Just over a decade ago, financial market trading was all about a crowd of men packed onto a trading floor frantically waving their hands at each other and shouting out offers. However, those days are long gone. Today, the world’s stock and currency markets are dominated by online trading, which has completely revolutionized the way people make investments.
Central to this are the online forex brokers. These are companies that offer retail investors full exposure to the money markets by allowing them to trade electronically and to profit from the changes in the relative values of paired currencies. With the movements in the financial markets, and the wide choice of currencies to trade, investors worldwide are taking advantage of the many potentially profitable trading opportunities that online forex offers.
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Today, there are hundreds of online forex brokers but, as with any lucrative industry, there are many dishonest and scam brokers who are simply in business to steal from others. As a result, if you want to get in on the forex trading action, the first step is partnering with a reliable and reputable broker. You also need to ensure that the broker you sign up with offers the tools, services and features that match your trading needs and preferences.
If you are looking for a professional broker to help you achieve your trading goals, we will review three of the top forex brokers in the industry who are not only well-established businesses that operate with a high level of integrity, but also provide the best environment for you to learn and earn through trading forex online. These leading brokers include EuropeFX, iTrader and 24Option.
Choosing A Broker That Fits with Your Trading Strategy
With regards to online forex trading, it can be easy to overly focus on advertising and the marketing hype that is created by the many available forex brokers, instead of examining the specific factors that relate to your trading strategy. Similar to playing a game of chess, it is essential that you consider all the relevant pieces before you make your move. This is because, sooner rather than later, new traders come to realize that when it comes to trading over the long term, there are several important factors to be considered when looking for the best UK forex broker sites.
Testament to this fact are the many complaints you will find by traders on different online forums about how the brokers they chose have failed to live up to their expectations. What it all boils down to is taking the time to do your homework on a broker before signing up. It is important to examine the most vital factors as well as the terms and conditions that the broker works within. Take the time to check all the features and services they offer and if this fits your trading strategies. For example, if you enjoy trading major currency pairs, such as the EUR/USD pair, and the broker does not offer this asset, they are not the right match for you. The UK is not short of leading forex brokers, and this means that there is a broker out there that will meet your trading needs and preferences.
Insight into the Top Forex Brokers
Ownership and Regulation
If you want to trade forex online, the first step is signing up with a regulated broker. When a broker is regulated by one of the recognized regulatory bodies, such as CySEC (Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission), this ensures that they are operating within a fixed framework, proving transparent services and protecting the interests of its clients.
For the most part, when you trade forex with a regulated broker, you gain a level of assurance that your forex broker will not simply shut up shop and disappear one day, taking your hard earned cash with them. The majority of regulated brokers provide a custodial banking service that features segregated accounts. This means that your funds are kept in a different account from that which contains the broker’s own operating capital, allowing you to recover your money if the broker is forced to close down for any reason. In fact, segregated accounts are a legal requirement in certain jurisdictions such as the UK and Cyprus.
So, are our top forex brokers, EuropeFX, iTrader and 24Option, regulated?
EuropeFX is an established online forex broker that gives traders, from across the world, an excellent opportunity to trade forex and other financial investments within a secure and user-friendly environment. Founded in 2013 in Cyprus, the brokerage is owned by Maxiflex Global Investments Corp Limited. The broker is subject to Cypriot government regulation, with Maxiflex Global holding license number 258/14 from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
Another trusted broker that is licensed and headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus is iTrader. The broker is a brand that is owned and operated by Hoch Capital Ltd. Hoch Capital is licensed by CySEC as well, holding license number 198/13. CySEC regulation means that both iTrader and EuropeFX can provide their services to nearly all countries in the European Union.
24Option is, without a doubt, one of the oldest and most trusted names in the online brokerage business today. This premiere broker is operated by financial services company Rodeler Limited. It is also licensed and regulated by CySEC under license number 207/13, which the company obtained in July 2013. In addition, the broker has additional licenses in the UK, Germany, Italy and Belize.
What Do the Best Forex Brokers Offer?
Powerful and Intuitive Trading Platforms
Continuous software advancement is certainly one of the key benefits of online forex trading. In the world of online forex trading, the majority of your trading activity will take place via the broker’s trading platform. What this means is that you should select a broker that offers a stable and user-friendly trading system.
Before you settle on a forex broker, always try to find out exactly what their trading platform offers. Does it provide you with a free news feed? Are there easy-to-use charting and technical analysis tools? Does the software present trading signals and information in an intuitive manner that allows you to execute your trades properly? Is it easy to navigate the platform? Is the platform available on mobile to allow you to trade while on the go?
While many other forex, stock and commodities brokers continue to offer traders dated platforms, which were developed years ago, EuropeFX, iTrader and 24Option have been at the forefront of the adoption of the latest version of the popular online platform, MetaTrader 4 (MT4).
Each broker operates a personalized version of the software that provides traders with a unique but surprisingly user-friendly trading experience. The software’s interactive charts, extensive range of analytical functions and constantly updated market quotes ensures that traders are always able to quickly respond to market movements. Being able to access so many analytical tools and price charts also means that traders signed up to any of these brokers are well placed to make well-informed forex trading decisions.
For traders signed up to 24Option or Europe FX, who want to access more trading features that may be available on MT4, there are alternative options. 24Option also has its own proprietary trading software known as Scipio, while EuropeFX offers a cloud-based algorithmic trading platform known as TradeWorks.
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Assets to Trade
Although forex still remains the most popularly traded of all financial instruments, not everyone strictly trades currencies. There are traders that may prefer to put their money on stocks, futures, CFDs, precious metals or futures, commodities, cryptocurrencies, among other assets. The choice is not always solely based on an individual trader’s preferred instrument but could also be handy if a trader needs to hedge their forex trade against another instrument as a way of mitigating any potential losses.
A forex broker that provides access to a wide range of assets is usually preferred, although the final choice really comes down to your own strategy as a trader. Still, if a broker is able to offer traders a wide range of tradeable assets, then it is a clear indication of their access to a wide range of markets, and probably also means that they have undergone different authentication procedures from liquidity providers in order to obtain price feeds for different assets. Overall, diversity of assets can indicate to you just how much the broker is willing to invest in the products they offer in order to satisfy traders.
iTrader, 24Option and EuropeFX all feature a comprehensive array of financial instruments and assets on which investors can place their trades. In total, they boast hundreds of the most sought-after financial assets that include forex, CFDs, stocks, indices, commodities and even, cryptocurrencies. The forex options at each broker includes a wide choice of major, minor and exotic currency pairs as well as a choice of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple.
Education Center
The world of forex trading can be confusing and intimidating, particularly to a beginner. The many definitions, complicated concepts and complex graphs often discourage potential traders. However, EuropeFX, iTrader and 24Option offer access to comprehensive education centers on their respective websites, which help beginners grasp the basics and assist more experienced traders to learn advanced techniques and strategies.
These education centers are chock-full of tutorials, e-books, videos, webinars and many other training materials to help traders expand their knowledge. What’s more, 24Option also maintains a blog that is constantly updated with the latest market news that may affect the values of various assets in the market. All the brokers also provide a detailed FAQs section on their sites, which address all the major question regarding forex trading.
Everything you need to trade forex effectively can be found at 24Option, iTrader or EuropeFX.
Banking
These trusted forex brokers understand that, for traders to carry out their transactions seamlessly and profitably, they need to be able to fund their accounts with a minimum of hassle. It should also be easy for them to withdraw their earnings at any time they need to. For this reason, they offer a wide array of secure and simple deposit and withdrawal options, which includemajor credit and debit cards, bank transfers and multiple e-wallet methods, such a Neteller, Skrill and Astropay.
Other banking features include:
- EuropeFX: Instant deposits and a minimum deposit requirement of only €200. Withdrawals take up to 24 hours to be completed once the identification.
- iTrader: Provides instant deposits with credit cards and e-wallets, though deposits via bank wire may take at least 3 days to clear.The broker has a minimum.
- 24Option: Instant deposits with a minimum deposit requirement of €250. The minimum amount that can be withdrawn is €100.
Best Trading Platforms UK
It goes without saying that selecting the best trading platforms in the UK to trade with is just as vital as choosing the right broker. Having a broker with a trading platform that doesn’t meet all your needs is certainly not optimal. The vast majority of brokers today offer platforms powered by MetaTrader and is world famous for their award winning MT4 platform. MT4 is considered by most professional traders to be the best trading platform ever. So, before you start investing, be sure to take a quick tour of the broker’s trading platforms.
Transaction Costs
No matter your style or strategy of currency trading, you will almost always have to pay some amount of money in transaction costs. This is because each time you enter a forex trade, you have to pay for either the spread or pay a commission. For this reason, it should be a no-brainer that you should seek out the broker with the most affordable rates.
However, there may be times when you will have to sacrifice low fees for a slightly costlier but more reliable and reputable broker. Ensure that you know whether your trading strategy will require tight spreads and use the information to review the options available to you. It is all about striking the right balance between security and reliability, as well as costs of trading.
Trade Execution
It is obligatory for your broker to fill your orders at the best available price, always. During normal forex market conditions (that is, liquidity is normal, no surprise events and no major news releases), there should be no excuse for your broker not to fill your order at – or extremely close to – the market price indicated when you hit “buy” or “sell.”
For instance, if we assume that your Internet connection is fast and stable, if you hit the “Buy” button for the EUR/USD pair at 1.3000, then your broker should fill you at exactly that price or at a price within micro-pips of 1.3000. The speed of execution of your orders is vital, particularly if you are using a scalping strategy.
Getting your order filled at a different price from that indicated can make it more difficult to win on a trade. Many top UK forex brokers offer powerful trading platforms that execute trades at lightning speed.
Trading Conditions and Spreads
Once you have narrowed your search down to just a few brokers who provide the assets you would like to trade, you need to look at the spreads and trading conditions to be sure that they tie into your strategy and goals. When it comes to forex trading conditions, some of the most important aspects you need to look at include overnight swap charges, as well as the broker’s commissions and spreads.
Although many forex traders tend to overlook these factors, they play a big role if you are going to be a serious trader. It will not help your overall performance if your success in analysis and trading is wiped out by expensive overnight swaps.
There are many websites available which let you compare trading conditions and spreads offered by different brokers. However, it also helps if you can examine different forex brokers individually in order to make your own personal assessment.
Customer Service
No broker offers a perfect and completely problem-free service, so it is vital that you select a broker who can be reached easily when trouble arises. The competence of a broker in handling technical support or account issues is as important as their speed and performance in executing your trades.
EuropeFX, iTrader and 24Option are well known for their high standard of customer support and for how seriously they take the welfare of their clients. The support team can be reached via email, live chat, social links, WhatsApp and phone. Particular features of customer support for each broker include:
- EuropeFX: Also includes Viber as a contact option and has 8 different country phone numbers listed. The site is also available in German, Italian, Swedish and Dutch.
- iTrader: Features more than 10 localized phone numbers and its website is available in Arabic, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish.
- 24Option: It has an interactive map on its contact page that lets traders search for the telephone and email contacts of the office closest to them. Their site is also available in Spanish, Arabic and Russian.
No matter how good the conditions a broker provides, how low their spreads are or how quickly they execute trades, if there is insufficient, quality customer support, it may be almost impossible to trade. The broker’s customer support is something that the majority of traders ignore until a point where they require urgent assistance.
Always ensure that the broker you have registered with provides you with both an account manager who can be reached throughout trading hours and a point of contact in case of any technical issues you may need resolved. Keep in mind that 24/5 customer support is the standard for top forex brokers, as well as extra support tools including tutorials and learning materials.
Forex Brokers UK – The Best of the Best
Online forex brokerages have made such huge advances over the past few years that, at first glance, you may be hard pressed to notice any differences between them. However, learning to identify the small nuances that differentiate them is the key to finding the one that best suits you and your trading strategy.
The key elements mentioned in this review are just some of the considerations you need to go over before choosing the online broker that is right for you. The online retail forex market is highly competitive, and choosing the best broker is a task that could be overwhelming if you do not know exactly what to look out for.
EuropeFX, iTrader and 24Option are among the top forex brokers UK traders can sign up to. They are not only highly professional and reputable, but they offer a range of sophisticated trading tools and services that cater to both new and experienced traders.
The MetaTrader4 platform that they use is simple enough for beginners to learn the ropes, but yet powerful enough for more experienced traders to take advantage of. In addition, the banking options are extensive, and the brokers offer exceptional and highly responsive customer care. Best of all, and what makes them three of the most trusted forex brokers, is that they are regulated by CySEC and other European regulatory authorities.
All in all, they are an excellent starting point for your forex trading journey.
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