Make sure you know what you are getting into. Investing other peoples money is advantageous in the fact that it offers no capital risk of your own and plenty of upside (fixed fees, profit splits) but its not that cut and dried. Some people may think its much easier when its someone elses money on the line but you may find that investing/trading other peoples money may affect you adversely (it did with me when I was prop) when you realise that you are responsible to someone else not yourself which can create all kinds of pyschological/emotional issues.
Second to this, depending on your backers you may find you get levels of interference that are not desirable. e.g. What are you in at the moment? What?! You're short the S&P??! It's been going up for weeks?!"
Thirdly and perhaps most importantly there are all sorts of logistical and regulatory nightmares. In the UK, trading for others is highly illegal under a profit share arrangement unless you work under an umbrella company or you have the necessary regulatory certificates to do it. (In the UK it costs £1,500 to submit an application form to the FSA to trade others money and there is no guarantee that you will be accepted as they take experience etc into account... with the application fee being non-refundable for starters...a lot of people probably think they won't get caught...until they produce a 30% drawdown and bear the brunt of some disgruntled investors wrath...first rule of business is (or should be) never trust anyone!
I have been offered as much as £1m backing in total in the last year or so and refuse to accept it for the above reasons, I won't even look at trading a mini account for a family member but based on my experience and knowledge here are your best bets if you are set on the idea and you are legally able to do it...
1. Get a track record. If you are any good and in a position to return money to investors, you should be able to make money for yourself. Start small and build a track record that you can show to people. Your account may be small but its consistency and percentage returns, plus awareness of maximum drawdowns etc that investors look for. In this game, word of mouth quickly spreads. It depends on your circumstances but for smaller traders and even some that have become huge (e.g. the market wizards) investment often started at home. If family see you making money, they may come forward and ask you to manage some for them...this can lead onto close friends who then spread the word to other friends that they are doing well with you etc and you can get an entry in this way.
2. Get a presence in the community. This and the point above are closely related but adding this will boost your chances ten fold. If you look at the entries for Top 100 Traders (Trader Monthly) a large majority come recommended. That is to say, someone has come forward and said "I know a great trader who has produced massive returns..." and then they are assessed and featured. I was once contacted by the Financial Times because of a Dow position I had posted on a thread on here! So, easiest way is to start a thread on a board like this one or FF is good for investment also and show people what you are doing. You can clearly stipulate you are not going to give your edge away but entry and exit points or even screenshots of account statements on a consistent basis will get people pm'ing you often after as little as a few weeks. If you go one step further and become a frequent poster and a helpful one you will get a lot of opportunities and see a lot of doors open that you will literally not believe. With a board like this you not only have scouts from firms, funds etc but you also have "tired" investors that cannot make money and are quick to latch onto someone that can.
Sorry if these are obvious but they really are the easiest ways. Many people have been burnt in life and there is a lot of notoriety surrounding traders (Madoff ponzi scheme all the way down to the sh*t system you buy that doesn't make money etc) so simply posting a message saying "I make X% a week, anyone interested in backing me?" is almost 100% destined to get you nowhere.
The best way to get money thrown at you is to just be yourself and don't ask anyone for it.
Actually, it's a lot like getting a beautiful girl to fall for you: play it cool, do your thing and of utmost importance: act like you don't need it or want it.
Always remember the legal side though. It really is key. If you don't do things properly and you are caught, you can be fined, imprisoned and banned from trading for life. Is the risk worth it? That's something only the individual can answer.
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