CFDs are complex, leveraged products and carry a high risk of rapid capital loss. Most retail investors lose money trading CFDs. You should not trade CFDs unless you understand how they work and can afford to lose the money you invest.
Margin is the amount of funds you need to set aside to keep CFD positions open. Your AU CFD account displays your margin information in the Portfolio screen, in AUD.
Where to find your margin information?
- Open the Trading 212 app and switch to your CFD account.
- Tap Portfolio at the bottom of the screen.
- Your account values are listed at the top, including Free funds, Blocked funds, and Result.
What does each value mean?
- Account value: your free funds plus the running result of all open positions, in AUD.
- Free funds: cash that is not currently set aside as margin. You can use this to open new positions, withdraw, or transfer to your Invest account.
- Blocked funds: the margin required to keep your current open positions. This figure changes as the market moves and as you open or close positions.
- Result: the live profit or loss across all your open CFD positions, in AUD.
How is the required margin calculated?
Each instrument has a minimum initial margin percentage set by ASIC's leverage caps - for example, 3.33% on a major FX pair, 5% on a major index, or 20% on a single-share CFD. The blocked funds on a position are calculated by applying that percentage to the notional value of the trade, converted to AUD.
You are required to pay the initial margin to open a CFD position and maintain a continuing margin. The continuing margin can change at any time, and if we increase our margin requirements, it may prevent you from opening new positions if you have insufficient equity. If margin requirements increase on your existing CFDs, you may have to deposit additional funds or close existing positions.
You must monitor your CFD account so that at all times, the account contains sufficient equity to meet our margin requirements. If you do not meet your margin requirements, including at little or no notice, your CFDs may be closed out in line with the 50% margin close-out protection. For full details, please check: What protections do I get when trading CFDs with Trading 212 AU?
What happens if I open both a long and a short on the same instrument?
Every open position on your AU CFD account reserves its own margin in full. If you hold both a long and a short on the same instrument, each one reserves its own margin separately - they don't offset one another, even though they cancel each other out on a net position basis.
This means an opposite-direction trade is funded the same way as opening any new position - from your free funds, using the same percentage of the trade value as your initial margin.
💡 Example
Opposing positions
You open a Buy on Tesla (USD) at $200 with 1:5 leverage, then a Sell on Tesla at $200.
- Buy → trade value $1,000; required margin $1,000 ÷ 5 = $200
- Sell → trade value $1,000; required margin $1,000 ÷ 5 = $200
- Total margin reserved: $400
Even though the Buy and Sell offset to a net position of zero, the full $400 stays reserved while both positions are open.
🤓 Tip
Before placing a trade, the order ticket shows you exactly how much initial margin will be blocked and how much free funds you will have left after opening the position.
Further information on Margin can be found in the PDS.