Starting Copy Trading

Ready to copy a portfolio? It's simple and straightforward. This guide walks you through the entire process from finding a portfolio to confirming your copy trade.

Video Guide

Watch how to start copy trading:

Finding Your Portfolio

Browse Available Portfolios

  1. Open PiTrade
  2. Go to the Explore or Strategizer tab
  3. Browse available portfolios

Reviewing Portfolio Details

Portfolio Overview Tab

When you open a portfolio, you'll see performance statistics (average monthly return, best month performance, worst month performance, win rate) and portfolio metrics (total value, current holdings, cash allocation, portfolio composition).

Top Holdings Tab

View exactly what are the top holdings in the strategizer's portfolio including stock symbol, company name, percentage of portfolio. Idle cash shows cash not invested and available for new trades. Holdings update in real-time so you can see the trader's current positions and understand their strategy.

Performance Tab

Detailed performance history shows monthly returns by month with year-over-year comparison, trend analysis.

Benchmark Tab

Compare to market indices like S&P 500, Nasdaq, and other benchmarks to see relative performance. View outperformance metrics showing how much better/worse than market, risk-adjusted returns, and consistency vs market.

Understanding the Strategizer

Meet the Strategizer

Each portfolio has a strategizer profile showing trader information (username, profile picture, verification badge, bio/description) and trading experience.

Entering Your Investment Amount

Setting Your Amount

  1. On the portfolio page, find the Investment Amount field
  2. Enter the amount you want to invest
  3. The amount must be minimum $100 (or platform minimum), maximum your available balance, whole numbers (no cents required)

Amount Considerations

Start Small: First-time copying? Start with $100-$500, test the trader's strategy before committing more, increase gradually as you gain confidence.

Diversify Your Capital: Don't put all your money with one trader, spread across 3-5 different traders, mix different risk levels and strategies.

Example Allocation (Total capital: $5,000): Trader 1 (Conservative) $1,500, Trader 2 (Balanced) $1,500, Trader 3 (Growth) $1,000, Trader 4 (Aggressive) $1,000

Real-Time Calculations: Enter amount → Fee calculated, shows total cost, shows available balance after copy, updates instantly.

Reviewing Before Copying

What to Check

Portfolio Details

  • Portfolio name is correct
  • Strategizer information matches
  • Holdings align with your expectations
  • Performance history looks good

Your Investment

  • Amount is correct
  • You have sufficient balance
  • Amount fits your investment plan
  • Fees are acceptable

What Happens Next

First 24 Hours

  • Your account is set up for copying
  • You'll receive a confirmation email
  • Your dashboard shows the active copy trade
  • You can monitor in real-time
  • First trades may execute

Ongoing Copying

Automatic Trade Mirroring: When the trader buys, you buy (proportionally), when the trader sells, you sell (proportionally), all trades execute automatically, no manual action needed, real-time execution.

Your Dashboard

Access Your Copy Trades

  1. Portfolio Tab → See all holdings
  2. Copy Trading Tab → View active copies
  3. Performance Tab → Track returns
  4. Notifications → Get trade alerts

Monitoring Your Copy: View all copied trades in your portfolio, see performance updates, track gains/losses, monitor the trader's activity, compare to benchmark.

Copied Portfolio List

View All Your Copies: See all portfolios you're copying, display metrics (invested amount, current value, % change), sort by performance/amount/date, filter by status (active, upcoming, paused).

Next Steps:

Questions? Browse our FAQ →

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