Currency and FX handling

A portfolio can hold assets priced in different currencies. The currency settings, in Portfolio Setup advanced settings, define how each such asset is converted to the portfolio's base currency before the portfolio is calculated, and how interest on cash is treated. They apply whenever an asset's currency differs from the base currency, which is set in the Portfolio Setup section—see Setting up a portfolio.

Default Funding uses the platform's per-asset-type defaults; switch it off to set your own. Each custom row applies to one asset type, chosen in the row's Asset Type dropdown; any asset type without a row uses the platform default. Funding has two parts per asset type:

Currency Settings with Ignore Interest and Default Funding switched off

• Cash requirement: the fraction of the position value that must be posted as cash. Typically 100% for stocks, ETFs, and other cash-traded assets, and between 5% and 15% for futures.
• Allocation: whether that cash is held in the base currency (Base) or the asset currency (Asset). Base borrows the asset currency, so the optimiser sees local-currency returns—the hedged case; Asset converts into the asset currency, so the optimiser sees FX-adjusted returns—full FX exposure.

By default, futures post 15% cash in the base currency with daily profit and loss converted at the spot rate, while other asset types post 100% cash in the asset currency with the price converted at the current FX rate. The daily profit-and-loss conversion is inherent to futures—it applies whatever cash requirement or allocation you set.

Ignore Interest, when on, means no interest is earned or paid. Switch it off and the Spread and Ignore Negative Interest controls appear: the investor earns the benchmark interest rate on held cash and pays it on borrowed cash, both adjusted by the spread. The benchmark is the three-month interbank rate. The spread widens that rate: at 1%, the investor earns the benchmark minus 1% and pays the benchmark plus 1%. Ignore Negative Interest, when on, floors both sides at zero while the rate is negative: held cash never pays negative interest, and borrowed cash never earns it.