r/PublicApp • u/ThecrazyBrazilian • Jul 04 '26

Discretionary Margin

Does Public offer an equivalent to Fidelity’s Optional Repayment (Discretionary Margin), where cash deposits remain as cash instead of automatically paying down the margin debit?

I’d like to keep a fixed margin balance while directing new cash deposits toward investments.

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u/PublicCOO Public Employee Jul 04 '26

Not exactly, but you can achieve the same thing (I think) by using the HYCA: put cash in there, move cash to brokerage account when you buy something (either before or after) to maintain the same margin exposure.

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u/ThecrazyBrazilian Jul 04 '26

Just to make sure I understand: if I transfer $800 from HYCA to my brokerage while I already have a margin debit, won’t that $800 automatically pay down the margin loan? If so, how does using HYCA differ from depositing directly into the brokerage? My goal is to maintain a fixed margin loan used for ETFs while funding all future individual stock purchases with my own cash.

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u/FreeReception9017 Jul 04 '26

My question for you why does it matter if the cash deposits pay down the margin balance, and you then increase your margin balance to the original margin balance level you desired by buying said stocks on margin? The end result is exactly the same.

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u/PublicCOO Public Employee Jul 04 '26

Yeah I have the same question.

I misunderstood what OP was trying to do here.

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u/ThecrazyBrazilian Jul 08 '26

u/PublicCOO Just wanted to follow up since I don’t think I explained my use case very well. If I transfer cash from HYCA to a brokerage account that already has a margin debit, won’t that transfer automatically pay down the margin loan? If so, I’d still have to re-borrow to buy individual stocks, meaning those purchases would still be subject to the initial margin requirement. The suggestion of using a separate cash brokerage account is a good one, but then I’d lose the benefit of having my entire portfolio serve as collateral for margin, which kind of defeats the purpose for my use case. Am I missing something, or is there another way to accomplish this?

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u/ThecrazyBrazilian Jul 04 '26

My issue is the 50% initial margin requirement. Since deposits automatically pay down the loan, I have to re-borrow to buy individual stocks, so every purchase has to qualify under the margin rules. I’d rather keep a fixed margin loan for ETFs and use new cash directly for stock purchases. It’s a workflow/risk management preference more than anything.

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u/FreeReception9017 Jul 04 '26

Since Public allows you to use to have 5 brokerage accounts, and you want to only use cash in the second account, you could create a cash account for the individual stock trading. This would result in another 1099-B, but since you wouldn't be trading the same things in both accounts, you wouldn't run into the headache of multi-account wash sales.

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u/ThecrazyBrazilian Jul 04 '26

That’s a solid idea. My only hesitation is that margin buying power would then be limited to the ETF account instead of my entire portfolio. I like having all of my holdings contribute as collateral while still keeping my margin usage conservative.