FP MARKETS review

On-line since: 2005
Country of origin: Australia
Regulation: ASIC
Payment options: bank wire, credit cards, China Union Pay, BPAY, Neteller, money transfers from other brokers
Minimum account size: $200
Minimum lot size: 0.01 lot
Leverage: to 1:500
Spreads: from 0 pips

About the company:

FP MARKETS (FPM) has been operating for more than 10 years. The company provides CFDs and currencies for trading as well as direct access to the market (DMA).

Company. Security of funds

First Prudential Markets Pty Ltd. manages the brand of FP MARKETS. It is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

ASIC requires licensed companies to follow certain rules. Clients' funds should be kept in segregated accounts. As for the minimum capital, forex brokers should have at least $1 million to prove their stable financial position. For comparison, the British FCA demands that forex brokers hold no less than 730,000 euros; and CySEC of Cyprus, 1 million euros.

However, in contrast to many brokers based in the EU, the Australian companies do not participate in investor compensation programs.

Trading terms

Accounts offered by the company are divided into Forex and CFD trading.

Clients of FP MARKETS can choose between two types of real forex accounts: Standard without commission and Row with commission and lower spreads.

Micro lots are available for trading on both account types. The broker also provides customers with free demo accounts, which are always in demand by beginners.

Trading CFDs, clients can choose one of the following accounts: Professional, Platinum, Premier.

Minimum deposit

Traders are required to make a deposit of $200 to open an account in FP MARKETS-Forex. It is a relatively low deposit in the industry. However, there are brokers that demand only $1.

It is necessary to deposit at least $1,000 to trade in FP MARKETS-CFD.

Spreads and commissions

FP MARKETS offers variable spreads: 1.45 on Row accounts; 0.45 pips on EUR/USD on ECN accounts. Given that the commission of $3.5 per standard lot is charged on the Row account, trading costs of such holders are about 1.2 points. Therefore, typical spreads on both account types are lower than 1.5 pips and considered average.

Leverage

FP MARKETS’s customers can use a leverage of up to 1:500, and such maximum leverage level is considered high. Some regulators limit the leverage size to a level significantly lower than this one (for example, 1:50 in the US).

Most brokers usually offer a leverage of up to 1:200 or 1:400. However, if you need a higher leverage, many brokers provide leverage rates, equal or greater than 1:500.

Trading platforms

FP MARKETS provides its clients with two trading platforms: MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and its own IRESSTrader specialized in CFD trading.

MT4 is the most widely used forex platform, which is available on PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad and Android. MT4 features all the necessary instruments and resources for traders: a set of technical indicators, an extended chart pack, extensive testing environment and a wide range of expert advisors. Advisors let you completely automate trading.

If you work with expert advisors, it is important that your platform is connected to the Internet 24 hours a day. In this case, it is better to use VPS hosting, which connects traders to the Equinix NY4 network using advanced technologies and provides excellent execution of all orders.

Moreover, MT4 features MAM/PAMM accounts. MetaFX developed a stand-alone console to help accounts' assistants to manage trading. The suggested MAM and PAMM accounts are easy to be set up and user friendly.

As for FP Markets' own IRESSTrader platform, it provides its customers with access to CFD on the DMA technology with a wide range of account types, stop losses, news channels, international data and charting.

IRESSTrader is a web platform, the access to which you can gain through any PC or even a mobile device.

Support services

You can consult a specialist by email, chat, or telephone.

The website is translated into Russian; however, newsletters and analytical data are not available in the Russian language. The company has Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts.

Payment options

FP MARKETS offers different ways of making deposits and withdrawing: through credit/debit card, bank wire, BPAY, Neteller, Skrill, and China UnionPay.

Depending on the deposit method, customers can use the following currencies: AUD, USD, SGD, CHF, GBP, CAD, HKD, JPY, EUR and NZD.

Advantages:

• regulated broker;
• high leverage level;
• a wide range of trading accounts.

Disadvantages:

• no Islamic accounts.