Professional Investment Advisor (Individual)

A Professional Advisor account is described as an Individual or Organization Registered Advisor that manages both client administration (Wealth Management) and the client's money (Money Management). The master account is used for fee collection and trade allocations. The advisor can open a single account for his or her own trading, and the advisor account can be white branded with the corporate identity. The advisor has access to trading and most Portal functions. Organization Advisors can have multiple users, each with access to different functions and jurisdiction over different client accounts. By default, clients do not have access to trading, but client trading can be enabled. Find out more information by reviewing the Guide to Choosing the Right Account page and the What You Need for the Application page.

To open this type of account, please take the steps outlined below.

  1. Navigate to www.interactivebrokers.com and select the Open Account button in the top right corner followed by Start Application.

    The open account on the IBKR website.

  2. Select the Individual or Institution tab on the left hand side and input an Email Address, Username, Password, and Country for this account.

    The open an advisor account page

  3. Select Create Account to navigate to the next page.

  4. Confirm your email address by selecting the blue Confirm button in the top right corner. Select the Advisor Account tab followed by Professional Investment Advisor (Individual) from the account type drop-down menu.

    Select an advisor account type

  5. Upon selecting the Advisor account type, you will be prompted to enter the State of Legal Residence. Once this has been selected, click Start Application.

    The choose your service plan section on the application.

  6. Enter the Regulatory License Information by selecting "This application is for an advisor that is NOT licensed or registered with any regulatory agency" or "This application is for an advisor that is licensed or registered with a regulatory agency".

    Select if you have license information advisor.

  7. If you select "This application is for an advisor that is licensed or registered with a regulatory agency", you must enter the Primary Registered/License Country.

    The license information for registered advisors.

  8. Enter the Regulatory License Information by selecting the check boxes to the left of the regulators your organization is registered with and providing the necessary information.

    Enter the regulatory license information for an advisor.

  9. The next page of the application is the About You section. Fill this out accordingly and press Continue.

    Enter your contact information for the application.

  10. The following page asks additional About You questions. Fill this out accordingly and press Continue.

    Your contact information in the application process.

    Please note, to the extent required by law, we will take appropriate technical and organizational measures to keep your Personal Information confidential and secure in accordance with our internal procedures covering the storage, disclosure of and access to Personal Information. To review our privacy policy, please click here.

  11. After pressing Continue, you will need to verify your phone number. Enter the confirmation code that was sent to the mobile number you previously input. Press Submit.

    The mobile phone confirmation panel.

  12. The next page of the application is the Configure Your Trading Account section. Fill this out accordingly and press Continue.

    Configure the trading account

  13. The next page of the application is the Review & Sign Agreements section. Fill this out accordingly and press Continue.

    Sign and review the application agreement.

  14. The following pop-up may appear on your screen. Click Continue application.

  15. The final page of the application is the Status section. This page will state any additional information or documents needed to complete the application. These tasks are prompted based on the information you previously provided in the application. Any required documents needed for the application will be marked as "REQUIRED" or "Not Yet Received" in red letters. Select the blue buttons to Fund Your Account, Answer Questions, Verify Identity, and Upload Documents.

    Finalizing the account opening application.

  16. Once all of these steps have been completed, a member from our back office team will review the application and any submitted documents. Once the account has been approved and opened, you will receive an email from Interactive Brokers advising that your account has been activated and you may log in at any time to start trading.

How to Fund Your Account During the Application

Funding your account during the application process is optional. However, doing so will push your application to a priority review. Funding your account may be done by transferring cash from a bank account. Please note, funding Advisor accounts is not required as you will use this account solely to trade on behalf of your clients. If you would like to trade on your own behalf, opening an account under your advisor account is needed. You may fund an advisor account for other reasons such as subscribing and paying for Market Data and/or Research. To fund your account, please take the steps outlined below.

  1. On the final page of the application, click the Fund Your Account button.

  2. A list of transfer methods will populate on your screen. Click your desired transfer option.

  3. Provide your bank details and complete the transfer request.