Top Retail Traders Captured Bulk of Annual Profits
Data through August 2026 revealed that the most successful 1% of retail accounts secured 66.5% of total client gains.
Updated on Sept. 28, 2026 in Economic Indicators
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Financial analysis covering the past year showed that 79.5% of all retail trading accounts resulted in losses. Meanwhile, top-tier traders dominated profits as brokers increasingly utilized internal B-booking processes.
Why it matters
The concentration of gains among a small fraction of traders underscores the significant risks faced by the vast majority of retail participants in the current market environment. Widespread use of internal processing by brokers further centralizes risk management and profit extraction dynamics.
A study of trading activity found that 79.5% of retail accounts lost money over the past year, while 94.6% of all trading volume was processed through internal B-booking. Furthermore, gold trading accounted for 79.3% of total brokerage volume.
The players
Radar
This is a specialized risk analytics platform used by brokerage firms to track and manage client trading activity and market exposure.
The details
Brokers employ the Radar risk analytics platform to monitor client exposures and optimize internal volume processing, which represents 98.2% of their total profit and loss. Advanced arbitrageurs have also utilized high-frequency strategies across multiple brokers to influence results, though this activity is limited to 3.4% of accounts.
Timeline
Data for trading performance was collected over the past 12 months.
The market analysis report was released in August 2026.
The Radar platform is projected to hit a $15 trillion monthly volume milestone by the end of 2026.
Macro View
This story follows the established pattern of the historical trend of high failure rates among retail forex and CFD traders. The current findings extend this historical trend by quantifying the extreme concentration of profits among the top 1% of accounts.
Individual investors should recognize that the high concentration of profits among top traders suggests an extremely difficult environment for casual participants. The dominance of B-booking means many retail trades are managed internally rather than executed on the open market.
The takeaway
Retail participants should consider that nearly 80% of accounts lose money, making consistent profitability difficult in such a skewed landscape. Focus on understanding the internal risks of your chosen brokerage rather than assuming all trades reach external exchanges.
Further reading
For more on shifting global financial trends, visit the Economic Indicators section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Finance Magnates.
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