Data Feed Entitlements for Professional vs Non-professional Investors

While signing up on TrendSpider, you are asked to complete a 11 question market data entitlement survey which are required by our exchange partners for the data feeds you select to trade in US markets. This information helps them determine whether you qualify for nonprofessional market data pricing or whether professional pricing apply and/or additional documentation required by the exchange. These survey questions are shared across trading industry data providers and we are required to submit your answers to our exchange partners.

The information you provide helps us determine the appropriate market data classification. If your circumstances change, please let TrendSpider Support know so we can keep your account information and data entitlements up to date. In general, nonprofessional status applies when market data is used solely for personal, non-business purposes and the information provided supports that use.

In this documentation, we will explore:

• Professional Investor Vs. Non-Professional Investor
• Qualifying as a Non-Professional Or Professional Investor
• Professional Account Flags
• How Paid Data vs Free Data Work

Let’s get started 🚀

Professional Investor Vs. Non-Professional Investor

You will be qualified as a professional investor if you answer NO to the first question or YES to any of the other questions #2 through #11 listed below.

However, if you answer YES to the first question and NO to all other questions, then you will be considered a non-professional investor.

Note*: You cannot change your answers once you proceed.* You will need to contact TrendSpider support if a mistake was made.

#1 Do you use Market Data solely for your personal, non-business use?

#2 Do you receive Market Data for your business or any other entity?

#3 Are you currently registered or qualified with the SEC or the CFTC?

#4 Are you currently registered or qualified with any securities agency, any securities exchange, association or regulatory body, or any commodities or futures contract market, association, or regulatory body in the United States or otherwise?

#5 Whether you are located within or outside the United States, do you perform any functions that are similar to those that require an individual to register or qualify with the SEC, the CFTC, any other securities agency or regulatory body, any securities exchange or association, or any commodities or futures contract market, association or regulatory body?

#6 Are you engaged to provide investment advice to any individual or entity?

#7 Are you engaged as an asset manager?

#8 Do you use the capital of any other individual or entity in the conduct of your trading?

#9 Do you conduct trading for the benefit of a corporation, partnership, or any other entity?

#10 Have you entered into any agreement to share the profit of your trading activities or receive compensation for your trading activities?

#11 Are you receiving office space, equipment, or other benefits in exchange for your trading or work as a financial consultant to any person, firm, or business entity?

Qualifying as a Non-Professional Or Professional Investor

If you qualify as a Non-Professional investor, you will receive free and immediate access to market data from TrendSpider’s exchange partners.

If you qualify as a professional investor, you may be required to complete additional documentation provided by one or more exchanges before we extend you the access to market data that requires entitlement control.

As a professional investor, you will have to remain in compliance with exchange regulations at all times as well as your professional licenses and you will also be billed for access to certain market data feeds.

The exchange fee for professionals to access Nasdaq U.S Equity data for a fee, if applicable. This payment will be billed by TrendSpider on behalf of the exchange, or it may be billed by the exchange directly to you, depending on the exchange regulations.

Professional Account Flags

Why was my account flagged?

An account may be flagged as professional when the information provided during signup suggests that exchange data may be used for business, commercial, regulated, or client related activity.

This does not mean TrendSpider believes you did anything wrong. It means the account may not qualify for non professional market data pricing under exchange rules. We periodically check since circumstances can change where an account would qualify for professional status.

Common reasons for a professional account flag include:

• The account name is registered with the SEC, CFTC, FINRA, or another regulatory entity.
• The account is registered to a company, LLC, partnership, corporation, fund, or other business entity.
• Usage of market data for your employer, business, clients, or another organization.
• You trade or manage money belonging to another person or entity.
• You trade on behalf of a company, partnership, fund, family office, prop firm (for compensation), or another organization.
• You provide investment, trading, portfolio management, or financial advice.
• You receive compensation, profit sharing, or other benefits for trading related work.
• Your provided employer and occupation information may qualify as professional, like a portfolio manager.
• Missing or information provided that is a placeholder instead of real information.

What does “flagged” mean?

A flag is a request for clarification or additional documentation. It is not an accusation of misconduct, and it does not necessarily mean your account is permanently classified as professional.

What should I do if I was flagged incorrectly?

Contact TrendSpider Support and please explain if any of the below applies:

1. If the account is for personal use only and the reason such as recent retirement from a financial role.
2. Whether you manage or trade anyone else’s money.
3. Whether you provide trading or investment advice for compensation.
4. Whether you are registered with, or work for, a financial or regulatory organization.

If your original answer was inaccurate or your circumstances have changed, please contact support. After the survey has been submitted, your answers cannot be changed without our help.

If an answer was incorrect or your circumstances change, contact support so your classification can be reviewed.

Non-Professional Data Fees

Professional Investor Data Fees

Note: TrendSpider is required to provide monthly reports to all market data partners and exchanges, indicating who is receiving the data and whether they are considered professional.

Data Entitlement Management

Entitlement means your account is allowed to accept a particular data feed and is approved to receive said data by the exchange. If you do not log in once every 60 days and open a chart, or have active alerts or bots in your account, TrendSpider's system will not renew your entitlement automatically. This does not mean you lose access to data or anything changes, and this will not impact your service, however when you do eventually return and log back in again, you will simply have to resubmit your data survey to reactivate data. There will be no additional fees for reconnecting your data entitlements. Please note, this automatic un-entitlement does not disable billing on paid data services. If you wish to cancel a paid data feed, please contact support.