo

Please keep these out of your trading account:

• rent, mortgage or bill money, or anything you need for day-to-day costs;
• your emergency fund;
• pension pots or money meant for retirement;
• borrowed money of any kind, credit cards and loans included.

Copying Gizmo is also unlikely to suit you if you rely on a regular or predictable income, or if losses would leave you stressed or in hardship. Gizmo doesn't give personal financial, investment or tax advice. An independent financial adviser can help you decide.

8. Who holds your money, and who is regulated

Your money is held by Vantage in an account in your name. Gizmo never holds client money. The Vantage company shown during sign-up, Vantage Global Limited, is regulated by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission rather than the UK FCA, so UK protections may not apply. Check Vantage's terms before opening an account.

Copy trading is provided by Pelican Trading, a trading name of London & Eastern LLP, which is authorised and regulated by the FCA (FRN 534484). Gizmo is a strategy provider on Pelican and is not itself authorised or regulated by the FCA.

9. Tax

You're responsible for any tax on trading profits. How tax applies depends on your circumstances and can change. HMRC guidance or a tax adviser can help.