Leverage

There are two different leverage numbers in AlphaHouse. Confusing them is the most common source of “the app is ignoring my setting” reports, and so far the sizing has always been correct and the labelling was not.

Sizing leverage: the one you set

The slider on each system card on Systems, and step 3 of onboarding. It determines how large your positions are: a setting of 2x aims for roughly twice your account equity in total exposure, split across longs and shorts.

• Fractional, in steps of 0.25. Valid values include 1.25, 1.5, 1.75.
• Its range is set by the trading system, up to a maximum of 2x.
• Per system. Two systems means two independent settings.
• It is what the rest of the product means by “your leverage”.

Margin leverage: the one your exchange sees

Exchanges take whole numbers only, so your sizing leverage is rounded up to the nearest whole number and sent as the order’s margin leverage. A 1.75x sizing leverage becomes 2x margin leverage.

This does not make your positions bigger. Margin leverage governs how much collateral the venue requires. Position size is set by sizing leverage, which stays at 1.75x.

Margin leverage is not always higher

Individual symbols have their own maximum leverage on each venue. Where that per-symbol maximum sits below your setting, the lower number is sent, so margin leverage can end up below your sizing leverage. This is rare, but it means you cannot infer sizing leverage from a margin figure, and you cannot assume the difference is always rounding.

Reading it on Trade history

Each order row on Trade history shows a leverage figure, depending on what is known about that order:

What the row shows	What it means
Leverage: 2x	Your sizing leverage was already whole, so margin matched it. Nothing to reconcile.
Leverage: 1.75x · 2x margin	Your sizing leverage, rounded up to 2x for the exchange.
Leverage: 1.75x · capped by the venue	This symbol’s own maximum here is below your setting, so the lower number was sent. Uncommon.
Margin leverage: 2x	An older order recorded before sizing leverage was stored. The sizing value behind it cannot be recovered.

Hover the label for the explanation where one applies. Rows where the two numbers agree have no tooltip, because there is nothing to explain.

Gross leverage: what you actually ran

Your setting is an input. Gross leverage on the Portfolio book-posture strip is the outcome: total exposure divided by account equity. These routinely differ, all legitimately:

• Regime scaling cuts gross to roughly half in a defensive regime. The largest single cause.
• Per-symbol concentration caps. When one binds, the intended size is not reached.
• Held orders leave small amounts of drift.
• Price drift between runs moves exposure while equity moves differently.

So a 1.75x setting showing 0.9x realised gross leverage is not necessarily wrong. Check whether you are in a defensive regime first.

Choosing a setting

Higher leverage increases both the return and the loss from the same market move, proportionally. Three practical considerations:

Your plan’s cap is on gross exposure, not deposits. Raising leverage raises your leveraged capital and can push you past your plan’s limit, at which point we move you to a plan that covers it, with notice. Your leverage setting itself is not changed. See Plan limits.

Small accounts break at high leverage differently than you would expect. Near the venue minimum, higher leverage does not reliably produce bigger positions, because more of them fall below the exchange’s order minimum and get held. You end up with a concentrated subset rather than the strategy.

Changing it takes effect at the next run. The slider shows a projected target while you drag, alongside the published figure, so you can see the size of the change before committing.

The projection is a scale, not a recalculation

The projected target is the published target multiplied by the ratio of new to old leverage. It inherits everything else, including regime scaling, which is why it stays consistent with the published figure beside it.

Related

• Target exposure explains the published number the slider scales.
• Systems covers the slider itself.