Category: 4. Broker for Advance

Plus500 is a publicly traded company that was founded in 2008 and is the main sponsor of football club Atlético Madrid. The Plus500 trading platform is offered by Plus500 UK Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and is also a subsidiary of Plus500 Ltd which is a publicly-traded company listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The broker’s trading platform is available in more than 50 countries and is authorised and regulated around the world by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Israel Securities Authority (ISA), among others.

PROS:	CONS:
Multiple regulations from around the world – FCA, CySEC, ASIC, MAS, ISA.More than 2,500+ CFDs to trade on, covering multiple asset classes.Commission-free trading.Simple to use proprietary trading platform.Multilingual customer support 24/7.	No phone support offered.Lack of market news and trader education.

There are so many options to trade on FOREX.com. It’s also the preferred platform for CFD traders. With a number of different trading tools and lots of research options, FOREX.com is the perfect platform for new and advanced forex traders.

Pros

• Very safe, publicly traded company with four tier-1 jurisdictions
• Variety of assets including most currency pairs, cryptocurrency, CFDs, and stocks
• Earned numerous awards for mobile trading, education, and low costs
• Competitive pricing for spreads and volume, which benefits active forex traders
• Includes advanced trading platforms and MetaTrader

Cons

• Slow customer service
• Pushes you towards agency execution and higher cost services

Typical spreads for FOREX.com via MetaTrader were 1.4 pips on the EUR/USD using data from the second quarter in 2019.

There was also an average spread of 1 pip during the third quarter for EUR/USD, but only for the non-MT4 platforms. If you are a high volume trader, FOREX.com has five tiers of pricing to suit your needs, which is highly customizable and praised by users.

Level one has a spread of 1.2 pips on EUR/USD exchange for traders who can maintain a balance of at least $10,000. Spreads are reduced as you upgrade to each level, so a level five must maintain a $500 million balance and that brings the spread down to 0.84 pips on EUR/USD pairings.

FOREX.com also provides dealer execution, and it never relies on third parties to make the trades. You can get higher quality trades because FOREX.com operates this way.

In addition, the platform added Direct Market Access (DMA) accounts for US traders. Active traders in the US get higher discounts with this type of account as well.

We test these features and more in our review of FOREX.COM.

You can trade with nearly 80 currency pairs on TD Ameritrade, but it’s the tools, research, and streaming data on the thinkorswim platform that makes this a top choice for US forex traders.

Pros

• Very stable and trusted platform, founded in 1975
• Best in class rating for platform and tools, mobile trading, and research
• Low-cost competitive pricing for forex traders

Cons

• US traders only
• No copy trading
• Does not offer MetaTrader compatibility

The cost to trade on forex with TD Ameritrade is based on spread alone. The broker recently removed all trading commissions for stocks and ETFs in October 2019. However, TD Ameritrade also provides a calculator that helps you estimate the cost to carry different currency pairs. This largely depends on the direction of the trade and order size.

Since TD Ameritrade uses GAIN capital, which is the owner of Forex.com, the spreads for EUR/USD contracts averaged at 1.06 pips. This is based upon data from October 2018 to September 2019. There is no minimum initial deposit, and you can access thinkorswim platform without a subscription.

The thinkorswim platform is TD Ameritrade’s best desktop-based program. With so many tools and research capabilities, you can streamline your trading and upgrade your skills.

You can use the Forex Trader module to display rates for six different pairs or add more. There are 75 different forex pairs to choose from, and you can customize your dashboard as you like.

There are 382 technical indicators available for the charting tools. This is the most in the industry, and explains why TD Ameritrade is a favorite among U.S. clients.

There are also over 80 different strategies that trigger trading signals when a custom condition is set. You can also test trades in their simulator platform.

If you can afford the $10,000 minimum deposit, then Saxo Bank offers an excellent trading platform with amazing research tools, 40,000 different assets to trade, and competitive pricing.

Pros

• Very low risk brokerage with six tier-1 jurisdictions
• 40,000 trading instruments across forex, CFDs, stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds
• SaxoTraderGo is the top web-based platform with more trading tools and research capabilities than most other brokerages
• Top-notch customer service

Cons

• Even at low level, Saxo Bank requires $10,000 minimum deposit to join their brokerage
• Platinum members must deposit $200,000 while VIP accounts must have $1,000,000

Out of all the forex brokerages, Saxo Bank is probably the most exclusive, but due to its low-risk, highly trusted platform, it’s considered to be one of the best by today’s forex traders. You can trade in forex with 182 currency pairs and 35,000 CFDs. It also offers social trading and copy trading. However, there is no cryptocurrency trading allowed.

As far as account types, there are classic, platinum, and VIP accounts. To join Saxo Bank, the biggest drawback is that you are required to deposit $10,000 just for an entry-level classic account.

The average spread for Saxo Bank was rated at 0.6 pips as of October 2019. Spread-only pricing is a major priority for this brokerage, so you won’t pay any trading commissions.

However, for volume-based pricing, the commissions are different. You are expected to pay a commission of 0.5 pips in these cases. This is still relatively low for active traders who would primarily use this type of trade.

With a variety of tools like SaxoTraderGo and SaxoTraderPro, you’ll get over 55 technical indicators for charging and about 20 different drawing tools, which includes Auto Chartist’s trade signals.

You’ll have to subscribe and upgrade to gain access to SaxoTraderPro, but when you do there is a larger selection of trading features, including support for six monitors, streaming time and sales, and algorithmic, automated orders.

For more information about SaxoTraderPro and Saxo’s other broker offerings, read our in-depth Saxo broker review.

You can never lose more than the amount you have on deposit with London Capital Group, and you can trade in a variety of asset classes including all indexes, forex, cryptocurrencies, bonds, commodities, and stocks.

Pros

• $0 account minimum
• Instant sync between app and browser-based version
• LCG has the best analysis and insight tools for forex
• Mobile app is sleek and easy-to-use

Cons

• No third party tools or API
• No testing or automated strategy options

LCG’s main strength is that you can trade a variety of asset classes globally, and they do not charge trading commissions. The broker is well known for forex and cryptocurrency exchanges, but it also has a very competitive low spread. With a number of ways to access their online brokerage, you also never have to worry about losing track of your investments.

With its mobile app and browser platform, LCG is one of the more high-tech forex platforms available for mobile. However, they lose some points because they don’t offer a way to test strategies or automate your orders. That said, they do provide other benefits. For example, account holders can never go into the negative due to the company’s protection.

In our LCG broker review, we found LCG to have great customer service options. You can chat or call with their customer support team, and they are quick to respond to most requests.

If you have been forex trading in the US, then you know OANDA. It’s one of just two brokerages available in the US. It also serves customers in Canada, UK, Singapore, and Australia. In addition, it has the reputation of being the most trusted retail forex platform.

Pros

• Open a trading account with just $1
• Very safe and regulated under FCA, CFTC, IIROC, ASIC, and Monetary Authority of Singapore
• Offers a traditional broker spread and on average a less expensive raw spread

Cons

• Slow support response on average
• Little to no new education resources, very disorganized
• Research and trending news is fragmented

Oanda has been around since the beginning of retail forex. While it was developed within academia, the company has grown and built a reputation for being a trustworthy exchange.

As a forex broker, it has more product offerings, better technology, and a dedicated customer base that spans the globe. Since Oanda has been around since the 1990s, they have the most historical data and offer the latest trading technology for forex traders.

You don’t need to have an account minimum to trade with Oanda. The quality of trade executions is considered high by most traders, and it has clear pricing and fee structures, which make it more trustworthy overall as a forex broker. You can access a variety of apps online and via mobile, including their MetaTrader 4 app.

Many traders find Oanda to be trustworthy, as it is regulated by a number of tier-1 agencies, including the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.

As a publicly-traded company with regulations in four tier-1 jurisdictions, CMC Markets is considered a safe and low-risk forex and CFD brokerage. It’s also considered the most low-cost option for forex and active trading.

Pros

• Highly competitive pricing for low-cost trading commissions
• Vast and diverse product catalog
• Offers liquidity rebates to active traders that surpass at least $25 million in notional trading volumes each month
• Guaranteed stop loss orders available
• Real-time news and sophisticated order types

Cons

• Limited security features
• No copy or social trading platform
• High US index for CFD spreads

CMC Markets is best suited to active traders as well as beginners. The platform has a variety of educational resources and tools to help you learn about forex trading and CFDs, and a responsive and helpful customer service team.

However, the firm also caters to more advanced and active traders who want to take advantage of their 0.7 pip minimum for Forex.

The truth is, CMC Markets has a low spread offering with very low trading costs overall. With its highly competitive pricing, the average spreads for EUR/USD go as low as 0.7 pips and typical spreads out to 0.81 pips.

That said, this information can change so, make sure to check out the fees section yourself for any updates. Other forex brokers offer fixed spreads – which has its pros and cons.

In addition, active traders are a focus for CMC Markets and are looked after. A liquidity rebate ranging from $5 to $10 million is available for those who trade at extremely high volumes. There’s also VIP discounts available for high net worth clients.

Traders also like the Guaranteed Stop-Loss Order (GSLO) that CMC Markets offers. This means that you can set risk thresholds for all of your positions, and you are guaranteed to close the trade exactly as you specify. While most brokers charge for GSLOs, CMC Markets actually refunds this cost to you.

You don’t need any minimum balance to trade with CMC Markets, and a free demo account is available to practice trading before signing up to a live account. The platform provides you with charting tools and over 79 technical indicators.

You can also access pattern recognition and social-trading tools on the Next Generation platform, but it’s a little behind on the main platform. You can switch over to their MT4 platform for automated trading, but this area has a higher learning curve.

Read our CMC markets review to learn more about the broker.

Pros

• Advanced web-trading platform
• Considered safe, and is regulated by the FCA in the UK, and more globally
• Low spreads for popular forex pairs
• Over 16,000 markets

Cons

• No copy/social trading platform
• Steep inactivity fee after 2 years
• U.S. clients can only trade forex

Whether you are interested in trading CFDs or currencies, IG has a huge selection of over 16,000 markets. With the ability to trade forex, cryptocurrency, individual equities, stock sectors, and commodities—IG’s large investment selection is enjoyed by many traders.

U.S. residents can only trade forex with IG – however, the broker’s powerful tools and low costs make it a formidable contender in the U.S. market.

IG has been around forever, and interestingly, was the first of its kind at the time. Today, IG is a leading forex provider, with competitive fees, superb educational material and research, and a huge variety of assets. If you’re a trader outside the U.S. who is interested in other instruments, such as trading CFDs, IG has you covered.

After the company’s expansion to the U.S. in February 2019, U.S traders can now access IG U.S.’s tools and services, however, the product selection is currently focused on forex only – CFDs are not currently offered to U.S. clients. IG U..S is regulated by the CFTC and the NFA.

However, IG U.S. does offer 80 currency pairs, and the broker’s low spreads make it an appealing option for U.S.-based forex traders. The company breaks down the offered currency pairs into six categories – Major pairs, Minor pairs, Australasian, Scandinavian, Exotic, and Emerging Markets.

The broker caters specifically to forex traders in several ways, including offering higher volume forex traders access to an aggressive rebate program. IG U.S. is also the only brokerage in the U.S. to offer ProRealTime, a package of charting software that supports over 100 indicators.

U.S.-based clients can choose between IG’s well-designed and user-friendly web platform and mobile/tablet apps and the venerable MT4. Both offer advanced tools, as well as a news stream from Reuters and an economic calendar.

One final note to U.S.-based investors before we move on to the company’s international offerings – IG U.S. is currently not available to residents of Arizona and Ohio.

IG has a minimum of 0.6 pips for EUR/USD trading, which is relatively low in comparison to the industry average of 70 pips. With this, you can trade on forex, cryptocurrency exchanges, individual equities, all stock sectors, bonds, and commodities.

You can also trade on interest rates through their mobile and browser-based platform. But note: there are steep, monthly inactivity fees after two years. See our IG broker review for more about their fee structure.

In the UK, the company’s L2 Dealer offers professional forex traders direct market access (DMA) that bypasses IG’s dealing desk. This platform is easy to use and customizable.

In addition to being a leading forex broker, IG is the largest CFD dealer due to its trading revenue numbers. IG is known for its reliable reputation, as it is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.

Most of the UK has a large number of financial spreads in CFDs. IG also offers six cryptocurrencies to trade as CFDs or spread bets but bitcoin has a 40-pip spread which is above the industry average.

Regardless of their place of residence, traders can relish in the company’s extensive educational material. DailyFX Forex University offers informative and accessible information for all traders of all levels. Its touch of humour allows traders to easily broach what can be a complex subject. Traders can take enjoyment out of articles with titles including, Meet Your Subjects in reference to forex pairs, and How to Stay in School, a piece about risk management.

The IG Academy can help develop any trader’s knowledge of CFDs, spread betting, and forex trading. The courses can be completed in your own time and include interactive exercises and quizzes to liven it up and test your ability.

IG’s webinar archive includes an array of previously aired sessions, allowing you to catch up on ones that catch your eye, and if you want to add some into your schedule in the future you can visit the company’s webinar calendar to see all their upcoming sessions.

Customer support is helpful and friendly and can be contacted by phone, live chat, email, and social media, including Twitter. New clients and existing contacts have separate numbers, and the team is available 24 hours a day Monday to Friday.

There is no social/copy platform available, or any client positioning data for forex, CFDs, or spread bets but traders should note that forex positioning data is available within the IG Client Sentiment at DailyFX.com.

Overall, IG is suited to both smaller traders and professional traders. There is a minimum deposit required if/when funding by card depending on the country and currency.

As one of the top U.K. forex trading platforms, the minimum deposit for U.K. traders is £250, and for U.S traders it’s $250. If you’d like to give the platform a test drive, IG offers a demo account, or alternatively, you can sign open a forex account in just 3 simple steps and get started on your forex journey.

Whether you’re a complete beginner or a Forex expert, eToro has competitive features that you’re bound to love.

eToro literally allows you to copy the trades of other registered users. So whether you’re a beginner who doesn’t have the time to learn, or an expert who doesn’t have the time to trade, you just need to find a successful eToro trader. You can copy their trades — so any trade they make, you make. There’s no wonder the brokerage recently hit 13 million users worldwide.

Pros

• Excellent copy trading features
• User-friendly and well-designed
• Large investment selection

Cons

• Average research tools
• Number of currency pairs could be larger
• Limited availability to some U.S. residents

Visit eToroon eToro’s website

eToro was founded way back in 2007. The broker is regulated in two tier-1 jurisdictions and one tier-2 jurisdiction and has recently expanded its business to the U.S. Unfortunately, U.S. based clients are still limited to trading only with cryptocurrencies. However, that will most likely change soon, as eToro became a FINRA member a couple of months ago.

The broker currently offers 49 currency pairs, 13 stock index CFDs, and over 2,000 stock CFDs. While its investment offerings aren’t particularly varied when compared to competitors, eToro does offer enough variety for beginners and intermediate traders.

One of the brokerage’s highlights is its platform. Both the web-based and mobile versions are crisp and feature easy to use, functional designs. The web-trading platform also boasts a number of powerful tools, including full-featured charting and approximately 70 indicators.

However, eToro’s biggest standout feature is CopyTrader, which allows you to copy the trades, strategies, and portfolios of experienced traders. The platform allows you to see how well their investments have performed historically, as well as how risky their strategies are. 

Simply choose a dollar amount to dedicate to a particular trader, and you will execute the same trades that they do – typically less than one second later. You can copy up to 100 traders simultaneously. 

Copy trading is quite different from what most brokers offer – if you’re interested in this type of trading but still on the fence, eToro offers a demo account that lets you practice with $100,000 worth of virtual money.

The platform still has some antiquated fees, however. A monthly $10 inactivity fee is charged after 12 months without logging in, and a pesky $5 fee is applied whenever you withdraw funds.

The minimum spread has recently been reduced – clients can now trade EUR/USD with spreads as low as 1 pip. While this may be a step in the right direction, eToro still has a ways to go, as many competitors offer more appealing spreads. 

When it comes to cryptocurrencies, the spreads that eToro offers are competitive but vary to a large degree – from the quite tight 0.75% for Bitcoin, to the rather wide 5% spread for Tezos.

If you’re interested in a more detailed assessment, take a look at our eToro review.

Pepperstone’s customizable nature and low fees make it an appealing choice for novices and veterans alike.

Pepperstone is an award-winning brokerage that combines low fees and spreads with several highly-customizable platforms. These, in conjunction with their platforms, make Pepperstone stand out in the Forex market.

Pros

• Extremely tight spreads and minimal fees
• Large number of currency pairs
• Variety of platforms available
• Great customer service
• Reliable, with strong regulation
• Copy trading features

Cons

• Not available in the US, Canada, or Japan
• No negative balance protection
• Lackluster amount of CFDs

Pepperstone was founded in Melbourne, Australia, in 2010. It is regulated in two tier-1 jurisdictions by the ASIC and the FCA and has experienced meteoric growth and industry acclaim since its inception.

So, what is the secret? A combination of laser-focused investment offerings, a wide variety of customizable platforms and tools, and low fees and tight spreads. The last point being the most important one – Pepperstone offers incredibly competitive spreads to clients.

Pepperstone does not charge inactivity and withdrawal fees, and there is no minimum deposit amount. The broker also offers a free demo account which allows you to get acquainted with the platform of your choosing.

Speaking of platforms, Pepperstone gives you quite a bit of choice in this regard. You can choose between three options – MT4, MT5, and cTrader. All of them are solid choices – and Pepperstone also provides a bevy of premium add-ons for their platforms. 

However, once all is said and done, we have to give a slight edge to cTrader. This platform has an advantage over the MTs when it comes to charting tools, and offers a slightly more intuitive user interface. However, the difference isn’t massive – all of the platforms are solid choices, and so are their mobile versions – the choice mostly boils down to personal preference.

This ECN platform has more than 70 technical indicators, as well as the cutting-edge cTrader Automate feature, which makes this platform the best choice for algorithmic trading.

Pepperstone also offers a wide variety of social and copy trading platforms, including myFxbook, DupliTrade, ZuluTrade, RoboX, Chasing Returns, and Mirror Trader. 

Some of these platforms require minimum deposits and incur higher commissions, but they are nevertheless useful tools to have on disposal. We’d give the edge in copy trading to eToro – but Pepperstone can definitely hold its own in this regard.

The brokerage offers a good amount of currency pairs – 62, but the offering of CFDs is much more humble. Pepperstone currently offers 60 Stock CFDs, 15 Commodity CFDs, and 14 Stock Index CFDs, as well as 4 cryptocurrencies. If CFDs and crypto don’t interest you, the issue of investment offerings becomes a moot point.

While Pepperstone’s investment offerings might not be so impressive, their low spreads certainly are. The spreads that you’ll be dealing with primarily depend on the type of account you open.

Pepperstone offers two main account types – a regular account, and a Razor account. Regular accounts have higher spreads, but no commissions – Razor accounts, on the other hand, have much lower spreads but also come with a fixed commission. Regular accounts will appeal more to beginners, but we’ve covered that topic much more thoroughly in our in-depth Pepperstone review.

The spread for standard accounts, on average, is 1 – 1.3 pips, while the spread for Razor accounts ranges from 0 – 0.3 pips.

Pepperstone also offers an Active Trader Program that comes with large rebates for customers that make large trades. However, the rebates kick in when you start trading 100 lots or more, so this feature mostly appeals to seasoned traders.

Pepperstone offers customers an impressive amount of well-produced educational materials. These range from platform tutorials to webinars, educational articles, and even a YouTube channel. The research tools that the brokerage offers, such as AutoChartist and Smart Trader Tools are quite useful – although the scope of research and news is rather limited.

Pepperstone’s customer support is available 24/5 and is generally very informative and quick to respond. The brokerage can be contacted via live chat, email, and phone.