Note that there is no Best Broker in general, But you need to find the best one suited your Trading Style and Strategy. For this reason, we have presented a detailed research on what a trader should consider before selecting a Forex Broker.
Key Considerations – How to Choose a Forex Broker
Some brokers may also have unfair spreads, hidden legal details, and fine print, or even just be outright frauds and scams. As important as a broker is, it is often very difficult to choose the right one for your investment. There are some factors to consider before making a choice. To choose the reliable broker for you, consider the following;
Regulation:
The implication of trading with an unregulated broker is that you will not be able to do anything if it turns out to be a scam. There are several regulatory bodies worldwide that regulate the activities of Forex brokers.
It is important that you look out for a broker that is registered and regulated by a strong regulated body. Some Brokers hold regulation with more than one securities.
Our recommended Regulated Bodies are;
- FCA (UK)
- CySEC (Cyprus)
- S. SEC, CFTC, NFA, NYSE (USA )
- Australia (ASIC)
- Mifid (Eurozone
- FSA and JSDA (Japan)
- FINMA (Switzerland )
Reputable brokerage services will always have suitable regulatory stamps, approvals, and other verifiable documents and pieces of evidence to indicate their compliance with proper regulations and laws. Make sure you start your financial trading with a highly regulated Broker.
Reputation and Years in Business
Simply, the longer the period the financial broker has been in service is the better for you since that pass the test of time that guaranty you of their service, and support. The reputation is a key feature to consider when picking your trading bridge, I mean your Broker.
You already know by this time that there is no perfect or so-called best Trading Broker. We do suggest you go through online-research as per our guideline about your possible broker.
Remember, when positive reviews outweigh negative reviews, the broker is the right fit and you can proceed to trade and trust your money security with them.
Headquarters Location
This Forex broker review also suggests that you find out where the broker is located. Usually, there should be an address at the bottom of the home page or the Contact Us page of the broker’s official website. Besides, the location of a particular broker can give you an idea of the level of regulation it gets. While some countries have strict regulatory compliance, others are just on paper.
Therefore it is advisable to choose a broker within reputed country monitor by a reputed regulator to avoid unnecessary frustrations.
In order to execute your trades, you must have a trading terminal connected with a broker’s server. While many platforms exist in the industry, by far the most common is Meta-trader 4 or MT4 in short. This trading terminal is used by over 85% of brokers, and dozens of reviews on the product exist that detail its functionality and flexibility. There are lots of free and paid indicators, scripts and Expert Advisor is found in the Industry for MT4 terminal.
However, it is far from the only solution, and you may find other options to be better suited to your needs. There are some other terminals like cTrader, NinjaTrader, among other.
Some brokerage firms may release proprietary software designed to function with their service, and this software often ends up performing better than anything else for that specific broker.
Mobile Terminal:
You should also have a strong mobile terminal to allow for advanced trading and management when not at home or near a computer. A smart investor has access to trading software on every piece of tech he or she owns, to allow for fast and reactionary trading as situations change throughout the day.
Web Trader:
Nowadays, The web trader is becoming more popular among the traders. The platform connects to the server through the web-browser.
There are some brokers that have their own proprietary trading platforms where you can actually carry out your trading activities.
Leverage
Leverage entails the loan that a broker gives to the investor. Forex Broker offers leverage from 1:1 to 1:3000 nowadays. Whilst leverage enables traders to magnify their profits on successful trades, it also magnifies losses on unsuccessful trades; meaning that it is possible to sustain significant losses, perhaps even the entire sum of your invested capital
As such, we urge all clients to adopt a prudent risk management strategy in accordance with their investment goals and level of trading experience.
Deposit and Withdrawal Methods
The ease of moving funds from points A to B is a major factor to consider. It is important that you check what payment options the broker offers and decide if they are convenient for you like Neteller, Skrill, Paypal, Bitcoin, Cards (Visa/Master Card), among others.
For withdrawal, it is required to use the same payment method that you made your deposit your fund with. In case of several payment methods used the most used one will be considered as the main payment option.
Furthermore, you must be sure that the payment method is supported in your country, whether there are payment charges and how much, and how long it takes for transactions to be completed.
Spreads, Commissions, and Fees
The dealing spreads that your account uses must be competitive if you’re to record long-term success in online trading. For every currency pair, there is a bid price and an offer price. The difference between these two is what we call the spread. Some brokers charge an additional fee or commission, apart from the fact that you trade on spreads, for every transaction you carry out.
Fixed Spread:
A fixed spread doesn’t change regardless of the direction of the market. It is the spread you’re offered that you pay. It is fixed by the broker and is not changed by trading conditions or market volatility. If you like some form of stability, this might just be something to look out for.
Floating Spread:
This is also called variable spread. Its value is determined by the changing value of ask and bid prices. This means that the spread you pay for a currency pair is not static. Each spread is dependent on supply, demand and the amount of total Forex traded.
Commission Fee:
This is the fee charged by the brokerage firm for trading transactions conducted on your behalf. The commission fee can either be a fixed fee regardless of the size of the transaction, or a relative fee that is determined by the size of the transaction. That is, while a fixed fee may be put at $1 dollar whether you’re trading $100 or $10,000, a relative fee means that you pay higher when your transaction is large.
You should look out for a broker that is transparent with this process and does not charge hidden fees.
Types of Accounts Offered
Basically, your tolerance for risk and invest amount would determine the type of Forex account you operate. There are three main types and each of them has its peculiar advantages and disadvantages. It is important that you look out for what accounts your potential broker offers and if they suit your trading preference.
Micro:
This is, perhaps, the most suitable account for beginners. You would only require 1,000 units of the base currency to make up a Forex micro lot. Here, you can also take advantage of leverage to increase your potential returns.
Mini:
This account allows you to trade in smaller lots. For most brokerage accounts, the sum is $10,000, just 10% of what the standard lot costs. Many brokers also offer such accounts especially because they want to provide a room for new traders who may be skeptical about trading full lots because of the intensive capital involved. You should know that because the risk is low, you will also yield low profit, $1 on every positive PIP movement.
Standard:
This is very common in Forex trading. It allows you to trade in excess of $100,000 per lot, using the standard lots of currency. But of course, you know you do not have to provide all of the $100,000. The principles of leverage and margin apply here, where a 50:1 leverage allows you to pay just 2% of the total trade as a deposit. A broker would normally offer more services to you if you have this account, but you should know that it is capital intensive.
Margin Requirements
I often tell people that transparency is key. You need to be told in clear terms what you’re getting into. I have already to you about margin and how a broker would need it to take care of potential losses. The requirement, however, varies from broker to broker. You need to know how much each broker requires, and what policies and guidelines they operate by to determine if you can cope with them.
Remember that Forex Traded in an international market, so you should be looking for international economic news. There are lots of global issues that affect the Market. Look out the informational facilities provided by your Broker this might includes Free Signals, Daily Market analysis, seminar, webinar and other trading resources.
We love the free stuff and gifts – Thus, Some of Forex Broker offers attractive bonuses, gifts, contest and freebies for their new and existing clients. Note, watch out the broker’s activity with our above guideline before going through the bonus.
No Deposit Bonus
A Free-Credit that offers to the new clients to start their trading without any invest thus no risk as well. It is a great way to test the broker’s platform and services. The bonus amount offers up to $100 USD, while some of the brokers allow withdrawing profits assets the terms of the promotion.
Deposit Bonus
A Bonus provides on client’s funding. Usually, the bonus offers in the percentage of the trader’s deposit amount.
Contest
Forex contest is a trading competition held among the traders with the equal conditions for all participant. The winners receive cash/tradable money and gifts as the prizes of the promotion.
Conclusion
This Forex brokers review has provided you with a comprehensive list of factors that will help you determine who the right broker is to transform your investments into super returns. We all know that Forex trading is a risk, but getting the right broker can help reduce that risk.