FP Markets Review

Review

FP Markets is an online Forex and CFD ECN brokerage launched in 2005. They are headquartered in Australia and are regulated by ASIC, in common with many similar brokerage firms who choose a domicile in Australia.

FP Markets offers traders the opportunity to trade a wide range of instruments mostly wrapped as CFDs (Contracts for Difference), offering over ten thousand(!) tradable instruments, including an incredible selection of over ten thousand individual shares quoted in leading global markets. In addition to individual shares FP Markets offers trading in over 50 Forex currency pairs and crosses, the commodities gold, silver, and WTI Crude Oil, Bitcoin, and 11 major global equity indices. Maximum leverage (on Forex) is a very high 500 to 1 although this requires more than the minimum deposit to achieve. For example, placing the minimum deposit of $200 gives a maximum leverage of 100 to 1, while a deposit of $500 is required to secure a maximum leverage of 500 to 1.

Accounts

FP Markets differs from most brokers in offering clients a hybrid ECN/STP execution model, allowing the opportunity of fast execution and natural spreads. A choice between account types is offered depending upon whether you want to trade Forex, CFDs, or individual shares. In fact, clients can choose whether they want ECN execution or STP execution.

Forex traders are offered a choice between a Standard account and an ECN Raw account. The Standard account requires a minimum deposit of $100 and offers spreads starting from 1 pip on the benchmark EUR/USD currency pair, with no commission. The ECN Raw account requires a minimum deposit of $1000 and offers spreads from no minimum, but a commission of AUD $3.50 is charged per lot per trade. An Islamic account and a VPS are also available.

CFD traders are offered a choice between three account types. The Professional account requires a minimum deposit of $1,000. A minimum brokerage fee of $10 per month is charged (or 0.1% of trade size, whichever is higher). Overnight financing is at RBA + 4%, and the $55 GST fee per month is waived if the trader generates at least $150 of commission in a month. The $22 monthly GST fee for ASX data is waived if the trader generates at least $50 of commission in a month. The Platinum account requires a minimum deposit of $25,000.  A minimum brokerage fee of $9 per month is charged (or 0.09% of trade size, whichever is higher). Overnight financing is at RBA + 3.5%, and the $55 GST fee per month is waived if the trader generates at least $150 of commission in a month. The $22 monthly GST fee for ASX data is waived if the trader generates at least $50 of commission in a month. Finally, the Premier account requires a minimum deposit of $50,000. A brokerage fee of 0.08% of trade size is charged, with no minimum flat fee. Overnight financing is at RBA + 3.5%, and the $55 GST fee per month is waived unconditionally.

Share traders are offered a choice between two account types: a Standard account or a Non Leverage CFD account. The Standard account charges commission at 0.11% of trade size, subject to a minimum trade fee of $14.95. Short selling is not allowed. There is no financing cost. The Non Leverage CFD account charges commission at 0.08% of trade size, with no minimum. Short selling is possible.

All accounts offer a minimum trade size of 1 micro-lot (0.01 full lots).

Scalping and hedging are allowed, and automated trading is possible. This combination of advantages is something that is increasingly hard to find.

There is a choice of trading platforms, with clients offered a choice between MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and the IRESS Trader platform.

Features

An extremely wide range of assets are available for trading, particularly individual shares. Over ten thousand shares may be traded, primarily those quoted on major global exchanges mostly within the U.S.A., Australia, Hong Kong, and the U.K.

Traders may trade Forex, indices and commodities as well as individual equities. The MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms will be more suitable for Forex / CFD traders while the IRESS platform will be most suitable for clients wishing to trade equities, although it is possible to trade all the instruments offered by FP Markets through IRESS.

Education

FP Markets offers an extensive education section on their site, including a selection of tutorials and webinars. And eBooks. Three separate specialized courses are offered for beginner, intermediate, and advanced traders. The courses are simply static texts covering some of the basics of trading. The video tutorials are mostly recorded weekly market analysis, which is disappointing. The selection of eBooks is a little better. However, the overall impression is of an Education section which was thrown together at low cost just for the sake of having it there. This is not necessarily a meaningful negative, as education is not a must-have from a Forex / CFDs broker. The website also includes a Research section, which includes a daily market report, an economic calendar, and little else.

Bonuses and Promotions

Bonuses and promotions include a 10% deposit bonus and a “refer a friend” bonus. There is also the possibility of favored clients securing a reimbursement for the fee charged for any VPS use.

Deposits/Withdrawals

Depositing funds into a FP Markets account is an easy and secure process. Both may be made using a few different methods, including credit cards, debit cards, bank transfer, Neteller, FasaPay, Online Pay, POLi, PaySec and Skrill. Withdrawals are generally made through the same channel that deposits have been made through. FP Markets add no charges of their own to any fees which may be charged by such payment processors.

Customer Support

Customer support is based in Sydney, Beijing and Shanghai, offering business hours support in a range of languages.

Conclusion

FP Markets has a well-rounded and professional offering for traders looking to trade a very wide range of assets in the form of CFDs, particularly in Forex, by use of an ECN/STP execution model. FP Markets could be an especially attractive broker for clients with relatively small deposit size who wish to benefit from ECN execution and a low spreads / commissions model. Higher-volume traders may negotiate volume-based commission discounts.

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Features

In terms of features, the stand-out strengths of FP Markets offering are:

• An incredibly wide range of instruments available for trading: over ten thousand instruments across the asset classes of Forex currency pairs, global equity indices, gold, silver, crude oil, and individual stocks and shares. The vast majority of the offering is in individual stocks & shares.
• Competitive spreads for larger depositors.
• ECN/STP execution model.
• Maximum leverage as high as 500 to 1.
• Choice of Swap-Free account types (Islamic account).
• Regulated by a major industry center (ASIC).
• FP Markets is a well-established firm with a reputation earned reputation to protect.

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Platform

MetaTrader4

The MetaTrader 4 is an independent trading platform, developed for trading FX, commodities and other products and is one of the most advanced and easy platforms to use. It remains the gold standard of trading platforms.

In addition to the wide range of markets available to trade, the MT4 platform provides traders with a multilingual interface, instant execution, built in help guides for MT4 and MetaQuotes Language 4, a complete technical analysis package including a wide range of in-built indicators and charting tools, various custom indicators and time periods and more.

Automated trading is also offered through the MetaTrader 4 platform where traders can create and test their automated trading strategies by using the MetaEditor, Strategy Tester and Compiler tools within the MT4 platform.

With this automated trading system clients may create Expert Advisors, software programs enabling traders to constantly monitor the markets. Custom Indicators help traders to predict future price movements by analyzing past and current price information. And the Scripts feature gives traders the opportunity to set up an automatic repetition of specific operations such as closing all positions with a single keystroke.

MetaTrader Mobile

The MetaTrader 4 and platform apps can be used on iPhones, iPads, Multi-Terminal, and all Android devices.

MetaTrader 5

Traders may use MetaTrader 5 as an application or as a web-based browser, the cutting-edge improved trading platform. The MetaTrader5 offers increased work speed, powerful programming environment MQL-5, enhanced security and data encryption, advanced technical analyses, the ability to buy Stop Limit and Sell Stop Limit deferred orders and more.

MetaTrader Mobile

The MetaTrader 5 platform application can be used on iPhones, iPads, Multi-Terminal, and all Android devices.

IRESS

In early 2017 IRESS launched its upgrade to the Iress trader platform built on efficient HTML5 code. The new platform provides multi-product execution and access to level 2 exchange data as standard. The new fluid and intuitive interface design coupled with major upgrades to charting and analytic tools cements Viewpoint as the future of trading systems. The platform is most suited to trading equities.

Key Features:

HTML 5 technology supported on all major web browsers

Compatible for Windows or MAC

Real time, dynamic market data

High performing tools

Advanced charting

Module linking

Highly customizable interface

Intuitive and easy to use

 

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User Reviews

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