FXCM Review

Steven Hatzakis
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high gamble of losing money quickly ascribable to leverage. Between 74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high hazard of losing your money. This content is intended for information and educational purposes only and should not be considered investing advice or investment recommendation.

For traders who appreciate advanced deal tools and quality commercialize research, FXCM is a winner – particularly for algorithmic deal. Though its range of tradeable markets is growing, it remains fairly narrow, and the price at FXCM is barely average .

• Minimum Deposit:
  Starts from $50
• Trust Score:
  96
• Tradeable Symbols (Total) :
  276

FXCM pros & cons

thumb_up_off_alt Pros

• Founded in 1999, FXCM Group (FXCM) is a Leucadia Company, which falls under the arm of Jefferies Financial (NYSE: JEF).
• FXCM is regulated in three tier-1 jurisdictions, making it a safe broker (low-risk) for trading forex and CFDs.
• In our testing, FXCM earned Best in Class (top 7) for its Platforms and Tools, Education, Professional Trading, Algorithmic Trading and Social Copy Trading. There’s no question; FXCM delivers in the areas important to traders.
• FXCM publishes detailed monthly execution reports highlighting slippage statistics and trade execution quality across all order types.
• In addition to the native Signals market on MetaTrader, FXCM offers the ZuluTrade platform for copy trading.
• FXCM is a leader in algorithmic trading solutions, whether you’re a beginner using Capitalise.io or an advanced coder using Python.

thumb_down_off_alt Cons

• Research and educational content are of good quality, but trails category leaders such as IG and Saxo Bank in terms of quantity and variety.
• FXCM offers a limited selection of CFDs, while access to its vast array of exchange-traded securities is segmented away in a different account and platform.
• Effective spreads (with commissions factored in) for forex and CFD trading are slightly higher than the industry average.
• Although a wide variety of third-party platforms are supported for algorithmic trading, MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is not available at FXCM.

Overall summary

Is FXCM safe?

help
96

Trust Score
FXCM is considered low-risk, with an overall Trust Score of 96 out of 99. FXCM ‘s parent company is publicly traded, does not operate a depository financial institution, and is authorised by three tier-1 regulators ( eminent trust ), three tier-2 regulators ( average entrust ), and zero tier-3 regulators ( low reliance ). FXCM is authorised by the follow tier-1 regulators : australian Securities & Investment Commission ( ASIC ), Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA ), and via Friedberg Direct, with the investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada ( IIROC ). Learn more about Trust Score .

Regulations Comparison

Offering of investments

The range of products available to you will depend on which global entity under the FXCM Group houses your trade explanation. In addition to a growing choice of about 300 CFDs that includes fractional shares and 42 forex pairs, FXCM offers exchange-traded securities across 43 exchanges in Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region. The following table summarizes the different investment products available to FXCM clients .
Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrency trade is available at FXCM through CFDs, but not available through trading the underlie asset ( e.g. buying Bitcoin ). note : Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broke ‘s U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents .

FXCM offering of investments:

Commissions and fees

FXCM ’ s pricing for forex trade is slightly higher than the industry average .
Standard account spreads: Using the time-weighted average tradeable prices from April 1, 2020, to June 30, 2020, all-in spreads on the EUR/USD at FXCM were 1.4 pips, which is higher than the industry average ( although it is worth noting that Q2 2020 saw more volatility due to the coronavirus ’ impingement on markets ) .
Active trader discounts: FXCM ’ s Active Trader Rebate Program ( not available in the U.K. or EU ) has five tiers. Depending on the grade, traders can receive a rebate ranging from $ 5 per million traded ( Tier One ) to angstrom a lot as $ 25 per million traded ( Tier Five ). It ’ second well, but not great – Tickmill and FP Markets offer far more competitive pricing for active traders. For exemplar, FXCM ’ s commission-based pricing has depleted underlying spreads of 0.2 pips during point hours ( using Q2 2020 data for the EUR/USD ), so far the effective go around is closer to 1.1 pips after including the commission-equivalent of $ 0.90 per miniskirt bunch .
Active Trader requirements: The requirements for each tier may vary depending on which FXCM Group entity you use. In the U.K., for case, a $ 25,000 account balance with at least $ 50 million ( or 500 lots ) of monthly volume will see the commission per english drop to $ 3 ( $ 6 round-turn ). This brings the effective banquet to 0.8 pips, based on an average core monetary value of 0.2 pips ( using Q2 2021 datum for the EUR/USD ). Above $ 150 million in monthly bulk, commissions drop slightly to $ 5 per cycle turn, which would bring the effective spread to 0.7 pips in the above exercise. Deeper discounts are available if you trade over $ 500 million per calendar month at FXCM .
Execution methods via order type: FXCM offers “ At Market ” orders, which have the electric potential for slippage, and “ Market Range ” orders, which are less likely to experience slippage but can be rejected if the request monetary value or price range is no longer available. Likewise, specify orders are more probable to experience positive slippage. I found the ability to select execution type by order to be more golden than having the execution method separated by report type like FxPro does .
Other notes: FXCM publishes detailed monthly execution statistics, showing the share of orders filled with convinced or minus slippage across its offered order types. Through the 8 months ending August 31, 2021, FXCM delivered median price improvements on at least 23.78 % of orders executed each calendar month, compared to negative slippage on fair 12.69 % of full orders. The remaining 63.54 % of monthly orders experienced zero slippage. According to its spread doodad, the effective spreads at FXCM on the EUR/USD in August 2020 are closer to 1 worst than the expose price. This effective unfold is due to the likelihood of price improvements ( primarily on its terminus ad quem orders ) .

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FXCM pricing summary:

Mobile trading apps

Thanks to its compound offer of both Trading Station and MetaTrader 4 ( MT4 ), FXCM delivers a authentic, feature-rich mobile have for forex traders .
Apps overview: FXCM doesn ’ metric ton offer the MetaTrader 5 ( MT5 ) platform, but the broke makes up for that shortcoming with its wide support for third-party algorithmic trade platforms .
Ease of use: Though the trade Station mobile app may appear to lack an official watchlist routine, it ’ south worth noting that traders can select instruments for display, and that these instruments will sync across devices and platforms. besides, the app includes a comprehensive trade ticket, which offers advanced order types such as one-cancels-other ( OCO ) orders .
Charting: With closely 60 indicators and multiple draw tools, charting in the FXCM mobile app is a pleasure. Trendlines can be drawn with preciseness thanks to a overstate glass feature of speech that auto-zooms while dragging the trendline into position .

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FXCM mobile trading:

Other trading platforms

With its wide range of available platforms and deep propose of trading tools, FXCM has set the bar high and competes among the best brokers in the diligence. Whether you are a founder or an advance algorithmic trader, FXCM has plenty of options, and as a result FXCM finished Best in Class, Platforms and Tools in our 2022 Review. Whether you are a founder or an progress algorithmic trader, FXCM has enough of options .
Platforms overview: FXCM ’ mho platforms include its proprietorship trade Station platform, MetaTrader 4 ( MT4 ), TradingView, and NinjaTrader 8 – all of which subscribe algorithmic deal. FXCM besides offers ZuluTrade for social copy trade and Trader Workstation, powered by Interactive Brokers, for stocks .
Charting: FXCM ’ s flagship trade platform, Trading Station, caters to forex traders of all skill levels. One highlight is the Marketscope 2.0 charting cock, which is a mighty graph package that runs latitude to the independent platform window. deal station is a feasible rival to MetaTrader, and features complex back-testing options such as the ability to account for likely historic slippage and deal costs .
Trading tools: The web version of Trading Station comes with a respectable array of features wrapped in a responsive and modern design. I found the platform to be full-bodied with options, with news program headlines, videos, research, signals, and analysis from Trading Central, along with links to external resources. Trading Station ’ s network adaptation provides 55 charting indicators ( about ampere many as the background version ) and its 26 drawing tools are generally comfortable to use. There are flush seven predefined layouts to choose from, such as the News Trader composition .
NinjaTrader desktop: It ’ s deserving noting that the latest version of NinjaTrader ( version eight ) for desktop is available at FXCM. The chopine features numerous trade tools, automated trade capabilities, and the ability to create trading strategies and indicators from scribble using NinjaScripts. Similar to the MetaTrader platform, NinjaTrader users can either make their own or choose from over 1,000 NinjaScripts developed by third parties. NinjaTrader besides has a market replay and analyzer tool, aboard over 150 default indicators .
Algorithmic trading: The FXCM App store provides assorted add-ons, technical indicators, and automated trading robots. FXCM supports a wide array of specialization platforms, including QuantConnect, MotiveWave, AlgoTerminal, AgendaTrader, Sierra Chart, NeuroShell Trader, StrategyQuant, Capitalise, and the Seer trade Platform for algorithmic trade. There is besides a dedicate technical support team to assist traders in developing their MT4 Expert Advisors ( EAs ) .

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FXCM trading platform:

Market research

FXCM provides a goodly variety of market inquiry from a combination of in-house capacity and third-party materials. overall, FXCM ’ s inquiry is a touch above the industry average and will satisfy most forex traders, though it ’ s not as full-bodied or divers as what ’ south offered by the best brokers in this class .
Research overview: FXCM ’ s inquiry tools include premium message from Trading Central, news program headlines from Investing.com and FxStreet, and a marketplace screener tool on FXCM ’ s web site. There is besides premium content available from eFX Data, which I found to be a reservoir for high-quality commercialize psychoanalysis. ultimately, FXCM Plus provides signals and trade ideas powered by Trading Central, alongside Autochartist which is available as an index from the FXCM app store .
Market news and analysis: FXCM produces a casual Snapshot video recording series on its YouTube distribution channel that features market coverage from its in-house analysts. There is besides the recently launched FXCM Market Talk podcast, and daily articles as part of its Market News section. I found the Insights department fat, yet more focus on educational content than up-to-the-minute market developments .
If you reside in the EU: Some of FXCM ’ s research services and content are not available to EU residents, such as its Insights in-house inquiry ( for example, trading signals, live online classroom, SMS deal alerts, video library, and craft volatility tool ) .

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FXCM research:

Education

FXCM ’ s in-house education is above average, and primarily takes the phase of articles, videos, and subject produced for its YouTube Channel .
Learning center: FXCM ’ s diverse stove of written content includes two comprehensive guides, ampere well as a huge library of articles ( about 200 in full ) that cover topics like trade tips and strategies, charting, and indicators. It besides provides a choice of articles broken down by experience level, with options for novice, average, and advanced traders .
Room for improvement: FXCM ’ s video library has dozens of television, and has been updated to include implant capacity from its YouTube channel. That said, I ’ d like to see FXCM expand its educational video content beyond platform tutorials and archive webinars .
finally, some of FXCM ’ s educational capacity is only available if your libra exceeds certain minimum thresholds. While minimal balance requirements could incentivize some traders to utilize the educational resources, I think it ’ second better to make the contented release for all clients. motivation can alternatively be inspired by creating interactional courses that feature quizzes and incorporate build up tracking. It ’ second worth mentioning that — while your trade report balance must meet a doorsill to access certain educational subject — FXCM besides offers vouchers of up to $ 500 that you can use to buy apps from its Apps store .

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FXCM education:

Final thoughts

FXCM is an excellent choice for algorithmic forex traders thanks to its wide array of related chopine options that provide advance chart tools and patronize automated trade strategies .
FXCM is besides a great option for beginners, due to its wide image of educational materials and easy-to-use platforms, including its latest integration with TradingView .
For forex and CFDs trade, FXCM ranked Best in class in 2022 across multiple categories, including Platforms and Tools, Education and Professional Trading .

About FXCM

Since 1999, FXCM, besides known as Forex Capital Markets, has been a pioneer in developing online forex offerings for retail traders. With its headquarters in London, FXCM has grown to have multiple external offices and is licensed in several major regulative hub globally. With its exit from the U.S. marketplace in 2017, FXCM no long accepts U.S. clients. today, FXCM operates as a subsidiary company of Jefferies Financial Group Inc ( NYSE : JEF ), once known as Leucadia. Jefferies holds $ 53 billion in total assets as of its latest annual report for 2020. Read more on Wikipedia.

2022 Review Methodology

For our 2022 Forex Broker Review we assessed, rated, and ranked 39 international forex brokers over a three-month time period resulting in over 50,000 words of published research.

Each agent was graded on 113 different variables, including our proprietary Trust Score algorithm. This innovative score arrangement ranks the horizontal surface of trustworthiness for each agent based on factors such as licenses, regulation and corporate structure. Read about Trust Score here.

As depart of our annual follow-up summons, all brokers had the opportunity to provide updates and key milestones and dispatch an in-depth data profile, which we hand-checked for accuracy.

ultimately, our rigorous data validation march yields an error rate of less than .1 % each year, providing locate visitors with choice data they can trust. Learn more about how we test.

Forex Risk Disclaimer

There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities. With respect to margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives, and cryptocurrencies, there is considerable exposure to risk, including but not limited to, leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection and market volatility that may substantially affect the price, or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable, or that they will not result in losses.Learn more.

About the Author

Steven Hatzakis
Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance diligence. Steven is an active fintech and crypto diligence research worker and advises blockchain companies at the board grade. Over the by 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the external forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a register commodity futures representative .