Account Opening
Accounts Management, Commissions & Reporting
Markets, Products & Futures Trading
 What markets and products can I trade? What is the difference between electronic trading and trading with a broker over the phone? Can you or someone trade for me? Do you offer LIFFE trading?
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Trading Platforms
Margins
About Variance Futures
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Where are you located? What are your business hours? Who do you clear through?
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Account Opening
How do I open an account?
The account forms for individual, corporate and partnerships are located on the website and here: (Open Account). They can be completed online in less than 10 minutes.
What type of account can I open?
You can open an individual, corporate, treasury or partnership accounts. You may also open a managed account in which someone else trades (i.e. Commodity Trading Advisor).
How long does it take to open an account?
If you use the online signup, and wire the funds, this process can be complete in as little as 45 minutes.
The process can take 1-2 days If you chose to download, print and fax the forms or if there are additional forms that needed to be filled after you submit your online/offline application.
What is the minimum initial deposit required to open an account?
The minimum initial deposit to open an account is $5,000 for standard account, and $2,500 for E-mini account. For more information about account types and minimums, click here.
Can I trade for someone else's account?
You may make decisions for another person's account if they give you power of attorney. In addition, you can also give another person a power of attorney to trade for your account.
Do you accept Non-US customers?
Yes. Variance Futures welcomes foreign clients and also provide support in a few foreign languages.
Can I transfer an existing account to Variance Futures?
Yes, you can transfer funds directly from another brokerage firm, including your open positions from another brokerage firm.
To learn more about how to transfer your futures account from another broker, please click here.
Can I get a discount for bringing other traders into Variance Futures?
Please contact our sales department and ask about our referral program.
Accounts Management, Commissions & Reporting
What are your commission rates?
Our commission schedule is published in our website: www.variancefutures.com/commissions/.
What is the cost of your trading platforms?
Please see our platform fees and subscription options here.
Are there any unpublished fees i should be aware of?
We believe in full disclosure and transparency and therefore there are no hidden fees/charges.
All of our commission rates and other fees are disclosed on our account fees page
Is there somewhere I can go online to check my account balance and past transactions?
Yes. you may do so at any time and retrieve your daily equity statements. Your real-time profit/loss of all your trades placed electronically is available on your execution software.
Who holds my funds?
Your funds will be held by our FCM in a segregated funds account under your name.
We can wire the funds to you or send you a check. You may ask for withdrawal at any time by:
1. Login to our secure client center and submit an online request.
or
2. Call our accounts department and ask for withdrawal.
Requests will be reviewed and go out in 12 hours from request.
Are the funds in my account insured?
No. There isn't any insurance in the Futures Industry as there is in the Banking or Securities Industry.
However, your account, our company, as well as the futures industry, is highly regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the National Futures Association (NFA).
Due to the strict daily financial reporting requirements, substantial net capital requirements to hold customer funds on deposit, and the vigorous audits performed by the NFA, your funds on deposit with a United States FCM are well protected.
Do you charge for your electronic daily email statements?
No, they are free.
Is there somewhere I can go online to check my up-to-the-minute P&L?
Your up to the minute P&L can be seen on your fill window of X-Trader, Strategy Runner or J-Trader. You can also determine it by calling our operations desk.
In addition, you will receive a daily statement after each day you trade.
Who do I call if I did not receive my account statement?
You should call us or send us an e-mail and we will send a copy of your statement instantly.
Do I get a statement every night in email?
Yes, your statement will be emailed to you each evening after the end of the trading day.
Can you send my statement to more than one e-mail account?
Yes. Please call or email our accounts department at 
with your request.
Why is my statement showing me as long/short?
Since normal futures market hours are from 3:45pm CST till 3:15pm CST the next day, if you had any open positions at 3:15pm CST when the market closed, your statement will show that.
Markets, Products & Futures Trading
What markets and products can I trade?
Variance Futures give you access to virtually every futures exchange around the world.
Our products may be viewed at the following link: www.variancefutures.com/products/.
What is the difference between electronic trading and trading with a broker over the phone?
Trading futures online is different than trading with a broker. New traders might need guidance about different factors such as expiration dates, volatility, reports, liquidity and several other small factors before they enter a trade.
Variance Futures offer several helpful resources and online courses. Please check our online Futures Learning Center.
Can you or someone trade for me?
We cannot trade for you, but you can have an account manager or CTA to trade your funds (usually for a fee).
Do you offer LIFFE trading?
Yes, we offer LIFFE trading.
In fact, Variance Futures let you trade in almost every major futures exchange in the world. To learn more about the exchanges and product offering, please check www.variancefutures.com/products/.
Trading Platforms
What kind of trading platforms do you offer?
We offer our clients three trading platforms: X_TRADER, Strategy Runner and J-Trader. To learn more about the platforms and make a comparison that will help you to choose the right platform for you , click here.
What is the cost of your trading software?
Please see our "Platform Fees" page under the Commissions section.
Should I pay for the X_TRADER trading software by subscription or non-subscription?
Traders who trade in excess of 500 round turn contracts per month will want to choose subscription pricing for the X_TRADER. First, subscription pricing gives you access to our best software offerings. Second, subscription pricing saves you money. By paying a flat monthly fee for the platform you are capped on how much you pay for the software, as opposed to non-subscription pricing where you are paying for the platform for every contract you trade.
Why does the X_TRADER cost $650/month?
Trading Technologies charges us a license fee for each customer who uses X-TRADER. We are simply passing that fee on.
Do you offer charting software?
Variance Futures have partnerships with the best charting software companies in the market. As a client of Variance Futures you can subscribe for those software and get a substantial discount.
What happens if I lose my internet connection while trading?
Our trade support team is available to help you get in or out of a trade. Please call our main number immediately if you are in a trade.
Do you offer demos of your platforms?
We offer platform demos. Simulation trading is free to clients with funded accounts. Those without funded accounts may use demo mode.
Margins
What are your standard day trading margin rates?
Our intraday margin for qualified accounts is usually 25% of the initial/overnight margin. For full margin listings, please click here: (Margin Rates).
Is it possible to get a lower intra day margin rate than your standard intra day margins?
Depending on your trading style, intraday margin would be 4 times the overnight buying power to 8 times the overnight buying power. Variance can be very aggressive with buying power for the individual high volume trader with qualified account.
How many contracts can I trade for $5,000?
If you were for example trading the NASDAQ 100 E-mini contract, your initial margin would be $3,250.00. So, you would be able to hold one contract overnight. However, your
standard intraday margin would be lower than $3,250.0, depending on your trading style.
What is the required margin for the emini products?
As of May 2007, the initial margin for the E-mini S&P 500 contract is $3,500.0 and for the E-mini Nasdaq is $3,250.0. The maint. margin is $2,800.0 and $2,600.0 respectively.
To view our full listing of E-mini contracts and their margin requirements, click here.
About Variance Futures
Where are you located?
We are located in Midtown Manhattan, New York. Our data center and back office is located in Chicago.
What are your business hours?
Our normal business hours are from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm eastern time. Our global institutional trading desk is open 24 hours a day from Sunday at 5:00pm eastern time to Friday afternoon at 4:00pm eastern time.
Who do you clear through?
Variance Futures LLC clears through Penson GHCO, one of the largest self-clearing FCMs
