How percentage-return ranking works
The leaderboard compares how well each account grew from trading, not how big it is. Here is what that means, why deposits never help, and the exact method behind your score.
What the board measures
Every ranked account is scored on one number: the percentage its equity grew from trading eligible instruments, currently Gold (XAUUSD), during the month. A trader who turns $1,000 into $1,100 and a trader who turns $100,000 into $110,000 have both returned 10%, and they rank level.
Measuring in percentages removes account size from the comparison. It doesn't make every trader's odds identical: results still depend on decisions, risk taken and market conditions. It means a large balance alone gives no head start.
Why a deposit isn't performance
If you add $5,000 to an account halfway through the month, its balance jumps, but you didn't earn that money by trading. Counting it would let anyone climb the board by depositing more.
Try it. Change the deposit and watch the two results.
In the example, half the profit is earned before the deposit and half after. The second half was earned on a bigger base, so it adds a smaller percentage. That's why the competition return can be slightly below the profit divided by the starting equity.
How the competition return is calculated
We split the month into pieces at every deposit, withdrawal or credit, and at every result from a non-eligible instrument (those are treated like deposits and withdrawals, so trading other markets never moves your competition score). For each piece we measure the return on the equity at the start of that piece, then multiply the pieces together.
- Up to the first cash movement: equity just before it ÷ equity at the start of the month.
- Each following piece: equity just before the next cash movement ÷ equity just after the previous one.
- Multiply (1 + each piece's return) together and subtract 1.
Example. You start with $1,000 and gain 10% to $1,100. You deposit $10,000, so the next piece starts at $11,100. You gain another 10% to $12,210. Your return is 1.10 × 1.10 − 1 = 21%. Subtracting the deposit and dividing by the starting $1,000 would have said 121%, because it ignores when the money arrived.
What else counts
- Costs are included. Commission and swap are real costs, so they are part of your result.
- Open trades count at their value at the close. Your score uses equity, which includes floating profit or loss.
- A minimum number of trades. Each competition sets how many closed positions you need to be ranked, so a single lucky trade can't take the top spot.
- Ties. If two scores are equal, the lower maximum drawdown ranks higher.
Try it
Exercise: take your last ten closed trades and write each result as a percentage of your equity at the time. Which three cost you the most, and what did they have in common?
The full details, including eligible instruments and minimums, are in the competition rules.