How to merge several MT4/MT5 master accounts into one and copy it to many accounts

Some traders want to combine several sources, such as two EAs and a signal account, into one portfolio and then copy that portfolio to many accounts. With Local Trade Copier this is a three-layer setup that I call SMART INVESTOR BRIDGE™: master accounts, then one bridge account, then client accounts. The bridge account runs the client EA and the server EA at the same time, on two charts. Everything runs in MT4 and MT5 terminals on one Windows PC or VPS.

How the layers stay apart

Local Trade Copier has a group number in both EAs: Signal Provider ID in LTC Server and Signal_Provider_ID (SPID) in LTC Client. A client EA only sees server EAs with the same number. The bridge uses two groups:

So layer 1 copies the masters into the bridge, and layer 2 copies the bridge to the clients. LTC Server on the bridge sends every trade on that account, including the trades its own LTC Client has just copied there.

Setup

1. One terminal per account, each in its own folder, all on the same computer. The bridge needs its trading password, because trades are opened on it. A master can use its investor (read-only) password, because LTC Server only reads its trades.
2. Masters: attach LTC Server to any chart. Leave Signal Provider ID = 1.
3. Bridge, chart 1: attach LTC Client to a chart of one of the bridge broker's own symbols. Set Signal_Provider_ID (SPID) = 1. "Copy From These Master Accounts" = "All accounts with active Server EA on this PC", or "Selected accounts" plus a list of account numbers.
4. Choose the mix on the bridge. One LTC Client uses one money management setting for all its masters. "AAM (Auto-Adjust and Multiply by X)" with a value of 0.33 gives three masters equal weight, with about the total risk of one master. The default "AA (Auto-Adjust to account size)" copies each master at its own full risk. To give one master less weight, set LotMultiplier in that master's LTC Server, for example 0.5.
5. Bridge, chart 2: attach LTC Server to a second chart and set Signal Provider ID = 2.
6. Clients: attach LTC Client with Signal_Provider_ID (SPID) = 2. With the default AA mode, each copy is sized to the client's balance.
7. Test: place a BUY LIMIT far from the price on one master. It should appear on the bridge, then on every client. Move it and delete it; both changes go through both layers.

Example: a master with a 10,000 balance opens 1.00 lot. The bridge also has 10,000 and uses AAM 0.33, so it opens 0.33 lot. A client with a 50,000 balance on AA then opens 1.65 lots (0.33 × 50,000 / 10,000).

Watch the smallest lots: with the same balances, a 0.01-lot master trade becomes 0.0033 lot. LTC raises a lot to the broker's minimum only up to MaxMinLotUpsize times (default 2), so it skips that trade. Give the bridge a bigger balance than each master, or let the masters trade at least 0.02 lots.

Mistakes to avoid

• One SPID for everything. Then the clients see the masters and the bridge, and copy every trade twice.
• Running the bridge's LTC Client on two computers. Every master trade would then be copied into the bridge twice. For clients on a second VPS, log the bridge in there and run only LTC Server (SPID 2). Your licence must then cover two computers.
• Changing AllowCopyTradesFromMyself to true. Keep the default (false). It stops a client EA from copying trades that come from its own account.

Good to know

• Whatever closes a trade on the bridge, such as a manual close, a stop loss or a protection setting of the bridge's LTC Client, also closes the copies on the clients.
• Filter by magic number on the bridge's LTC Client. With MagicNumber = 0 (default), the bridge's copies carry the master trade's ticket number as their magic number, so a master EA's magic number can't be filtered on the clients.
• Symbol names are mapped at each layer, so masters, bridge and clients can use different brokers and MT4 and MT5 in any mix.
• To see on a client which master a trade came from, set CopyExactTradeComment = false and TradeComment = M{SANUMBER} on the bridge's LTC Client (with MagicNumber = 0, the default). The clients copy that comment.
• The bridge can be a demo account. The clients still open their copies at their own brokers' prices.

Rimantas Petrauskas, developer of Local Trade Copier since 2010.