Fortrade Reviews – Will This Broker Meet Your Trading Needs?
In order to trade online, you need to partner with a broker that will provide you with direct access to a trading platform. Today, the market has thousands of brokers available, all offering a wide range of services, features and trading tools. There are also those brokers that are simply set up in order to scam people out of their hard earned cash, so it is vital for you to do your homework before signing up with a broker. In addition, it is recommended to fully understand the type of trader you are and your trading needs and, in this way, you will be able to partner with a broker that will provide all the features and tools that you will require to achieve your trading goals.
With this in mind, today we are going to be reviewing Fortrade, a forex and CFDs broker that was established in 2013. Based in the United Kingdom, Fortrade’s mission is to provide their global clients with a user-friendly trading environment that caters to both new and advanced traders. They also strive to operate with integrity and transparency and to provide their traders with access to a wide range of assets to trade.
So, let us take a look if Fortrade lives up to their mission.
First Impressions
From the moment we entered the Fortrade website, we were a little bit overwhelmed! As you scroll down the page, you are bombarded with a lot of information and it took us quite a lot of time to make sense of all the little paragraphs of information. In comparison, you can take a look at Pepperstone or even EuropeFX and you will immediately see that these sites that are a lot more organized and easier to navigate. Fortrade seems to place a lot of emphasis on market analysis and this information can be found all over the site. While this is not necessarily a bad feature, for some traders, especially new ones, this could be overwhelming.
Despite this, Fortrade seems to offer a variety of services that will enable a trader to trade a wide range of assets. Let us dig a little deeper.
Fortrade Regulation
Signing up with a regulated broker is a necessity today and it ensures the safety of your personal and financial information. Fortrade is regulated by three financial regulatory agencies, which include the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under registration number FRN: 609970, the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB) as well as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), under the registration number AFSL number: 493520.
A core benefit of a regulated broker is that the regulatory agencies help to ensure that Fortrade operates within their strict regulatory guidelines and with transparency. In addition, Fortrade is required to maintain their clients’ funds in segregated bank accounts and to undergo regular audits by an independent third party. In addition, the traders at Fortrade are also protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This means that should the broker face insolvency issues; a trader is then able to file a claim for compensation under the FSCS for a maximum amount of £50,000.
We definitely give Fortrade a star for their regulation but just to put it into perspective, there are many other brokers in the industry that are also regulated and provide a secure and transparent environment, such as EuropeFX, iTrader, 24Option and Pepperstone brokers. What we are saying is that you need to evaluate other features and services of a broker as well, since regulation is quickly becoming the norm in the industry.
Trading Platform
One of the most important features offered by any broker is the trading platform. It is from here that you will make your trades, so if the platform is very complicated and hard to understand, the broker is of no value to you.
Fortrade offers two main types of trading platforms, which include their in-house Fortrader platforms as well as MetaTrader 4 (MT4) trading platforms.
Fortrader Platforms
These platforms are available as web-based, on mobile or as a desktop client and they come with live price feeds, comprehensive price charts as well as a choice of trading indicators. From the web-based version of the Fortrader platform, you can access the platform with any compatible web browser and you do not need to download or install any software. While it is innovative that Fortrade has their own in-house platform, the fact is, most traders are used to using the more popular platforms, such as MetaTrader or WebTrader, as available at EuropeFX. Based on this, there is a learning curve when you trade with the Fortrader platforms.
MetaTrader 4 Platforms (MT4)
MetaTrader is the world’s most popular trading platform and most brokers in the industry offer this platform. The platform is highly customizable and it also has an advanced charting package with a wide choice of indicators. A popular feature of MT4 is that the platform supports automated trading with the use of Expert Advisors (EAs). On the Fortrade website, MT4 is available as a desktop client and as a web trader. In comparison, brokers such as Pepperstone also offer the latest MetaTrader platform, MT5.
Fortrade Mobile Trading
A great feature that Fortrade offers is mobile trading. This caters to the ever-increasing smartphone equipped trading community and their clients are able to access the MT4 and Fortrader platforms while on the go. In the same way that you can download the trading apps of other brokers, such as EuropeFX, you can download the Fortrade mobile trading apps free of charge at the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
Which Assets Can You Trade?
Fortrade offers a wide range of assets to trade. These include currencies, indices, stocks, precious metals, energy products, agriculture products, US treasuries and ETFs. While Fortrade does offer a big range of assets, they lack in cryptocurrency trading. For example, if you visit the Golden Markets site, you will see that they offer a number of cryptocurrencies to trade, including on Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dash, Ethereum, Golem, Monero, Ripple and Zcash. While this doesn’t mean that Fortrade is not a good broker, it simply means that if you prefer trading cryptos, you should review other broker sites, such as Golden Markets and even Pepperstone.
Cannabis stocks are also becoming a popular asset to trade and while Fortrade does not offer access to trading these stocks, brokers such as EuropeFX do. They offer access to trade GW Pharmaceuticals, AbbieVIe Inc., Insys Therapeutics Inc. and many more. What this means is that if these types of stocks are your preferred asset, maybe take the time to review the assets lists of the different brokers before you partner with a broker.
Account Types
The fact is, no two traders are the same and therefore, sometimes a trading account should be tailored to meet the different needs of different traders. Fortrade only offers one account type. Unfortunately, there is no information on the site as to what features are included in their account. In addition, while the minimum deposit requirement to open an account at Fortrade is just $100, the broker recommends that you deposit a minimum of $500. This is a lot of money, especially for a beginner trader. They also offer a swap free Islamic account to cater for their Muslim clients and no interest is imposed on overnight positions on this account type.
Now, in comparison, brokers such as Pepperstone and EuropeFX, offer a wide choice of account types and this is an excellent feature, as it caters to both new and advanced traders. These brokers also offer a professional account type for those traders who trade large volumes. The benefit here is that they get better leverage on their trades as well as many other perks.
We are not saying that Fortrade is inferior as a result of only offering one account type. Instead, what we are saying is that if you require specific features, it would make more sense to sign up with a broker that offers a trading account type that matches your needs.
Fortrade – Do They Offer a Demo Trading Account?
Fortrade does offer a demo trading account which is a big benefit since their trading platform is unique to this broker only. This gives traders the opportunity to test the platform before they commit to trade with real money. While this is a great feature, remember that many brokers, such as Pepperstone and EuropeFX, also offer demo trading accounts. Our suggestion is to take the time to learn more about the different brokers, test the platforms and then make your decision as to which broker you would like to partner with.
Banking Options
Your personal and financial information is sensitive and as such, it should always be protected by your broker. In addition, you need to be able to deposit and withdraw funds to and from your trading account with ease. Fortrade offers a choice of deposit options including credit cards, debit cards, bank transfers, Neteller and Skrill.
In terms of withdrawals, we were quite surprised that it took over two weeks for us to receive our funds, even though we had paid via a credit card. To be fair though, it does state on the Fortrade website that it can take up to 5 business days for a bank wire transfer to reach your account, while it takes up to 15 days for a credit or debit card withdrawal to reach your account. In comparison, when we requested a withdrawal from Pepperstone, the funds were reflecting in our credit card within 48 hours.
Remember that if it is important to you that you can access your trading capital or profits quickly, we recommend using a broker that processes withdrawal requests quickly.
Educational Resources
An important part of trading successfully is education so if your broker offers educational resources, it is a big plus. Fortrade offers a wide choice of trading resources including eBooks, webinars, trading courses, trading videos, advanced trading courses, access to trading strategies, trading from A to Z and much more. They also have an extensive market analysis section and they release morning and evening market analysis daily. There is also a weekly analysis section as well as a micro-analysis section which focuses on the fundamental and technical analysis of an asset. While analysis is an important part of trading successfully, we felt that a lot of this analysis was above our understanding and more suited to advanced traders.
Fortrade also offers access to Trading Central, which is a leading provider of real-time, comprehensive research and analysis. The technical analysis that is provided is based on information collected from a number of investment banks and asset managers. This is an added layer of technical analysis, which again will assist a trader to make better and more efficient trading decisions.
While the selection of trading materials available at Fortrade sounds impressive, we want to bring to your attention that most brokers today offer a wide choice of interesting and informative trading resources. For example, Pepperstone has an excellent section on their site that will help anyone learn how to trade forex. They also have a wide choice of trading guides which cover a wide range of very interesting topics, such as building a trading plan, how to trade CFDs, understanding trading psychology, the first rule of forex trading and much more. Also, brokers such as EuropeFX have an excellent trading blog that gives you the opportunity to read about a variety of topics, such as cryptocurrencies, stocks, commodities and much more. This is an excellent way to stay updated as to what is happening in the financial markets globally.
Final Words – Is Fortrade a Scam or a Legit Broker?
Fortrade is definitely not a scam broker. They are a legit broker that is regulated by well-known and well-respected global regulatory bodies. They offer a choice of trading platforms, a wide range of assets to trade as well as access to a comprehensive education center. Their customer support is also very good and when we called, the support agent was helpful.
While we acknowledge that Fortrade offers a choice of different services, features and tools, as we saw during the review, there are many other brokers that offer different, and in some cases, better features and tools, such as in the case of Pepperstone, EuropeFX and Golden Markets. Take the time to investigate each broker and then select one based on your trading preferences and your trading goals. Once you are ready, signup and step into the trading arena and make your trade.
Overall Rating: 7.5/10