Build one cost sheet
Start with the return before charges, then list every cost you may pay. Subscription, platform, management, performance, commission, spread, financing and currency conversion are different items. Avoid counting a trading cost twice if the reported return already includes it.
A worked example
Suppose a $10,000 allocation earns $1,000 before investor-level fees. A simple 20% fee on that $1,000 would be $200, leaving $800 before other charges. If there is also a $300 annual subscription, the remainder is $500. This deliberately simplified example ignores timing, compounding, tax and high-water-mark details. It is not a quotation for a real service.
The same $300 subscription is 3% of a $10,000 account and 15% of a $2,000 account. Fixed charges can make a small allocation uneconomic even when the strategy itself is profitable.
Read the fee basis
A performance fee may depend on a high-water mark, settlement period and treatment of open profit. A management fee may accrue on equity rather than the initial deposit. Ask how deposits, withdrawals and early closure affect each charge.
Darwinex’s terms are an example of why the distinction matters: its published DARWIN quote includes brokerage costs but excludes management and performance fees. Always establish the basis of the figure you are comparing.
Ask for the investor result
- Which costs are already deducted from the displayed record?
- What would my allocation have earned after every applicable charge?
- Are there minimum, inactivity, withdrawal or early-exit charges?
- Can the fee schedule change, and how will I be notified?
Use the calculator carefully
Our Risk Lab offers a simplified fee illustration. It helps expose cost sensitivity; it does not reproduce a provider’s settlement engine. Use the signed fee schedule for an actual decision.
Sources & review scope
Primary material checked 9 November 2026. Provider statements explain product mechanics; they are not independent confirmation of performance, permissions or withdrawals.