Pro Trade Club operates in the forex and crypto trading MLM niches.
The company is headed up by founder and CEO Joshua Felts.
BehindMLM recently came across Felts in our Manifest FX review.
We flagged Manifest FX for securities fraud, noting co-founder Felts was based out of Georgia in the US.
BehindMLM’s Manifest FX review was published on March 4th. On March 11th a video titled “Pro Trade Club Official Pre Launch!” was uploaded to the company’s official YouTube channel.
Despite still appearing on Manifest FX marketing material when we published our review, it seems Felts likely split with the company prior to Pro Trade Club going into prelaunch.
In researching this review I hit up Felts Instagram profile to try pin down when he last mentioned Manifest FX. Since I last accessed the profile in early March however, Felts has made his Instagram profile private.
Prior to Manifest FX, Felts promoted Silver Star Live and Epic Trading.
Read on for a full review of Pro Trade Club’s MLM opportunity.
Pro Trade Club’s Products
Pro Trade Club markets a $249 a month Pro Package subscriptions.
A base Pro Package subscription provides access to:
- Pro Trade University – “the most complete trader training program”
- Pro Trade Desk – “the best trading room” with “real-time trade ideas and signal alerts”
- Pro Trade Live – “weekly sessions with professional educations & master traders”
- Pro Trade Office – “suite of indicators for traders to have a special edge in the market”
- Ultimate Crypto Box – “everything you need to invest in cryptocurrencies successfully”
Pro Trade Studio can be added to the base Pro Trade Club subscription, increasing the cost to $297 a month.
Pro Trade Studio adds “algorithmic trading”, suggesting it’s capable of generating automated passive returns (see conclusion for further discussion).
Pro Trade Club’s Compensation Plan
Pro Trade Club pays commissions on the sale of pro Package subscriptions to retail customers and recruited affiliates.
Pro Trade Club Affiliate Ranks
There are twelve affiliate ranks within Pro Trade Club’s compensation plan.
Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:
- IBO – sign up as a Pro Trade Club affiliate
- Pro 500 – sign up for and maintain a Pro Package subscription, personally refer and maintain 3 Pro Package subscribers and generate and maintain 10 total active downline Pro Package subscriptions (split 4/4/2)
- Pro 1000 – maintain a Pro Package subscription, maintain 3 personally referred Pro Package subscribers and generate and maintain 25 total active downline Pro Package subscriptions (split 10/10/5)
- Pro 2000 – maintain a Pro Package subscription, maintain 3 personally referred Pro Package subscribers and generate and maintain 75 total active downline Pro Package subscriptions (split 30/30/15)
- Pro 5000 – maintain a Pro Package subscription, personally refer and maintain 5 Pro Package subscribers and generate and maintain 250 total active downline Pro Package subscriptions (split 100/100/50)
- VIP 10 – maintain a Pro Package subscription, maintain 5 personally referred Pro Package subscribers and generate and maintain 500 total active downline Pro Package subscriptions (split 200/200/100)
- VIP 20 – maintain a Pro Package subscription, maintain 5 personally referred Pro Package subscribers and generate and maintain 1000 total active downline Pro Package subscriptions (split 400/400/200)
- VIP 50 – maintain a Pro Package subscription, personally refer and maintain 7 Pro Package subscribers and generate and maintain 2500 total active downline Pro Package subscriptions (split 1000/1000/500)
- Executive 100 – maintain a Pro Package subscription, maintain 7 personally referred Pro Package subscribers and generate and maintain 5000 total active downline Pro Package subscriptions (split 2000/2000/1000)
- Executive 250 – maintain a Pro Package subscription, maintain 7 personally referred Pro Package subscribers and generate and maintain 15,000 total active downline Pro Package subscriptions (split 6000/6000/3000)
- Executive 500 – maintain a Pro Package subscription, personally refer and maintain 10 Pro Package subscribers and generate and maintain 30,000 total active downline Pro Package subscriptions (split 12,000/12,000/6000)
- Executive 1M – maintain a Pro Package subscription, maintain 10 personally referred Pro Package subscribers and generate and maintain 75,000 total active downline Pro Package subscriptions (split 30,000/30,000/15,000)
Referred subscribers can be retail customers or recruited Pro Trade Club affiliates.
Downline Pro Package subscribers are subscribers referred by everyone in your unilevel team (i.e. your entire downline).
The splits refer to maximum subscriptions able to be counted over three unilevel team legs.
A unilevel compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited affiliate placed directly under them (level 1):
If any level 1 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 2 of the original affiliate’s unilevel team.
If any level 2 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 3 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite number of levels.
Each affiliate personally recruited into the unilevel team generates a new leg.
Referral Commissions
Pro Trade Club pays a referral commission on the sale of Pro Package subscriptions to retail customers and recruited affiliates.
Pro Trade Club pays referral commissions down three levels of recruitment as per the unilevel team:
- IBOs earn a $25 commission per subscription sold on level 1 (personally recruited affiliates)
- Pro 500 rank affiliates earn $25 on level 1 and $17 on level 2
- Pro 1000 and higher rank affiliates earn $25 on level 1, $17 on level 2 and $12 on level 3
For an explanation of the unilevel team see “Pro Trade Club Affiliate Ranks” above.
Residual Commissions
Pro Trade Club pays a weekly residual commission tied to rank:
- Pro 500 ranked affiliates earn $125 a week
- Pro 1000 ranked affiliates earn $250 a week
- Pro 2000 ranked affiliates earn $500 a week
- Pro 5000 ranked affiliates earn $1250 a week
- VIP 10 ranked affiliates earn $2500 a week
- VIP 20 ranked affiliates earn $5000 a week
- VIP 50 ranked affiliates earn $12,500 a week
- Executive 100 ranked affiliates earn $25,000 a week
- Executive 250 ranked affiliates earn $62,500 a week
- Executive 500 ranked affiliates earn $125,000 a week
- Executive 1M ranked affiliates earn $250,000 a week
Rank Achievement Bonus
Whereas residual commissions are paid weekly, the Rank Achievement Bonus is a one-time bonus paid on rank qualification:
- qualify at Pro 500 and receive $125
- qualify at Pro 1000 and receive $250
- qualify at Pro 2000 and receive $500
- qualify at Pro 5000 and receive $1250
- qualify at VIP 10 and receive $2500
- qualify at VIP 20, hold rank for 60 days and receive $5000
- qualify at VIP 50, hold rank for 60 days and receive $12,500
- qualify at Executive 100, hold rank for 60 days and receive $25,000
- qualify at Executive 250, hold rank for 90 days and receive $62,500
- qualify at Executive 500, hold rank for 90 days and receive $125,000
- qualify at Executive 1M, hold rank for 90 days and receive $250,000
Joining Pro Trade Club
Pro Trade Club affiliate membership is $4.95 a month.
Pro Trade Club Conclusion
Pro Trade Club is a step back from the in-your-face securities fraud of Manifest FX. That said there’s ambiguity surrounding Pro Trade Studio product.
Before we get into that let’s take a look at Pro Trade Club’s education, training and signals. This after all makes up the bulk of a $297 complete Pro Package subscription.
Here Pro Trade Club are relatively transparent about who is behind their training and education.
The company cites no less than nine corporate team members covering these products (note Vice President Jason Felts is Josh Felts’ brother, David Felts is presumably another relative):
What you’ll notice is a gaping hole as to who’s behind the trading side of Pro Trade Club.
There is no information on the company’s website or in their marketing materials, as to who’s providing subscribers with trading advice and signals.
Our professional portfolio managers and ex-bank traders will show you how to analyse and trade the markets, like a real pro for significant gains.
Learn master trading techniques from master traders live seminars.
Earn while you learn: How to place more successful trades alongside master traders.
We have a team of professional, full-time traders that regularly push trade ideas & market signals, straight to your device daily.
Considering the marketing claims being made and $247 a month cost, knowing whose advice you’re paying for is crucial due-diligence.
As it stands consumers are unable to make an informed decision about Pro Trade Club’s trading and signals. This is a potential violation of the FTC Act (disclosures).
Moving on to Pro Trade Studio, the first red flag is that there’s nothing about Pro Trade Studio provided on Pro Trade Club’s website.
The following slide is taken from an official Pro Trade Club marketing presentation:
On the surface Pro Trade Studio sounds like your typical MetaTrader trading bot. Whether intentional or not, Pro Trade Club’s marketing pitch is vague on automation.
Select your parameters and generate an Expert Advisor to do your work for you, without ever writing one line of code.
Our Expert Advisor Studio exports trading strategies written in 100% native MQL code.
The code is 100% in compliance with MetaTrader, and we never use or require third party code.
The crux of whether Pro Trade Studio is legally compliant lies in whether strategies are provided. If so, then Pro Trade Studio is your typical automated trading bot offering dressed up in *winkwink, nudgenudge* ambiguity.
If strategies must be put together by subscribers, in that they come up with them themselves, that’s fine.
Pro Trade Club providing strategies, including instructions on how to “set parameters and export” (effectively the same thing), would satisfy the “expectation of profits via the efforts of others” prong of the Howey Test.
This in turn would make Pro Trade Studio a securities offering.
Given there’s no information on Pro Trade Studio on Pro Trade Club’s website, and that Josh Felt’s co-founded Manifest FX, which most definitely is engaged in securities fraud, I’m not willing to give any benefit of the doubt here.
Anyone who’s signed up for Pro Trade Studio is welcome to clarify whether automated trading or automated providing of “strategies” is provided.
Lastly Pro Trade Club runs the risk of operating as a pyramid scheme if the majority of subscribers are also affiliates. I can’t really make a call on this either way, save to say $247/$297 a month isn’t cheap.
What I can state with certainty is forcing affiliates to buy a product lends itself to any MLM company operating as a pyramid scheme.
The good news on an individual level verifying how your potential upline is running their Pro Trade Club business is easy.
Ask your potential upline for evidence they’re generating over $247 or $297 a month in trading to cover their mandatory subscription fee.
If they can’t provide this, they’re likely only making money on subscription sales and tying that into MLM opportunity. That would very much be a pyramid scheme.
As a retail customer you can also ask for evidence of at least $247 or $297 in trading revenue a month over the past few months.
As a retail customer pyramid concerns aren’t as pressing (you’re not participating in the MLM opportunity), but you’ll still get an idea of whether Pro Trade Club’s analysis and signals are worth the price tag.
Pending clarification of who’s behind Pro Trade Club’s analysis and signals, as well as whether fully automated trading is possible through Pro Trade Studio, approach with caution.