Trader Acquisition Cost (TAC)

Trader acquisition cost (TAC) is the forex-specific version of customer acquisition cost. It represents the total spend a broker allocates to bring one new active trader onto the platform, aggregated across all channels: affiliate and IB commissions, paid media, content marketing, sales team costs, KYC processing, and onboarding infrastructure. TAC is the denominator against which trader LTV is measured to determine whether acquisition economics are sustainable.

The calculation requires defining what "acquired" means. Most brokers use first qualified deposit or first live trade as the activation threshold, excluding demo-only registrations. A broker spending $100,000 per month on acquisition across all channels and activating 500 traders has a blended TAC of $200. Breaking this down by channel reveals that IB-referred traders might cost $80 per acquisition (the CPA paid to the IB), while paid search traders might cost $350 after accounting for click costs and lower conversion rates. This channel-level TAC drives budget allocation decisions.

TAC varies dramatically by jurisdiction, regulation tier, and trader segment. Acquiring an EU-regulated retail trader under MiFID II constraints costs more than acquiring a trader in a less regulated jurisdiction because compliance overhead is higher and leverage limits reduce per-trader revenue potential. Brokers targeting professional or high-net-worth traders face higher TAC but correspondingly higher LTV. The TAC-to-LTV ratio, rather than TAC alone, determines whether acquisition spending is profitable. Affiliate and IB programs typically deliver the lowest TAC because commission is only paid on verified conversions.