International Markets Live, more commonly known as iMarketsLive, was first reviewed on BehindMLM back in 2013.

What I found was an MLM opportunity offering investment trading advice with zero retail. The company was so out of compliance it was comical.

As per an August 6th Facebook post, in mid 2016 CEO Christopher Terry told Alex Morton that ‘he had been through hell and back and his company at the time was barely surviving.‘

Having split with Vemma just before the FTC shut it down, Morton had been promoting Jeunesse for about a year or so at the time.

Morton claims Terry (right) told him

he knew it had the best products and services on the planet and that he had unwavering belief that he would take his company to the top one day no matter what.

Morton went on to sign as iMarketLive’s Vice-President of Sales.

All things aside, if there’s one thing Alex Morton is good at it’s generating affiliate recruitment for MLM companies.

While he might not be the only factor, Morton has obviously contributed to iMarketLive’s renewed growth over the past ten months.

That growth has corresponded with reader requests for an updated BehindMLM review.

Today we revisit the iMarketsLive MLM opportunity and suss out what’s changed.

iMarketsLive Products

iMarketsLive market Platinum Package membership, which provides access to FX Signals Live, a Live Trading Room, Harmonic Scanner and training education.

As per the iMarketsLive website, FX Signals provides access to automated forex returns;

Whether you’re sleeping, partying, working, or all three, your trading account will automatically mirror the trades our experts make.

The Live Trading Room provides webinar access to live trading with CEO Christopher Terry.

The Harmonic Scanner ‘accurately identifies key harmonic patterns‘, which users can then act on through third-party MT4 trading software.

The IML Harmonic Scanner automatically draws and labels different harmonic patterns in the forex market right on your MT4 platform.

Trading Education is “hands on education everyday” from Christopher Terry.

We also offer a full trading library, stacked with videos, articles, and webinars for you to view anytime on various topics.

iMarketsLive’s Platinum Package retails for $195 and then $145 a month.

The iMarketsLive Compensation Plan

The iMarketsLive compensation plan pays affiliates to sell Platinum Packages.

Retail volume is mandatory, with commissions paid out weekly based on rank and residually via an infinity bonus.

iMarketsLive Affiliate Ranks

There are ten affiliate ranks within the iMarketsLive compensation plan.

Along with their respective qualification criteria they are as follows:

  • Affiliate – sign up as an iMarketsLive affiliate ($15)
  • Platinum 150 – recruit and maintain at least three affiliates and have a total downline volume of 435 PV a month
  • Platinum 600 – recruit and maintain at least twelve affiliates, generate 290 PV a month in retail sales and have a total downline volume of at least 1740 GV a month
  • Platinum 1000 – recruit and maintain at least thirty affiliates, maintain 290 PV a month in retail sales and have a total downline volume of at least 4350 GV a month
  • Platinum 2000 – recruit and maintain at least seventy-five affiliates, maintain 435 PV a month in retail sales and have a total downline volume of at least 10,875 GV a month
  • Platinum 5000 – recruit and maintain at least two hundred and twenty-five affiliates, maintain 435 PV a month in retail sales and have a total downline volume of at least 32,625 GV a month
  • Chairman 10 – recruit and maintain at least five hundred affiliates, maintain 435 PV a month in retail sales and have a total downline volume of at least 72,500 GV a month
  • Chairman 25 – recruit and maintain at least one thousand two hundred and fifty affiliates, maintain 435 PV a month in retail sales and have a total downline volume of at least 181,250 GV a month
  • Chairman 50 – recruit and maintain at least two thousand five hundred affiliates, maintain 435 PV a month in retail sales and have a total downline volume of at least 362,500 GV a month
  • Chairman 100 – recruit and maintain at least five thousand affiliates, maintain 435 PV a month in retail sales and have a total downline volume of at least 725,000 GV a month

Note that no more than 40% of required monthly GV can be sourced from any one unilevel leg.

Also unless a unilevel leg’s volume is made up of at least 55% retail GV, non-retail GV counted from that leg is reduced until the retail GV equals 55%.

PV stands for “Personal Volume” and is sales volume generated by retail Platinum Package sales and an affiliate own package purchase (retail volume requirements exclude affiliate purchases).

GV stands for “Group Volume” and is PV generated by an affiliate and their downline.

Platinum Package Retail and Recruitment Commissions

iMarketsLive pay the same commission on all Platinum Package purchases, be it retail customer purchases or that of recruited affiliates.

  • Platinum Directors earn $35 on level 1 (personally referred customers and recruited affiliates)
  • Platinum 600s earn $35 on level 1 and $10 on level 2
  • Platinum 1000s and higher earn $35 on level 1, $10 on level 2 and $5 on level 3

Guaranteed Monthly Income

iMarketsLive pay Platinum 150 and higher ranked affiliates a guaranteed monthly income:

  • Platinum 150 ranked affiliates receive $150
  • Platinum 600 ranked affiliates receive $600
  • Platinum 1000 ranked affiliates receive $1000
  • Platinum 2000 ranked affiliates receive $2000
  • Platinum 5000 ranked affiliates receive $5000
  • Chairman 10 ranked affiliates receive $10,000
  • Chairman 25 ranked affiliates receive $25,000
  • Chairman 50 ranked affiliates receive $50,000
  • Chairman 100 ranked affiliates receive $100,000
  • Chairman 250 ranked affiliates receive $250,000
  • Chairmain 500 ranked affiliates receive $500,000

Chairman Infinity Bonus

Chairman 10 and higher ranked iMarketsLive affiliates receive a percentage match on downline volume.

Sales volume in iMarketsLive is calculated at a rate of 145 GV per Platinum Package sold (145 GV per subscription month).

  • Chairman 10 affiliates earn a 1% bonus capped at $1000 per unilevel leg
  • Chairman 25 affiliates earn a 1% bonus capped at $2500 per unilevel leg
  • Chairman 50 affiliates earn a 1% bonus capped at $5000 per unilevel leg
  • Chairman 100 affiliates earn a 1% bonus capped at $10,000 per unilevel leg
  • Chairman 250 affiliates earn a 2% bonus capped at $20,000 per unilevel leg
  • Chairman 500 affiliates earn a 2% bonus capped at $40,000 per unilevel leg

The iMarketsLive compensation plan documentation doesn’t state whether the above leg caps are weekly or monthly.

Note that the Chairman Infinity Bonus is paid down each unilevel leg up until an affiliate of the same or higher rank is found.

Rank Achievement Bonus

iMarketsLive rewards affiliates with a one-time bonus when they qualify at the Platinum 2000 and higher ranks for three consecutive months.

  • Platinum 2000 – $500
  • Platinum 5000 – $1500
  • Chairman 10 – $5000 over two months
  • Chairman 25 – $10,000 over two months
  • Chairman 50 – $25,000 over six months
  • Chairman 100 – $100,000 over twelve months
  • Chairman 250 – $150,000 over twenty-four months
  • Chairman 500 – $200,000 over twenty-four months

Joining iMarketsLive

iMarketsLive affiliate membership is $15 a month.

Conclusion

When I saw “guaranteed income” in iMarketsLive’s compensation plan, I immediately envisioned affiliates recruiting affiliates, paying a fee and collecting a fixed monthly income based on recruitment.

That’s typically how guaranteed income works in MLM, however in iMarketsLive it’s instead used to gimp affiliates out of commissions between rank levels.

The biggest change hands down between iMarketsLive in 2013 and iMarketsLive today is the inclusion of retail sales.

I don’t know if Alex Morton had anything to do with it, but the 55% retail volume requirement per unilevel leg (and thus entire downline) is awfully similar to what the FTC required Vemma have before affiliates were paid (in Vemma it was 51%).

Simply put, unless 55% of an iMarketsLive affiliate’s paid volume is generated via retail sales, they aren’t getting paid.

Within that framework, I don’t have a problem with guaranteed monthly commissions. Reason being that they’re tied to retail sales and affiliate downline purchases. And ideally you’re probably going to see more than 55% because an affiliate only needs one Platinum Package.

Having retail customers market Platinum Package membership in exchange for their own being free is a great incentive to further drive retail sales.

What should be of concern to affiliates though is the money they’re missing out on between affiliate ranks.

Residual commission rates only change when an affiliate qualifies at a higher rank. Between ranks the only income that changes is the infinity bonus, meaning an affiliate can potentially generate thousands of dollars in sales revenue and not see another dollar until they meet specific rank requirements.

That in turn could potentially see an iMarketsLive affiliate leave a lot of money on the table.

Not an issue from a regulatory compliance standpoint, but definitely a turn-off when evaluating iMarketsLive as an MLM opportunity.

What is a regulatory compliance issue is iMarketsLive’s FX Signals. Sold as part of the Platinum Package, the FX Signals are quite clearly a securities offering.

iMarketsLive retail customers and affiliates access FX Signals through iMarketsLive. This services provides a completely automated and passive ROI, constituting a securities offering.

With Alex Morton constantly updating his Facebook feed with events all across the country, iMarketsLive is obviously being promoted in the US. In fact as I type this, the US is the largest source of traffic to the iMarketsLive website.

iMarketsLive CEO Christopher Terry operates out of New York. but in what I can only assume is a half-assed attempt to appear offshore, iMarketsLive provide a corporate address in the UK.

Other than a shell company registration and rented virtual office, iMarketsLive doesn’t appear to have any operational connections to the UK.

In any event, the offer of a security to US residents requires SEC registration, regardless of where a company pretends it’s run from.

Since I last checked in 2013, iMarketsLive or International Markets Live is still not registered with the SEC.

That makes the FX Signals service illegal in the US, which drags down rest of the iMarketsLive MLM offering.

Shame really, as they’ve done good work getting their compensation plan compliant. Should the SEC open an investigation into iMarketsLive’s FX Signals offering however, it’s likely to be identified as a security and that’ll be the end of that.

I’d strongly advise not signing up as an affiliate or customer until iMarketsLive have registered their passive forex trading offer with the SEC.

 

Update 23rd December 2019 – iMarketsLive rebooted as IM Mastery Academy in September 2019.