# Vault fees and protections

> How performance fees are charged per investor, held 30 days and given back on a wind-down, and the protections that hold a manager to a vault's terms.

## Performance fees, per investor

Each subscription keeps **its own high-water mark**. At a dealing, a holder above their mark pays the performance fee on that gain, in units, and their mark moves up. So:

- you never pay a fee on a gain you didn't have;
- a holder who came in at a high doesn't pay until the vault passes it again.

## Fees are held 30 days

A performance fee isn't the manager's at once. It's **held for 30 days**, and if the vault winds down in that time (by its drawdown rule, or the manager closing it), the held fees go **back to the holders**. A manager can't take a fee on a spike and walk away.

A vault that runs in and out any time ([Hyperliquid style](https://docs.ftw.trade/vaults/create#or-in-and-out-any-time)) holds no fee: it takes the fee only from the profit a holder withdraws, when they withdraw it.

## The other fees

| Fee | Charged |
|---|---|
| Management | A yearly rate, accrued at each dealing |
| Entry | On a subscription |
| Exit | On a redemption. Waived when a holder leaves before a wider scope takes effect |

Fees go to the manager's paper balance at each dealing.

## Protections

A vault's **safety profile** counts the protections it holds:

| Protection | Guards against |
|---|---|
| Drawdown wind-down | A strategy that keeps losing |
| Leverage cap | A manager raising risk after you invest |
| Scope | Trading what the vault never said it would |
| Timelock | A sudden change of strategy or scope |
| Same market | An upgrade onto a different market |
| Manager stake | A manager with nothing at risk |

These are enforced by ftw.trade, not promised by the manager: a managed vault's wallets refuse out-of-scope trades where they sign, and its money moves only between its own wallets until it winds down.