Fee policy

Fee philosophy

Three choices sit behind the fee policy: how long to lock a Seat, whether the Success Fee is Variable or Fixed, and how the high-water mark stops a recovery from being charged as if it were new success. This note is for an IFA sitting with a client, or a member who has to make the same calls without one. It is explanation, not personal advice. The fee policy is the rule.

We always charge on our path, not on what the member actually did. That path is the Internal Working Bank: Hybrid, 1% per qualifier, £50 collar, £100 cap. We assume every qualifier we send was taken. If they cannot receive a day’s list, they tell us before we send; if we stop in time, those trades are assumed not made. Skipping, staking differently, or not staking after they received the list does not change the path. The path is not the member’s Betfair balance. We never hold the money. VAT is added to the Success Fee invoice. It does not change the high-water mark.

Worked figures are illustrations under the published 20% + VAT Variable rule. They are not a quote and not a forecast.

1. Why lock 3 or 5 years

The Seat Fee is access to a capped Table. Today the founder minimum is £1,200 + VAT per Seat, per year, paid in advance for a 1-, 3- or 5-year lock. Each calendar year the house base rises by £10 (ex VAT) for renewals and new Seats that are not already locked. Once locked, that annual rate stands for the term.

If there is no waiting list, the price is the base at the then-current rate. When a waiting list exists, the clearing price is the higher of the minimum at that date and the relevant bid. We do not know what those bids will be. We do know they can sit above the published minimum. The Success Fee percentage is published and separate. It is not set by the waiting list.

• 1 year: £1,200 + VAT = £1,440
• 3 years: £3,600 + VAT = £4,320
• 5 years: £6,000 + VAT = £7,200

A 3- or 5-year lock can be in a member’s interest because it fixes today’s annual Seat rate for longer. They are not coming back to the market every year while the house base ticks up, and they are not exposed, during the lock, to a waiting-list clearing price if one forms. At the end of the lock they still face the then-current minimum — or the waiting-list clearing price, if a list exists. The incumbent matches the clearing amount and chooses a new 1-, 3- or 5-year lock.

It is more cash upfront. There is no automatic refund if they leave early. If we refill the Seat they may receive a partial refund of the unused prepaid period, subject to the seat terms. A 1-year lock leaves more flexibility if they are not sure. None of this is a prediction that a waiting list will form, or at what price.

2. Fixed or Variable Success Fee

At the start of the term the member chooses one Success Fee for that term: Variable or Fixed. Both sit on top of the Seat Fee. The amounts for Fixed are on each Strategy datasheet.

Variable — for. Variable is 20% + VAT, only on a new month-end high on the path we charge on, from when they join. If that path is flat, down, or only recovering toward a previous high, the Success Fee is £0. They pay when there is new success. They do not pay for getting back to a high already charged.

Variable — against. A strong run costs more than Fixed would have. Cash is less predictable. The fee follows the path we charge on, not whether they placed the exchange trade.

Fixed — for. Fixed is a set charge for the term, taken from 50% of what Variable would have charged on the matching historical window, subject to a minimum equal to the Seat Fee for that term, invoiced quarterly in advance. If the Strategy does better than that history, Fixed can leave more of the upside with the member. The cash amount is known.

Fixed — against. If the Strategy does worse than that history, Fixed still falls due. That is the house safety net. Quiet months still have a quarterly invoice. The choice is locked for the term. Look at the datasheet — Variable already taken off the path figures, and what Fixed would have been — and decide. It is the member’s call. investorbet does not recommend one over the other.

3. The high-water mark — no second charge on a recovery

The high-water mark exists so we do not charge again for recovering a trading loss. A Success Fee already paid is not itself a loss that must be earned back. VAT on that fee is not a trading result either.

The mark tracks cumulative trading P/L on the path we charge on, before investorbet fees. Fees do not reduce the mark. Trading losses do. A later rise is charged only on the amount that makes a new high.

Example A — recover to the high, not above it

Month-end path. Variable 20% + VAT. First high has already been charged.

• 1. New high. Trading P/L reaches +£5,000. £1,000 + VAT. Mark = +£5,000.
• 2. Trading loss. Path falls £3,000 to +£2,000. £0.
• 3. Full recovery. Path rises £3,000 back to +£5,000. £0 — back to a high already charged.

The £3,000 recovery is visible and uncharged. Getting back to the mark is not new success.

Example B — recover through the high; only the extra is charged

Same starting high as A. The path then falls, then more than recovers.

• 1. New high. Trading P/L +£5,000. £1,000 + VAT. Mark = +£5,000.
• 2. Trading loss. Path falls £3,000 to +£2,000. £0.
• 3. Rise of £4,000. Path goes to +£6,000. £200 + VAT on the £1,000 above the old mark.

Of the £4,000 rise, £3,000 was recovery and £1,000 was new high. We do not charge 20% of the whole £4,000. That would be charging the loss twice.

Example C — a second dip after a new high; still no double charge

Continues from B. The mark is now +£6,000.

• 1. Mark already set. Trading P/L +£6,000. Already charged on the £1,000 new high in B.
• 2. Trading loss. Path falls £2,000 to +£4,000. £0.
• 3. Recover to the mark. Path rises £2,000 back to +£6,000. £0 — not a second charge on the same high.

Each new high is charged once. Each recovery to that high is £0, however many times the path dips below it.

If the next trading success is a further new high — say another +£1,000 after example A’s +£5,000 — that is not a recovery. That is new success, and Variable charges 20% + VAT of it (£200 + VAT). Paying the first Success Fee does not create a fee-free band equal to the fee. The Seat Fee never enters this path.

Fee policy on investorbet.co.uk/fees is the rule. Strategy datasheets show Variable already taken off, and what Fixed would have been, for that Table. This note is commercial explanation, not legal or tax advice, and not a forecast. 18+ only.

Fee policy

1. Overview

investorbet charges two types of fees:

• a Seat Fee; and
• a Success Fee.

All fees are exclusive of VAT unless expressly stated otherwise. VAT is charged at the prevailing rate.

2. Seat Fee

The Seat Fee is £1,200 + VAT per Seat, per year.

A Member may reserve a Seat for a term of 1, 3 or 5 years. The entire Seat Fee for the selected term is payable in advance before the Seat is reserved.

At the current VAT rate of 20%:

• 1 year: £1,200 + VAT = £1,440
• 3 years: £3,600 + VAT = £4,320
• 5 years: £6,000 + VAT = £7,200

If a Seat is unavailable, a prospective Member may join the waiting list at no charge.

The Seat Fee is separate from the Success Fee.

3. Success Fee Options

At the beginning of the agreed term, the Member selects one of two Success Fee options:

Variable Success Fee or Fixed Success Fee.

The selected option applies for the agreed term.

4. Working Bank and two paths

A Working Bank is the money you set aside to trade — enough to take losing streaks and downturns. It stays in your account. It is not given to us.

We always assume a Working Bank of £5,000 at the start. If you follow a different staking plan, or miss trades, your Working Bank and the path we charge on will diverge. That is OK. Your Working Bank is fine.

We will follow your selected staking plan when we tell you what to stake. We will charge the Success Fee on our staking plan, not on yours.

We do this so we do not have to access members’ Betfair accounts, which would breach Betfair’s terms of service. Sometimes this will benefit us. Sometimes it will benefit you.

That means two separate paths:

• the path we charge on; and
• the path we use to calculate your stake from your current chosen staking plan.

5. The path we charge on

We assume you start with £5,000, then a 1% stake on every qualifier we send*, at least £50 and at most £100. We do not use what you actually staked.

The same Strategy results and BSP methodology are used throughout.

On each annual anniversary of the path we charge on:

• if it is below £5,000, it is restored to £5,000;
• if it is above £5,000, it is left unchanged.

You may do the same on your own account, or not. That is up to you. This is how you will be charged either way.

A top-up is not profit. It is not included in any Success Fee, and it does not raise your high-water mark. It will change the stake we assume on the next qualifier if that assumed stake is a percentage of the Working Bank on the path we charge on.

You may stake your own way, or not at all, but not more than £100 per qualifier per Seat. None of that changes the path we charge on.

6. Variable Success Fee

Variable: 20% + VAT, only on a new month-end high on the path we charge on, from when you join.

If that path falls, no Variable Success Fee is charged. If it later recovers, no Variable Success Fee is charged on that recovery until the previous month-end high has been passed. The same rise is not charged twice.

7. If you cannot receive a day’s qualifiers

* If you know you will not be able to receive a day’s qualifiers, tell us before we send. If we stop in time and you do not receive them, we assume those trades were not made. T&Cs apply.

If you received the day’s list and then skipped, staked differently, or not at all, we still assume the trade was made on the path we charge on.

8. Fixed Success Fee

Fixed is a set charge for the agreed term, taken from a proportion of what the Variable method would have charged over the matching historical period.

If the Strategy performs well, Fixed can work in your favour. If the Strategy performs badly, it gives us a safety net. Look at the figures on the Strategy datasheet and see which way serves you best. It is your call.

The Success Fee — whether Fixed or Variable — is additional to the Seat Fee. The Variable Success Fee is already taken off the profit and loss figures on the Strategy datasheet. The datasheet also shows how the Success Fee would have been different had you chosen Fixed.

9. Calculating the Fixed Success Fee

The Fixed Success Fee is calculated from the Strategy’s historical Variable Success Fees on the path we charge on, over a period matching the Member’s chosen term:

• 1-year term: corresponding 1-year historical period
• 3-year term: corresponding 3-year historical period
• 5-year term: corresponding 5-year historical period

Those historical Variable Success Fees use the same charging-path assumptions described above, and the same month-end high-water-mark method.

The Fixed Success Fee is then set at:

• 50% of those calculated historical Success Fees, subject to the minimum Fixed Success Fee described below.

10. Minimum Fixed Success Fee

The minimum annual Fixed Success Fee is equal to the current annual Seat Fee.

At the current Seat Fee, the minimum is therefore:

• 1 year: £1,200 + VAT
• 3 years: £3,600 + VAT
• 5 years: £6,000 + VAT

The Fixed Success Fee is always additional to the Seat Fee.

11. Payment of the Fixed Success Fee

The Fixed Success Fee is divided evenly across the agreed term and invoiced quarterly in advance.

The minimum quarterly Fixed Success Fee is therefore currently:

• £300 + VAT (£360 including VAT at 20%) per Seat.

Invoices are payable within 7 days.

12. Maximum Stake and Capacity

The maximum permitted stake is £100 per Qualifier, per Seat.

A Member holding multiple Seats may operate each Seat independently, subject to the applicable Strategy and capacity rules.

These limits form part of investorbet’s capacity-management structure and are intended to reduce the risk of Member activity materially affecting the markets used by the Strategies.

13. VAT

All fees are quoted exclusive of VAT unless expressly stated otherwise.

VAT is added at the prevailing rate.