Tiered margin for traders
Scale your positions with confidence and manage your risk with our tiered margin structure. Adapt your exposure as you grow and trade with greater precision and control.
What is tiered margin and how does it affect you?
Tiered margin is a dynamic system that automatically adjusts the margin required for your open positions based on their size. The larger your positions, or in other words, your exposure, the higher the margin rate applied and the lower the leverage available.
This approach ensures competitive trading conditions while helping you manage risk responsibly, especially for larger or less-liquid positions. With the platform automatically applying tiered rules, you can focus on your strategy without worrying about manually calculating risk for each position.
Tiered margin
Tiered Margin Example (EURUSD)
1 lot = 100,000
- Tier 1: up to 1,000,000 → 0.1%
- Tier 2: above 1,000,000 → 0.2%
Margin is calculated progressively by tier, meaning higher rates apply only to the portion exceeding each tier.
Case 1: Buy 0.1 lot 0.1 × 100,000 = 10,000 Margin required = 10,000 × 0.1% = 10 USD (Applies Tier 1 since the exposure is within 1,000,000)
Case 2: Buy 11 lots 11 × 100,000 = 1,100,000
- Tier 1: 1,000,000 × 0.1% = 1,000 USD (Applied to the portion within Tier 1)
- Tier 2: 100,000 × 0.2% = 200 USD (Applied to the remaining 100,000 as portion exceeds 1,000,000) Total margin required = 1,200 USD
Become a Pepperstone pro client
Access exclusive features like higher leverage, cash rebates and premium rewards.
FAQs
Tiered margin is a system that adjusts the margin you need based on your position size. Margin is the amount of money required in your account to open and maintain a trade. Smaller positions have lower margin rates, while larger positions require more margin to help manage risk.
As your position size increases, so does the risk. Higher tiers require higher margin rates to make sure you use leverage responsibly and stay protected during market movements.
Yes. Margin and leverage are directly linked. In a tiered margin system, the required margin percentage increases as the size of your position does. This automatically reduces the leverage on the trade, and therefore the risk.
No. The trading platform automatically calculates and applies the correct margin tier and rate when you open or modify a position. To understand how to calculate your margin, please refer to the example above.