How is slippage handled in Replikanto?

Slippage is the difference between the expected price of a trade and the actual execution price. When using Replikanto, some degree of slippage is almost inevitable due to the nature of financial markets and how brokers execute orders. Replikanto copies your leader's orders accurately, but it does not control order fulfillment—that responsibility lies with your broker.

What factors influence slippage?

Market conditions

• Market volatility: High volatility causes rapid price changes, creating delays between order placement and execution. This time gap means the actual fill price can differ from your intended price.
• Liquidity: When fewer buyers and sellers are active, it becomes harder to execute large orders at a specific price. Low liquidity increases the likelihood of slippage.
• Market gaps: Overnight or weekend gaps can cause significant price jumps. If major news or events occur while markets are closed, prices may open at unexpected levels, and trades execute at the next available price.

Order types and execution

• Order type: Replikanto copies the exact order types used by your leader. Market orders prioritize execution speed over price—they fill quickly at the best available price, which may differ from your target. A stop-loss order becomes a market order when triggered, guaranteeing execution but not a specific price.
• Broker execution speed: Different brokers process orders at different speeds. Variations in execution time between leader and follower accounts can result in different fill prices.
• Cross-order copying: When copying between different instruments (such as Micro to Mini contracts), slippage becomes more likely. The two instruments' prices can vary, especially during volatile conditions. A stop order might trigger on the follower account where the price reached the stop level, while the leader account only approached that level.
• Stop moved past the market: Starting with Replikanto 1.7.0.0, when the leader's exit stop is moved to a price the market has already passed (for example, by an ATM breakeven or trailing stop), each follower's stop is placed at that follower's bid or ask and fills at market right away, so its fill price can differ by a few ticks from the leader's. See Why don't the follower's orders fill at the same price as the leader's?

Account type differences

• Sim vs Live accounts: Using different account types can produce different fill prices. Sim accounts attempt to simulate slippage randomly during order filling, so results will never match live accounts exactly.

When is slippage most likely?

• During high-volatility periods (news releases, economic announcements)
• When trading lower-liquidity instruments or outside regular hours
• When using market orders instead of limit orders
• When copying cross-instrument trades (Micro to Mini, etc.)
• When mixing Sim and Live accounts

What you can do

Differences in PnL between accounts may occur due to slippage, even when Replikanto copies orders correctly. To minimize impact:

• Monitor market conditions before and during trading
• Understand your broker's execution characteristics
• Use Replikanto's monitoring tools to track fill differences
• Be aware that slippage affects all traders, not just copy-trading followers

Some degree of execution price difference is unavoidable in financial markets. The key is understanding the factors, monitoring your accounts, and working within market conditions.