Q: How is profit share/performance fee calculated? What if there is a loss?
A: The profit share is calculated from the net profits per month from the "watermark" of previous highs.
If there are no profits in a given month, there are no fees charged. The high equity point established after incentive fees are calculated creates the "watermark" which must be surpassed before any future profits may again be calculated.
Example: you start with $ 10,000 in an account with an fee of 40%, and during the month there is $ 4000 in gross profit. The incentive fee deducted would be 40% of $ 4000, which is $ 1600, so your net profit would be $ 2400, and your account would now have a "watermark" new balance of $ 12,400. If in the next month there was a loss of $ 1000, there would be no fee deducted, since there is no profit, and your new balance would be $ 11,400. Your "watermark" is still $ 12,400. In the third month, if there was $ 3000 in gross profit, then the incentive fee would be calculated on only $ 2000 of that, since the first $1000 in profit gets your account back up to its "watermark" of $ 12,400. So the incentive fee would be 40% of $ 2000, or $ 800, and your net profit for that month would be $ 2200 (which is $ 1000 + $ 1200), and your new account balance would be the new "watermark" of $ 13,600 (which is $ 11,400 + $ 1000 + $ 1200).