Firstly, I would pose the question: Do you think trading can be taught and/or trained and/or coached?
Yes it can
If the answer to that is yes - and if it can't be then it's about the only professional activity I know of that can't be - then who is to do the teaching, training, coaching?
This is difficult isn't it. I for example knew a great deal about MM and position sizing way before I was anything like profitable, and probably knew a lot more than I do now. If that's the case, then just maybe its OK if some says I am not profitable, I have no idea if the stuff that I teach works, or is useful, but I charge X. I don't have a problem with that. I don't have a problem with someone teaching a method, provided they have a couple of years of forward testing to back it up. Systems sold on back tests are a non starter, systems sold after 2 months results are a non starter. That should be obvious.
And do you expect them to do it for free, or get some financial reward for their services - even if it's just compensation for their "lost" trading time?
This depends on the number of people involved. If its just the odd person being taught then yes, I would expect them to do it for free. Other professions mentor for free. I have an aquaintance who mentors half a dozen or so guitarists in various locations across the globe. He covers all of his own travel and accommodation costs, sometimes flying hundreds of miles and taking days out of his schedule to teach.
The same guy also charges extremely hefty rates for private lessons for those who do not have the ability conduct or merit, but he also sells instructional dvd's etc. Ive witnessed this particular musician turning down tens of thousands in ticket sales to play an additional night simply because he'd already committed to holding a workshop in the upstairs room in a pub for maybe 30 guys.
Another musician friend was mentored from an early age by a well know American jazz musician. His mentor paid for his college education at Berkley, and covered the costs of his family visiting whilst he was studying in the USA. He probably "invested" hundreds of thousands of dollars into a complete stranger. I'm sure there are no shortages of examples if you care to look.
As soon as you start offering mentoring or tuition to a larger client base, charges have to be made. However, the current set up puts all of the risk on the punter.
Why cant a vendor be compensated in some other way ? For example, rather than handing 5K over to a vendor , why cant I deposit 10K into an account, and allow that vendor to trade under power of attorney during the time I'm being taught. If the vendor can walk the walk, a year down the line they've made themselves double the fee, and I as the punter have confidence in the mentor and the method.
If the mentors full of bull ****, they get nothing, and the punter loses only part of what they would have lost
Its win win but you wont find a single vendor taking up such an offer. Offer em 10K, 100K, 1M, 10M they simply will not bite