A PAMM account has two possible fees and the money manager sets both. The performance fee comes out of profit alone and uses a high-water mark, so losses have to be recovered first. The management fee takes a percentage of your equity every interval whatever the result, capped at 10 per cent. Trading costs sit on the master account.

This guide works through the calculations with examples. For how PAMM itself works, see what is a PAMM account. The product itself is set out on the ThinkMarkets PAMM money manager page.

What are the two PAMM fee types?

ThinkMarkets configures which fee types exist and applies the cap on management fees. Everything else sits with the money manager, which is why two managers on the same platform can charge very differently. Both rates are shown to you in the offer before you commit any funds.

Performance fee and management fee compared

The structural differences that matter to an investor

	Performance fee	Management fee
What it pays for	Profit the manager generates	Running the strategy, win or lose
Charged on	New net profit only	Your equity
Charged in a losing interval	No	Yes
Basis	Equity based, with a high-water mark	Percentage of equity
Cap	No cap currently configured	10 per cent
Who sets the rate	The money manager	The money manager

A manager can use either fee, both, or neither. The combination tells you something about how they are paid. A manager on performance fee alone earns nothing from a flat year. A manager on management fee alone earns the same whether you gain or lose.

How is a PAMM performance fee calculated?

Only out of profit, at the end of each trading interval, and never on a deposit. If the interval finishes at a net loss, the fee is zero.

How equity tiers work

An illustrative structure, not a ThinkMarkets fee schedule

Investor equity at end of interval	Rate applied	An investor finishing with
USD 0 and above	40 per cent	USD 4,000 pays 40 per cent on their profit
USD 10,000 and above	30 per cent	USD 12,000 pays 30 per cent on their profit

Illustrative figures only. Not a ThinkMarkets fee schedule and not an indication of future results.

The rate itself is equity based, which is the part that surprises people. The percentage applied depends on your equity at the end of the interval, so a manager can set tiers that charge larger investors a lower rate.

What is a high-water mark?

A mechanism that stops you paying twice for the same gain. A performance fee applies only to new net profit above the highest level previously reached. After a loss, no fee is charged, the loss carries forward, and the manager has to recover it before fees resume.

How a high-water mark works across four intervals

Cumulative profit against the previous peak. A fee applies only to new ground above it

Interval 1

+1,000

Interval 2

-600

Interval 3

+400

Interval 4

+800

Bar length shows cumulative profit, scale 0 to USD 1,800. Intervals 1 and 4 set new peaks and attract a fee. Intervals 2 and 3 sit below the peak and attract none. Illustrative figures only. Not a ThinkMarkets fee schedule and not an indication of future results.

Without it, a manager who lost money and then made it back could charge on the recovery, even though you were no better off than before they started.

A worked high-water mark example

The figures below are illustrative and track a single investor across four trading intervals.

The same four intervals, in numbers

Where the fee applies, and where it does not

Interval	Result	Position against the previous peak	Fee charged on
1	Profit of USD 1,000	New peak set	USD 1,000
2	Loss of USD 600	USD 600 below the peak	Nothing
3	Profit of USD 400	Still USD 200 below the peak	Nothing
4	Profit of USD 800	USD 600 above the peak	USD 600

Illustrative figures only. Not a ThinkMarkets fee schedule and not an indication of future results.

In interval 4 the account gained USD 800, but only USD 600 of that was new ground above the previous peak. The first USD 200 simply restored what interval 2 had lost, so no fee applies to it.

How is a PAMM management fee calculated?

As a percentage of your equity, charged at the end of each trading interval, capped at 10 per cent.

The difference from a performance fee is that results are irrelevant. It is charged in a flat interval and in a losing one. Over a long period without gains, a management fee alone will erode an investment, which is the main reason to check the rate before you join rather than after.

When are PAMM fees charged?

At the end of the trading interval set in the manager's offer. The interval is configurable in days, weeks, months, calendar months, or on rollover, and every duration is calculated in UTC+0.

The interval matters more than most investors realise. It decides how often you are charged and how often the high-water mark is reassessed. A shorter interval means more frequent fee calculations and more frequent resets of the peak your manager has to beat.

Does withdrawing trigger a performance fee?

It can. Because fees are normally calculated at interval end, an investor leaving part way through could otherwise take profit without paying the fee the manager had already earned on it. A pending performance fee prevents that.

How a pending performance fee works

Applied when you withdraw part way through a trading interval

What it applies to

Current interval profit only

The fee is calculated solely on profit made for that investor during the interval in progress.

If the interval is down

No fee

Where the current interval is at a loss, no pending performance fee is charged.

Which rate

Your equity tier

The equity-based level matching the investor's current funds, the same rule used at the end of an interval.

Where an investor leaves between intervals, the management fee is pro-rated on the same basis.

What do spreads, commissions and swaps cost you?

Nothing directly, and that is the point worth understanding. Trading costs are charged on the master trading account, not on yours. Your account holds no positions of its own, so nothing is billed to it and nothing appears as a line item.

What reaches you is the master account's net result. The spread is inside the execution price, and commissions and swaps are booked against the positions, so the profit or loss distributed at rollover is already net of all three.

You still bear these costs, in proportion to your share of the pool. You just never see them itemised. This is a real difference from trading your own account, where every cost is visible against every trade, and it means a strategy that trades heavily carries costs you cannot inspect.

Are there minimums or other charges?

There is no platform-wide minimum or maximum investment. Each manager sets their own minimum initial investment, minimum additional deposit and minimum withdrawal inside their offer, and all three are shown before you confirm.

Deposits and withdrawals use the standard ThinkMarkets payment methods, so any charge attached to a payment method applies as usual. A PAMM investor account is denominated in USD, so if you are funding from another currency, check the conversion rate and any associated charge with your account manager before depositing.

Frequently asked questions

Does ThinkMarkets set PAMM fees?

No. ThinkMarkets configures which fee types are available and applies the cap on management fees. The actual rates are set by each money manager in their offer and disclosed to investors before they join.

Do I pay a performance fee if the account loses money?

No. A performance fee comes out of profit only, so a losing interval produces none. The high-water mark then requires the manager to recover that loss before performance fees resume. A management fee, if the offer includes one, is still charged.

What does high-water mark mean in a PAMM account?

It means a performance fee applies only to new net profit above the highest level previously reached. Losses are carried forward and must be recovered first, so you do not pay a second fee on gains that only restore ground already lost.

Why is my performance fee rate different from another investor's?

Because the rate is equity based. A manager can set tiers so that a larger balance attracts a lower percentage, which means two investors in the same pool can pay different rates on the same gross return. The tiers are set out in the offer.

Do PAMM investors pay spreads and commissions separately?

No. They are charged on the master trading account where the trading happens, and absorbed into the net result distributed at rollover. You bear them in proportion to your share of the pool rather than as a separate charge, and they are not itemised for you.

Is there a cap on PAMM fees?

The management fee is capped at 10 per cent. There is no cap currently configured on the performance fee, so check the rate and any equity tiers in the manager's offer before you join.

Can a money manager raise their fees after I have joined?

Not on your investment. Once at least one investor is attached to an offer it cannot be modified, so the rates you accepted are the rates you keep. A manager who wants different terms has to create a new offer, which applies to future investors rather than to you.