Get help with SIQ — guides for turning your portfolio and market intent into a testable strategy, running it on paper, and using live broker workflows where supported.
Getting Started
SIQ starts from what you already own and what you want to express in the market. It turns that into a testable strategy, shows evidence-backed choices, and monitors the idea over time.
What is SIQ and how is it different from other AI finance tools?
SIQ helps you build, test, run, and monitor investment ideas with continuous quantitative review.
Unlike general AI chatbots that pattern-match finance answers, SIQ:
- **Starts from what you already own or believe** — Upload a portfolio, describe your holdings, or start from an idea
- **Models your instructions mathematically** — You see tested allocations, scenarios, and risk checks, not just commentary
- **Shows the work** — You see the rationale, data, and proposed portfolio changes behind each option
- **Uses institutional-grade quant workflows** — Code execution, backtests, risk analysis, and live market context are built into the product
- **Runs ideas on paper first** — You can monitor outcomes as markets and your preferences evolve, with live broker workflows where supported
What is 'Agentic Investing'?
Agentic Investing means expressing what you want in the market and using software to keep testing that intent against changing data.
Traditional investing forces you to translate vague goals into one-off trades yourself. With SIQ:
1. You start from your current portfolio
2. You describe your intent in plain English
3. SIQ turns that into a testable investment idea
4. SIQ presents evidence-backed options with reasoning
5. You keep reviewing the idea over time through chat and execute-now workflows
Think of it as a quantitative workspace that helps you bridge what you own, what you believe, and what choices you could make as the world changes.
How do I create my first strategy?
You can create your first strategy from either a current portfolio or an investment idea.
If you already hold positions, bring SIQ what you own and then describe what you want to express in the market.
If you are starting from an idea, describe it directly.
For example:
- "This is my current portfolio. I want more quality tech and less idle cash."
- "Keep my current core holdings, but make the portfolio more defensive."
- "Use this portfolio as the base, but test a more active momentum approach."
- "Build me a concentrated quality compounder strategy with tighter downside control."
SIQ will:
1. Understand your starting portfolio or idea
2. Ask clarifying questions about intent, constraints, and preferences
3. Turn that into a testable investment idea
4. Generate evidence-backed options with reasoning and proposed changes
5. Let you run and monitor it on paper immediately
*You can also use the Strategy Wizard if you prefer a more structured setup flow.*
What's the difference between paper trading and live trading?
**Paper trading** uses simulated capital so you can see how your instructions behave before real money is involved. **Live trading** manages a dedicated SIQ live portfolio connected to your broker.
| | Paper Trading | Live Trading |
|---|---|---|
| **Capital** | Simulated SIQ Cash | Your real money |
| **Risk** | None — safe proving ground | Real gains and losses |
| **Broker needed?** | No | Yes (supported broker required) |
| **Trade execution** | Runs on paper | Orders require your approval before submission |
**Why start on paper first?**
- You see whether the modeled idea expresses your intent the right way
- You get continuous monitoring, not a one-off analytics answer
- You can tune the strategy as markets and your views change before money is involved
**How live trading works today:**
When you connect a supported broker, SIQ creates a live broker portfolio backed by that broker account.
1. If trades happen at the broker, SIQ reflects them after sync
2. If SIQ surfaces proposed changes, you review and approve them first
3. SIQ updates its portfolio view from broker-confirmed fills, not assumptions
4. Your broker account remains under your control throughout
What assets can I trade on SIQ?
SIQ supports a wider set of assets and markets in paper trading than it does in live broker execution.
**Paper Trading**:
- **Markets**: US, UK, Europe, India
- **Asset Classes**: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Crypto, Mutual Funds
**Live Trading**:
- Depends on the broker you connect and the current integration coverage
- Trading 212 is the first supported live broker workflow
- Additional broker support will expand over time
The simplest rule is: paper supports the broadest expression of your strategy, while live support expands broker by broker.
Is there a minimum investment required?
**You do not need to deposit real money to create a strategy on paper.**
For paper portfolios, SIQ asks you to allocate at least **$1,000 of simulated SIQ Cash** so there is enough room to generate meaningful portfolio scenarios. That is paper capital, not a real-money minimum.
For live trading, the practical minimum depends on your strategy and the broker account you connect:
- Small live portfolios may run into whole-share constraints
- Some strategies need more capital to express allocations cleanly
- Very small allocations can produce "less than 1 share" issues
The important distinction is:
- **Paper setup** uses simulated capital
- **Live trading** uses your real broker capital
Strategies & Trading
Strategies are how SIQ translates your portfolio and intent into a monitored workflow. SIQ presents proposed changes, explains them clearly, and keeps learning from your feedback over time.
Why should I resume my strategy?
Resuming a strategy tells SIQ to start running your investment thesis and constraints through the daily analysis cycle.
When your strategy is **Paused**:
- You can edit the thesis, constraints, and universe
- No new trading choices are generated
- Your portfolio remains unchanged
When you **Resume** your strategy:
- SIQ analyzes markets daily
- SIQ generates proposed trade choices based on your thesis
- Trades appear in your "Pending Trades" queue for review
- Your portfolio starts expressing the strategy on paper according to your instructions
You can pause your strategy at any time from the strategy detail page.
What does 'Pending Trades' mean?
Pending trades are proposed trade choices generated from your instructions that have not been executed yet.
When SIQ models a strategy update, it creates trades with one of these statuses:
- **Awaiting Approval**: You need to review and approve before execution (live trading)
- **Pending**: Approved and waiting for market hours to execute
- **Executing**: Currently being processed
For **paper trading**: Trades typically execute automatically when markets open.
For **live trading**: Every trade requires your explicit approval before SIQ places orders with your broker.
You can view and manage pending trades from your Portfolio Dashboard.
Do I have to approve every trade manually?
**For live trading, yes — every trade requires your approval.** This is a deliberate safety design.
| Trading Mode | Approval Required? |
|--------------|-------------------|
| Paper Trading | No — trades auto-execute during market hours |
| Live Trading | Yes — every trade needs manual approval |
**Why require approval for live trades?**
- Your real money is at stake
- You maintain full control over what executes
- You can review the reasoning before committing
- Prevents unexpected trades during volatile markets
When you see pending trades, you can:
- **Approve** to send to your broker for execution
- **Cancel** to skip that trade (you can provide feedback on why)
What if I disagree with a modeled trade choice?
You can cancel any trade choice you disagree with — and your feedback helps SIQ improve future modeling.
When you cancel a trade, SIQ asks why:
- "I don't believe in this stock"
- "Position size too large"
- "Bad timing / market conditions"
- Custom reason
**Your feedback matters**: SIQ uses your feedback as an input when modeling future choices.
Canceling a trade doesn't affect the rest of your portfolio — only that specific trade is skipped.
When do trades execute?
SIQ runs your strategy on a daily schedule. Trades execute when markets open.
**The daily cycle:**
1. **Daily schedule** — Your active strategy is analyzed automatically
2. **Quant analysis** — SIQ reviews holdings, market data, and your constraints
3. **Trades queued** — Proposed choices appear in "Pending Trades"
4. **Market open** — Paper trades execute automatically and approved live trades are sent to your broker
**Need trades sooner?**
Use the **"Execute Now"** button in your strategy settings to run the analysis on demand. This is useful when:
- You're tracking something in the market and want to review current options
- You've just updated your strategy and want to see newly modeled choices
- You want to test how the strategy responds to current conditions
How does SIQ generate trade choices?
SIQ analyzes your strategy's thesis, current holdings, and market data to model an allocation scenario.
**What SIQ considers:**
- Your investment thesis (the strategy you described)
- Your constraints (max position size, drawdown limits, cash reserve)
- Current portfolio holdings and performance
- Recent market data and price movements
- Your past feedback on trades
**What SIQ outputs:**
- A modeled allocation scenario (e.g., 25% AAPL, 20% MSFT, 55% CASH)
- Reviewable trade choices where applicable
- Reasoning for each modeled change (visible in the decision log)
The system stays within your constraints — it will not exceed your max position size or violate your risk limits.
Can I edit my strategy over time?
Yes — you can ask SIQ to modify your strategy anytime via chat, and it creates a new version automatically.
**How strategy versioning works:**
1. Start a conversation about your strategy: *"Update my tech momentum strategy to exclude NVDA"*
2. SIQ makes the changes and saves a new version (v1 → v2)
3. Future analysis uses v2 with your updated instructions
4. Previous versions are preserved in case you want to review changes
**What you can change:**
- Investment thesis and instructions
- Stock universe (add/remove symbols)
- Constraints (position limits, risk controls)
- Rebalancing rules
Each edit creates a clear version history, so you can always see how your strategy evolved over time.
What's the difference between SIQ strategies and my own strategies?
**SIQ example strategies** are published by SIQ for review. **Your strategies** are fully under your control.
| | SIQ Example Strategies | Your Strategies |
|---|---|---|
| **Created by** | SIQ team | You |
| **View performance** | Yes | Yes |
| **See modeled choices** | Yes | Yes |
| **Observe on paper** | Yes | Yes |
| **Edit strategy** | No | Yes |
| **Pause/resume** | No | Yes |
| **Approve live orders** | Yes | Yes |
**Using a SIQ example strategy:**
When you invest in a SIQ example strategy, SIQ creates a portfolio that applies reviewable changes at your chosen scale. You can:
- See all trades before they execute
- Approve or reject trades (for live trading)
- Unlink from the strategy anytime
**Creating your own strategy:**
Start a conversation to build a custom strategy tailored to your investment thesis. You'll have full control to pause, edit, or stop it whenever you want.
Live Trading & Brokers
Ready for live trading? When you connect a supported broker, SIQ creates a live broker portfolio, presents proposed changes based on your strategy, and only updates portfolio state from broker-confirmed fills after your approval.
How does live trading work in SIQ?
When you enable live trading, SIQ creates a live broker portfolio for the connected broker account and routes proposed changes through an approval workflow.
Here's how it works:
1. **The broker account is the source of truth** — filled positions and cash come from broker-confirmed state
2. **SIQ models strategy-driven choices** — the system surfaces proposed changes that express your instructions
3. **You approve before submission** — no live order is sent without your approval
4. **SIQ updates on confirmed fills** — portfolio state updates only after the broker confirms execution
This keeps the workflow trustworthy: SIQ can model choices from your intent, but the live portfolio view is still anchored to broker-confirmed reality and your approval.
Why do I need to approve every live trade?
**Every live trade requires your explicit approval. This is a deliberate safety design — your real money is at stake.**
**What this means:**
- When SIQ generates a proposed trade choice, it appears in your "Pending Trades"
- You review the symbol, action (BUY/SELL), quantity, and reasoning
- You click "Approve" to send the order to your broker
- Or "Cancel" if you disagree (with optional feedback)
**Why not auto-execute?**
- Prevents unexpected trades during volatile markets
- Gives you final say over every transaction
- Builds trust as you learn how SIQ operates
- Protects against edge cases or unusual outputs
*This is different from paper trading, where trades auto-execute since no real money is involved.*
Why am I getting 'intended amount is less than 1 share' errors?
This happens when the scaled position size for your portfolio is less than one whole share.
**Example:**
- Strategy's primary portfolio: ₹10,00,000
- Strategy holds: 10 shares of a ₹50,000 stock (₹5,00,000 = 50% allocation)
- Your portfolio: ₹50,000
- Your scaled position: 0.5 shares (50% of ₹50,000 = ₹25,000 = 0.5 shares)
Since you can't buy half a share, SIQ shows this error.
**Solutions:**
- **Increase your investment amount** — More capital means larger position sizes
- **Wait for the strategy to rebalance** — Future allocations may have smaller position sizes
- **Choose a different strategy** — Some strategies work better with smaller portfolios
*This is more common when following strategies designed for larger portfolios with a smaller investment amount.*
Why can't I take actions when my broker is disconnected?
When your broker session expires or the connection becomes invalid, SIQ can't submit approved orders or refresh broker-backed order status.
**What happens:**
- SIQ shows that your broker connection needs attention
- Pending trades can't be sent to the broker
- Broker-backed orders may need a fresh sync before you can act on them again
**What to do:**
1. Click "Reconnect" in your broker settings
2. Complete the broker authentication flow
3. SIQ automatically syncs your account and resumes live-trading actions
Can I switch the strategy for my live portfolio?
Live broker portfolios do not follow another strategy. The live portfolio is the strategy's primary portfolio.
**Current flow:**
1. Open the live portfolio page
2. Use the SIQ chat to create the portfolio's strategy
3. The strategy is attached to that live portfolio as its primary portfolio
4. Future strategy choices create proposed trades for your approval
**Changing strategy:**
- Pause or replace the portfolio's strategy through the portfolio workflow
- Existing broker positions remain broker-confirmed reality
- New proposed trades are still shown for approval before submission
Security & Account
Your security is our priority. We use bank-grade encryption, never store your broker passwords, and give you full control over connected applications. Here's everything you need to know about keeping your account secure.
How is my data protected?
SIQ uses industry-standard encryption for all data in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES-256). Your broker credentials are never stored—we use OAuth tokens that can be revoked at any time. All infrastructure runs on SOC 2 compliant cloud providers.
What can SIQ do with my broker account?
SIQ can only view your holdings and submit orders that you explicitly approve—nothing more. We cannot withdraw funds, change account settings, or access your personal banking information. You can revoke access at any time from your broker's connected apps settings.
How much does SIQ cost?
SIQ is free to start on paper. You can turn your portfolio and intent into a paper strategy with ongoing monitoring before paying for higher AI usage and live broker workflows. Visit our Pricing page for current plans and features.
Can I cancel my subscription anytime?
Yes. You can cancel your subscription at any time from your Account settings. Your access continues until the end of your current billing period. Before canceling, make sure to disconnect any live portfolios and cancel pending orders.