For those considering investing, it’s important to first understand a few key
terms. These allow you to appreciate how the markets and trading work, so you can form a strategy
and make decisions that are beneficial to your long-term goals.
Forming part of this core terminology are two words: margin and leverage.
“Margin” is a way for investors to increase their buying power, which can be beneficial for those
whose budgets are modest. While it can increase profit, there’s also a greater degree of risk
inherent in it.
Perhaps you’re also wondering “what does leverage mean in trading”? The two
terms are often used interchangeably. They both refer to ways to open a trading position with a
broker using only a small amount of capital to take up a large position.
The use of these terms can be confusing for amateur investors and those who’ve
yet to enter the markets. However, with this guide, you should soon develop a much better
understanding of them.
What is Leverage?
So, what does leverage mean? In ordinary parlance, “to leverage” is to use
something to maximum advantage. Its meaning in the financial world is not so dissimilar: you’re
taking the funds you have and using leverage to optimise your earning potential.
If you were looking for a simplified leverage meaning or leverage definition,
you might summarise it thus: as a way to take a small amount of money and increase its value on the
investment markets.
Examples are often the easiest way to explain this kind of concept. Imagine
you have £1,000 to trade but want to increase your potential return. You find a broker offering
leverage at 25:1. With their backing, you could manage a position of up to £25,000 by placing a
deposit of £1,000.
What is Margin?
Above, we said “leverage” and “margin” are two terms that are often used
interchangeably. This is true, but we should qualify it by explaining that the two do have slightly
different meanings.
If you’re searching for a margin meaning, this is the amount of money you’ll
need to open your position, while leverage is the multiple of exposure. If you’d like to know how to
calculate margin, work out the size of your intended position and then divide this by the higher
number.
Lots of brokers will have a margin calculator on their page, but this is
usually easy enough to work out in your head. In the example we used above, our hypothetical broker
wanted to trade £25,000 with leverage of 25:1. The margin formula they’d need to use would therefore
be:
£25,000 / 25 = £1,000
Equally, if the leverage was 5:1, they’d have to put down £5,000 to manage the
same size position. The formula in this instance would be:
£25,000 / 5 = £5,000
Essentially, this means you work out the margin in the following way:
Size of position / the higher figure in the ratio = the margin.
When buying on margin, the size of your deposit will depend on the leverage
offered and the trading terms supplied by the broker. This payment is known as the “initial margin”.
Margin requirements can differ widely depending on factors like the asset type, market, and risk
involved.
How Does Margin Relate to Leverage?
We’ve largely covered this question above, but let us go into a little more
detail here. Margin is, essentially, a special type of leverage that involves using existing cash or
securities positions as collateral. This increases the trader’s buying power.
This ability is not limitless. If traders have taken on too much risk, brokers
may put them on a margin call or implement a stop-out.
Let’s look at these two concepts individually:
Margin Call
A margin call occurs when an investor’s balance and unrealised profit and loss
are equal to their margin requirement. The broker will demand they deposit additional funds to bring
their account up to the minimum value.
Stop-out
A stop-out, on the other hand, is the point where a trader’s equity is equal
to half their required margin. If you have trading positions open but lack the equity to cover
these, the trading platform will automatically close them. This is implemented as part of the FCA’s
product intervention measures.
How Does Leveraging Work?
So, how does leverage work? This is a strategy that involves borrowing funds
to increase the return on investments. If the return is higher than the interest owed, you can make
a healthy profit, which is why investors utilise it.
Using the PipsArcade platform, you must decide whether you wish to use
leverage or not. There’s no onus on you to do so. Different instruments will have various maximum
leverage amounts. By law, these must not exceed a certain number.
You can use a leverage multiplier to enhance your buying power. This will
often be in the form of a ratio, such as 10:1, 20:1, and so on. This is the number of times your
capital will be amplified.
If you’re wondering “what is leverage ratio” and how you calculate the
leverage ratio formula, this is easy. The smaller figure relates to the money you put down; the
larger, to how much the broker will amplify this by. So, if the ratio is 10:1 and you deposit £1,000
in your account, the broker will increase this amount to £10,000.
Leveraged Buyout and Stop Loss
This works in a not dissimilar way to a leveraged buyout.What is a leveraged
buyout? Where one company acquires another using a significant amount of borrowed money. You’re
essentially doing the same to secure a larger position.
