How to Configure Account Risk Settings?
Risk Settings let you place automatic limits on your own trading, such as loss limits, profit targets, trailing drawdown thresholds, and restrictions on what and how much you can trade.
Published
Topic
Account Settings
Risk Settings let you place automatic limits on your own trading, such as loss limits, profit targets, trailing drawdown thresholds, and restrictions on what and how much you can trade. When a limit is reached, your account locks automatically.
Risk Settings can be configured for any Live or Demo KGI Crusoe account in the KGI Crusoe platform. If you trade with a prop firm, your prop firm is your account provider and manages your account, so contact them with questions about it. See Risk Settings Across Platforms for details.
Table of Contents
How to Edit Your Risk Settings
Risk Settings Across Platforms
Available Risk Settings
What Happens When a Limit is Reached
Trailing Max Drawdown Deep Dive
How to Edit Your Risk Settings
Risk settings can currently be changed only in the KGI Crusoe platform. Because they are applied at the account level, any changes will be reflected in KGI Crusoe Web. To limit trade or contract sizing, such as locking your account to Micro contracts, combine Only Trade Selected Products with Max Number of Open Positions.
To manage your risk settings, log in to the KGI Crusoe platform, click the User Profile button with your initials in the upper-right corner, then select Settings. On the Settings page, open the Accounts tab and click Risk Settings for the account you want to manage.
You can also manage Risk Settings in the KGI Crusoe platform. Click the shield icon at the bottom of the right-hand navigation menu.
Whether editing from the Dashboard or Web app, you can toggle each setting on or off individually, then scroll down and click Save to apply your changes. Note that Risk Settings do not set a default or maximum order quantity; the quantity is chosen on each order you place.
Important: Setting a Risk Setting value to $0 immediately triggers position liquidation and cancels any open orders. If this happens unintentionally, disable the setting or update the value to an amount greater than zero.
Available Risk Settings
The following Risk Settings can be modified for your accounts:
Setting | Description |
|---|---|
Daily Loss Limit | The maximum realized loss allowed in a single trading day. |
Weekly Loss Limit | The maximum total realized loss allowed over a trading week. |
Daily Profit Trigger | A realized profit target for a single trading day. Use this to lock in a good day and stop yourself from giving the gains back. |
Weekly Profit Trigger | A realized profit target for the trading week. |
End-of-Day Trailing Max Drawdown | A loss threshold that follows your account balance upward as it grows, but only updates once per day after the session closes. Your account locks if the balance falls to the threshold. |
Real-Time Trailing Max Drawdown | Works the same way as the end-of-day version, except the threshold follows your account value continuously throughout the session, including unrealized profit and loss on open positions. |
Max Number of Open Positions | The maximum number of positions you can hold open at the same time. Once you reach this number, orders that would open an additional position are rejected until you close one of your existing positions. Use this to cap your trade size at the account level. |
Only Trade Selected Products | Restricts your account to a specific list of products that you choose. Orders for any product not on the list are rejected. For example, select only Micro contracts to lock your account to trading Micros. |
Prevent Changes When Trading is Locked by Risk Settings | Locks your Risk Settings whenever a limit or trigger locks your trading, so you cannot raise a limit to keep trading. Your settings stay locked until the end of the trading day at 4:00 PM Central. |
Alert-Based Risk Settings in the KGI Crusoe platform
Every setting listed above is also available in the KGI Crusoe platform, along with the three alert-based settings below. These settings only notify you. They do not lock your account, close open positions, or stop you from continuing to trade.
Setting | Description |
|---|---|
Max Loss Per Trade | The maximum amount you are willing to lose on a single trade. |
Max Profit Per Trade | The maximum profit you want to take on a single trade. |
Max Time in Trade | How long you can stay in a trade, set in hours and minutes. |
What Happens When a Limit is Reached
When a loss limit, profit trigger, or trailing drawdown threshold is reached, all open positions are closed, working orders are canceled, and your account is set to liquidation-only. In this status, you can close existing positions but cannot open new ones, and any order that would open a new position will be rejected. You may see a message such as "Your account is currently set to liquidation only due to low net liquidating value." The reason for any order rejection can be viewed in the Control Center > Accounts tab in the KGI Crusoe Web.
If your account shows a liquidation-only status and you have Risk Settings enabled, one of your limits may have been triggered. To see which one, review your Risk Settings in the KGI Crusoe platform. Liquidation-only status is not always caused by Risk Settings. It can also result from low net liquidating value, a pending full balance withdrawal, outstanding financial profile documents, or a margin requirement. If none of your Risk Settings are enabled, please raise a support ticket to determine the cause.
When you can trade again depends on which setting was triggered:
Daily Loss Limit or Daily Profit Trigger: 5:00 PM Central the same day.
Weekly Loss Limit or Weekly Profit Trigger: 5:00 PM Central on the following Sunday.
End-of-Day or Real-Time Trailing Max Drawdown: these do not unlock automatically. raise a support ticket to have your account unlocked. If the support team is not available, the team will follow up by email.
Limits are measured on realized profit and loss only. Unrealized profit or loss on an open position does not count toward your loss limits or profit triggers. Daily totals run from 5:00 PM Central to 3:45 PM Central, Sunday through Friday, and include all fees and commissions. Real-Time Trailing Max Drawdown is the exception, as it tracks your account value continuously, including unrealized profit and loss.
Important Notes
Risk Settings do not override brokerage margin requirements.
If a Loss Limit exceeds the margin required to maintain a position, the brokerage's Margin Policy takes precedence. Loss Limits are also liquidation triggers, not guaranteed loss caps: when a limit is reached, a market order is sent to close all open positions, and slippage during execution can result in a realized loss greater than the limit you set, particularly during periods of high volatility.
While trading is locked, you cannot turn off Prevent Changes When Trading is Locked by Risk Settings yourself.
If you need your Risk Settings unlocked before the lock expires, raise a support ticket. Only the Trade Desk can unlock them. Enable this setting only if you are certain you want that restriction.
Trailing Max Drawdown Deep Dive
Trailing Max Drawdown sets a dynamic loss limit based on your highest account balance, including commissions and fees. The threshold trails upward as your balance grows, tightening the allowable loss level as profits increase. Once the threshold reaches your initial starting balance, it stops trailing and remains fixed for the life of the account unless the setting is updated or removed. Trailing Max Drawdown does not reset at the end of the trading day.
The figure below shows how Trailing Max Drawdown works with a starting balance of $100,000 and a Trailing Max Drawdown of $3,000, using hypothetical profits and losses.
Two types of Trailing Max Drawdown are available:
Type | Description |
|---|---|
End-of-Day | Calculated at the close of each daily session. Intraday balance swings do not trigger liquidation. If your balance drops below the threshold during an active trade, your position stays open until the calculation runs at session close. |
Real-Time | Calculated continuously as you trade. If your account balance reaches the threshold at any point, a market order is sent immediately to close all open positions. Because this uses a market order, fills are not guaranteed at the exact threshold level, and slippage during volatile periods can produce a realized loss larger than the limit you set. |
