What Autopilot will and won't trade in your account: stocks and ETFs, never options, crypto, or shorts, and what happens to the positions you already own

I'm Chris, co-founder of Autopilot. Before you hand any app authority over part of your brokerage account, you should know the exact list of things it will do with it and the exact list of things it won't. Ours is short on both sides, and I'd rather you read it here than find out from a statement.

One thing first, because we're an SEC-registered investment adviser and I have to say it. Autopilot is the app. The actual investment advice comes from Autopilot Advisers, LLC. If you want the full legal version of anything in here, it's on our disclaimer page.

1) What gets traded

Stocks and exchange-traded funds, long only, inside the allocation you set. When the Portfolio you follow changes, we send the orders and your broker fills them, proportionally to your allocation. That's the entire universe. If a Pilot's published Portfolio holds a stock or an ETF, your account can hold it in proportion, subject to your buying power, minimum order sizes, and your brokerage's rules on fractional shares.

2) What never gets traded

We don't trade options, we don't trade cryptocurrency, and we don't short. If a Pilot's own strategy involves any of those outside the platform, the Portfolio you follow here doesn't, because it can't. That includes the Portfolios built around crypto as a theme: they hold companies and ETFs tied to the sector, not coins. If you want direct crypto or options exposure, that's something you do yourself at your brokerage, outside your Autopilot allocation, and I wrote about the crypto-theme Portfolios specifically in The Crypto Bull Portfolio: how a Pilot gets crypto exposure through stocks and ETFs, since Autopilot doesn't trade coins.

3) Your other positions are not ours to touch

We only manage the slice you allocated. Shares you bought on your own, in the same account, are outside that slice, and we don't have the ability to sell them. One wrinkle is worth knowing. If you hold the same stock both inside and outside your allocation, your brokerage's tax-lot accounting decides which shares are treated as sold when any sell order for that stock goes through; many brokerages default to first-in, first-out. That's a brokerage setting, and it's worth checking if you hold overlapping positions. The cleanest arrangement, if you also trade by hand, is a separate account for the hand trading.

4) Blacklisting a stock

If there's a company you don't want to own for any reason, you can blacklist it while still following the Portfolio. We then exclude it from future buys and follow the rest of the Portfolio with your allocation spread across the other positions. Your account will differ from the Pilot's by that much, which is the point. If you've already sold a stock by hand and don't want us buying it back, blacklisting it is the right move; more on that in Selling by hand while you follow a Portfolio: what Autopilot does next, and the two buttons to use instead.

5) The margin question

If your brokerage account has margin enabled, our orders may use margin buying power, based on your allocation and your account's margin settings. We don't turn margin on; your brokerage settings do, and this is the one item on the list that can cost you money in a way you didn't intend if you weren't paying attention. I gave it its own page: Autopilot and margin: what happens if your brokerage account has margin enabled, and how to make sure you're only investing cash.

6) What this means when you pick a Portfolio

The Portfolio descriptions tell you what a Pilot is trying to do. This list tells you what can physically happen in your account: long stocks and ETFs, in proportion, within your allocation, during market hours, and nothing else. Read a Portfolio's fact sheet for what it actually held and did, and read this list for the boundaries. The lineup of what we publish is in Every hedge fund and Wall Street Portfolio you can follow on Autopilot, and how each one works.

Frequently asked questions

Does Autopilot trade options or crypto?

No. Autopilot trades stocks and exchange-traded funds, long only, within the allocation you set. It does not trade options and does not trade cryptocurrency. Portfolios built around a crypto theme hold companies and ETFs connected to the sector, not coins. Direct crypto or options exposure is something you'd do yourself at your brokerage, outside your Autopilot allocation.

Does Autopilot short stocks?

No. Autopilot does not copy short positions and will not place short sales in your brokerage account. If a Pilot's strategy elsewhere involves shorting, the Portfolio you follow on Autopilot is long stocks and ETFs only.

Will Autopilot sell stocks I bought myself?

No. Autopilot manages only the allocation you set and doesn't have the ability to sell positions you hold outside it. If you hold the same stock inside and outside your allocation, your brokerage's tax-lot accounting method, often first-in, first-out, determines which shares are treated as sold when a sell order for that stock executes, so check that setting or keep hand trading in a separate account.

Can I block a stock from being bought in my account?

Yes. Blacklist the stock in the app and Autopilot will exclude it from future purchases while you keep following the rest of the Portfolio, with your allocation spread across the other positions. Blacklisting is also the right step after you've sold a stock by hand and don't want it rebought.

TLDR

Long stocks and ETFs, in proportion, inside your allocation, during market hours. Never options, never crypto, never shorts. Your own positions outside the allocation aren't ours to sell, though overlapping tickers follow your brokerage's tax-lot rules. Blacklist anything you don't want to own. And if your account has margin enabled, know that our orders can use it.

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Since Autopilot Advisers is an SEC-registered investment adviser, we have to put disclaimers on stuff like this. They're below, and the full version is on our disclaimer page.

Disclosures

© Autopilot Holdings Corporation 2026 — All rights reserved. “Autopilot” refers to Autopilot Holdings Corporation and its wholly-owned, and separately managed subsidiaries, including Autopilot Advisers, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. All investing is subject to investment risks, including possible loss of the principal invested, and past performance is not indicative of future results. View our Customer Relationship Summary and other important information at joinautopilot.com/disclaimer.

This information is provided by Autopilot for educational and illustrative purposes only and is not a recommendation, an offer to sell or the solicitation to buy any security. Autopilot relies on information from various sources believed to be reliable, including information from Clients, Pilots and other third parties, but cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of that information. Autopilot does not provide tax or legal advice and you are encouraged to consult with professionals before making investment decisions.

Autopilot is not affiliated with, sponsored, or endorsed by the companies listed, described, or featured on its site. Company logos or trademarks used do not imply endorsement and are the property of their respective owners.

Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. You should carefully consider your investment objectives, risk tolerance, and time horizon before investing through Autopilot.

Autopilot Advisers, LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Additional information about Autopilot is available in our Form ADV Part 2A, available at adviserinfo.sec.gov or joinautopilot.com/adv.

Autopilot provides limited investment advisory services focused on Portfolio selection and suitability assessment. Our services are not intended to replace comprehensive financial planning. We recommend consulting with a qualified financial advisor regarding your complete financial situation.

This content is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment, legal, or tax advice and should not be relied upon as the basis for any investment decision. You should consult with qualified professionals regarding your specific circumstances.

Autopilot does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult with qualified tax and legal professionals regarding your specific circumstances.

Autopilot does not hold client assets. All investments are held at the brokerage firm you select and connect to Autopilot. Your brokerage firm is responsible for trade execution, custody, and reporting. Autopilot is not responsible for your broker-dealer’s services, fees, or execution quality.

Autopilot’s services depend on technology systems, third-party APIs, and internet connectivity. System outages, API disruptions, or connectivity issues may temporarily affect service availability or trade execution timing.

Client account holdings are designed to track the Portfolio you’ve selected, but your actual holdings and performance may differ from the Portfolio due to execution timing, market conditions, brokerage capacity constraints, fractional share availability, and other factors outside Autopilot’s control.

For Portfolios inspired by publicly disclosed trading activity, there may be a delay between when a Pilot executes a trade and when that trade becomes publicly available and is incorporated into the Portfolio. This timing delay may affect the suitability or performance of trades when executed in client accounts.

Statements about what Autopilot trades, blacklisting, margin, and positions outside an allocation follow Autopilot's public website FAQ and help center as of the publish date. Tax-lot accounting methods are set by each brokerage. Nothing here is tax advice, a recommendation, or a claim about results.