DESK INSTRUMENTS
Execution Cost
Most accounts are not destroyed by a single catastrophic position. They are eroded, a few basis points at a time, by fees and slippage levied on every entry and every exit. This instrument quantifies that erosion — and demonstrates why trading frequency is a cost to be minimised rather than a virtue to be pursued.
TRADING PROFILE
ROUND-TRIP COST
26 bps
COST PER POSITION
€65
MONTHLY FRICTION
€2,600
ANNUAL FRICTION
€31,200
Annual cost of friction by profile
The edge your strategy must generate before a single euro of profit reaches you.
Frequency is a cost, not a strategy. On the parameters above, moving from a disciplined cadence to an overtrading cadence increases annual friction from €9,360 to €93,600 — a 337.0 percentage-point drag on equity that must be overcome before the account is flat. This is why the desk publishes a small number of high-conviction positions rather than continuous signal flow.
One basis point equals 0.01%. Costs are modelled on full notional per side and assume no leverage; leveraged notional scales friction proportionally. Figures are illustrative and exclude funding, borrow and network fees.