Here Are the 9 Pros and Cons

ActivTrades Fact sheet

Everyone can agree that the most important aspect to look for in a broker is safety and security. What guarantees the safety of your hard-earned money? There are a couple of indications that can tell whether your broker can be trusted or not.

The first and foremost indication is tight regulations. ActivTrades is tightly regulated by:

• Financial Conduct Authority of the UK (FCA).
• The Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) in Luxembourg.
• The Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB).

Top-tier regulators like FCA and CSSF have strict licensing requirements in place to protect your interests. For instance, regulations make brokers fully disclose risks associated with trading to their clients. In addition, money withdrawal requests get processed instantly and that can save a lot of time and energy. 

What’s more, ActivTrades offers protection from your balance going into a negative and offers segregated accounts and account insurance. 

Policies that ActivTrades follows

ActivTrades provides negative balance protection by activating automatic margin Stop Out on your account. Stop Out levels differ from account type to account type and from broker to broker. ActivTrades uses a 50% Stop Out level and as an added bonus, the broker promises to roll your account back to a zero balance if the trading account goes negative.

Moreover, ActivTrades keeps clients’ funds in segregated accounts. When traders fund their live accounts, money must go from their bank account to somewhere. Most low-trust brokers mix these funds with the company's own funds, making these funds easily accessible for themselves. By placing deposits in segregated accounts, traders get more protection.

Furthermore, the broker provides insurance for client funds if there is an insolvency event. All clients with an excess of $10,000 and up to a million dollars on segregated accounts are ensured by the broker. 

ActivTrades offers more than 1,100 tradable instruments from various asset classes. Including Forex pairs, indices, commodities, ETFs, and over 1,000 Stock CFDs.

Most of the offered portfolio consists of CFDs. CFDs are Contract For Difference and trading these asset classes can give you a number of advantages compared to trading actual assets.

The advantages of trading CFDs are:

• High liquidity. For instance, you can buy and sell gold CFDs more easily than actual gold. As a result, you will experience lower spreads and faster execution. 
• CFDs give you the ability to benefit from the price moving in both directions, be it upward or downward. 
• Low fees for short-term trading.

On the downside, it should be noted that CFDs don’t make good long-term investments due to high fees. 

Forex trading on ActivTrades

Initially, ActivTrades started out as an FX broker and only later expanded its asset offerings to stock CFDs, commodities, indices, etc. 

As of today, the broker offers 50 available Forex pairs including: 

• Majors (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/CAD, CAD/JPY, GBP/CAD, etc.) - spreads start from as low as 0.5 pips.
• Minors (AUD/USD, NZD/CAD, NZD/USD, AUD/CAD, EUR/AUD, etc.) - spreads start from as low as 0.6 pips. 
• Exotics (EUR/NOK, USD/MXN, USD/PLN, USD/ZAR, etc) - spreads start from 5.9 pips. 

In general, spreads are less tight for exotic currency pairs due to low liquidity. Exotic pairs are characterized by high volatility and increased risks. Novice traders prefer trading major and minor pairs. 

In addition, the spreads are very reasonable, considering there’s no commission charged by this broker.

The leverage offered by ActivTrades is up to 200:1. Keep in mind that choosing high leverage can make you vulnerable to high volatility. Leverage is a double-edged sword and it can either increase your profits or losses.

Stock CFD trading on ActivTrades

As already mentioned, there are certain advantages and disadvantages to trading stock CFDs. ActivTrades offers access to US, UK, and European stock CFDs.

Leveraged stock CFD trading brings additional fees to the table. Such as: 

• 1 Euro/month market data charge for American and all European markets. 
• Commission: $0.02 per US share, $0.1 per UK share, and $0.01 per European share.
• The minimum charge for US stock CFDs is $1. Similarly 1 GBP for UK stocks and 1 Euro for European ones.

Indices trading on ActivTrades

Indices are index baskets of certain companies that measure their collective performance. With ActivTrades, you can trade GER40, UK100, USA500, USAIND, USATEC, and more. 

Indices not only show the collective health of an industry or country’s economy, but they are also widely traded in financial markets as CFDs. 

What’s more, even if you don’t plan to trade indexes, it’s nice to have them on your watchlist. Stock traders use certain indexes as indicators for technical analysis. As for FX traders, certain indexes can help predict the strength of currencies. 

For example, if the GER40 (measures performance of top 40 German companies) index is in a downtrend, this might be followed by the Euro losing its strength. 

Spreads for trading indices start from as low as 0.23 pips. Let it be noted that the 0.23 is just a broker markup and in live trading conditions, spreads can be increased by low liquidity. 

Commodity CFD trading on ActivTrades

Commodities are raw materials. Later commodities are transformed into consumer goods. In general, commodities are viewed as immune to inflation and their prices are mainly influenced by supply and demand. There are various ways you can invest in commodities:

• Buy commodities or commodity CFDs.
• Invest in companies that mine or grow commodities.

ActivTrades provides access to 18 commodities and commodity futures, such as COCOA, COPPER, NGAS, DIESEL, CORN, COTTON, etc. Spreads for crude oil and Brent oil start from 0.03 pips (in points). 

Crypto CFD trading on ActivTrades

Cryptocurrencies have become very popular among financial speculators recently due to their high volatility. ActivTrades offers access to trading the 16 most popular crypto CFDs, including BTC/USD, ETH/USD, LTC/USD, BCH/USD, DOT/USD, EOS/USD, LINK/USD, XLM/USD, NEO/USD, ADA/USD, and DOGE/USD, etc.

By trading crypto CFDs instead of actual cryptocurrencies, you get a number of advantages. 

• ActivTrades charges no commissions for trading crypto CFDs. And spreads start from 0.002 pips.
• You can go long or short and benefit from the market moving in either direction.
• No risk of theft. You have no risks associated with storing actual cryptos. 
• Easy to cash out. Liquidity in the CFD market is higher, therefore cashing out is no problem. Moreover, you don’t have to worry about crypto wallets or look for crypto ATMs.

Provided leverage for trading crypto CFDs is up to 10:1, which is higher with this broker than what other brokers are offering. Most Forex brokers provide leverage of up to 5:1.

High leverage makes traders more exposed to the markets as it can increase profits and increase losses when the price goes against prediction. Ultimately, it’s better to give traders a choice and let them decide for themselves.

Brokers generally offer different types of accounts in order to meet the needs of various types of traders. 

In this regard, ActivTrades is an exception as the broker only offers 2 types of live accounts, one of which is an Islamic account. Most other brokers offer 3 or 4 different types of accounts and on top of that, Islamic versions for each. 

Pros & cons of ActivTrades account types

ActivTrades Demo Account

Demo trading comes with certain benefits for all sorts of traders. Novice traders use them to get familiar with using platforms, conduct technical analysis using indicators, and develop basic trading skills. Professional traders demo test new strategies and ideas before risking real money. 

One more use of trading on a demo account is to get used to a broker and its policies before entrusting your hard-earned money to them.

ActivTrades offers free Demo accounts for both Islamic and Individual account types. The platforms offered are MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and ActivTrader. 

Each account comes with a preselected amount of money. Namely $10,000. This practice is not common among other brokers. Usually, brokers let you choose your preferred amount since it’s only virtual money. 

ActivTrades Individual Account

As already mentioned, the broker only offers Individual and Islamic account types. The minimum initial deposit required to open the individual account is $1,000. Which is pretty high compared to other brokers. There are 4 account currencies you can choose from, USD, EUR, GBP, and CHF. If you use Euro on a daily basis, it’s better to choose EUR as an account currency to save on conversion fees when withdrawing or depositing money. 

As for the fees, as already mentioned the account has low fees. Spreads are starting from 0.5 pips on major pairs and no commission is charged. In addition, the broker has no inactivity fees or deposit and withdrawal fees, which makes ActiveTrades attractive. In addition, the leverage offered goes up to 200:1. Traders can choose between MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and ActivTraders platforms.

ActivTrades Islamic Accounts

In order to enable religious Muslim traders to place orders without going against the teachings of the Quran, ActivTrades offers a swap-free account type. 

The minimum initial deposit required for an Islamic account is $500. On the downside, traders do not have access to the ActivTrader software. Only MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 are available for this account.

In addition, MT4 only uses USD as an account currency. Whereas MT5 enables choosing between USD, EUR, GBP, and CHF account currencies.

As for the fees, the broker does not charge additional rollover commissions for contracts lasting longer than a day. What’s more, spreads for this account type are starting from 5 digits and leverage goes up to 200:1.

Getting started on ActivTrades - Main steps

The account opening process can be challenging for some traders, but there’s nothing to worry about. We’ll guide you through the entire process step by step in detail. The account opening is fully digital and the broker’s web page is user-friendly.

Step 1: Open an account

First things first! Go ahead and open the broker’s home page. In the top right corner, you’ll be able to see “Open an Account” in green. By clicking on that button, you’ll be sent to the application page. You’ll be asked to provide details about your income, employment status, trading experience, etc. The information helps the broker to provide offerings that best suit clients’ needs.

Step 2: Time to choose a platform and account currency

After providing your personal information, you’ll be able to choose trading software. There are 3 platforms to choose from.

• ActivTrader is a modern-looking software developed by the broker and offers access to all instruments including Forex, stocks, and more. 
• MetaTrader 4 is a widely used platform among Forex traders. The platform was developed by MetaQuotes in 2005 and is simpler to use than MT5. On the downside, the platform doesn’t offer access to stocks.
• MetaTrader 5 is very similar to MT4 and both provide the availability of using Expert Advisors to automate trading. The main difference is that MT5 offers access to various instruments, including FX pairs and stocks.

You will also be able to choose a trading account currency out of USD, EUR, GBP, and CHF offered. As already mentioned, choosing the currency you use the most can save you fees on conversion.

Step 3: It’s time for verification

After completing the previous steps, you will be sent to the verification page. You can skip the process and start funding your account right away, but it’s recommended to finish the verification first. Having a verified account gives you better access to your account and makes withdrawing money easier. 

Verification is easy since there is only proof of residence, an ID document, and a selfie required. You can upload a scanned copy of your documents or a digital photo taken by your smartphone. Just make sure the photo quality is high, with no shadows and light reflections. 

Step 4: Make your deposit

After your account has been approved by the broker and the verification process is completed, you’ll be able to deposit your first amount. As you already know, the minimum amount for an Individual account is $1,000. As for the swap-free accounts, the amount is $500.

Now let’s look at funding options and fees. Bank transfer and online wallet options include Neteller, Skrill, Sofort, and PayPal. These are not charged by the broker and the processing time takes up to 30 mins. On the downside, the debit/credit card funding method is charged a 1.5% fee.

As for the withdrawals, online wallets are free of charge and can take as little as a day to process if the request is made by 12:30 UK time. Keep in mind that the bank transfer withdrawal option will cost you 9 GBP.

Step 5: Start trading

The last step left is to start placing orders. Have you decided which assets you’re going to trade yet? Do you have a trading strategy? The real work is only beginning. 

Live trading can be a challenge due to the fact that it’s filled with real emotions such as greed, fear, hope, and more. By developing trading strategies that provide a trading edge and implementing risk management strategies, retail and institutional traders profit from the markets. Hard work and discipline are the two keys to becoming a successful trader.

Fees charged by ActivTrades are low compared to the industry average. Spreads start from as low as 0.5 pips on major pairs and there’s no commission charged. Spreads for minor pairs start from 0.6 pips.

Furthermore, the broker doesn’t charge clients inactivity fees or deposit and withdrawal fees. However, be informed that deposits made by debit/credit cards are charged a 1.5% fee and withdrawals through bank transfer are charged 9 GBP per request.

Comparing ActivTrades fees with other brokers

Low trading fees are one of the most important features when it comes to choosing your next broker. It’s safe to say that ActivTrades offers some of the best prices in the industry. 

In order to get a clearer idea, let’s compare ActivTrades' fees with other brokers.

ActivTrades fees compared to Interactive Brokers fees

*Inactivity fee was eliminated by IB in 2021, it used to be $20/m

ActivTrades fees compared to eToro fees

ActivTrades fees compared to IG fees

ActivTrades fees compared to XM fees

ActivTrades fees compared to AvaTrade fees

ActivTrades fees compared to Capital.com fees

The broker provides access to various platforms. Traders can choose from MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader5, and ActivTrader. All of these have their own unique characteristics, so let’s discuss them in detail to make choosing easier for you. 

MetaTrader 4 is a widely known trading platform used by Forex traders globally. The platform was released in 2005 and quickly gained popularity. As a result, you can find vast amounts of algorithms or Expert Advisors developed for this software. The EAs help to automate trading. 

MetaTrader 5 was released in 2010 and is based on the MetaTrader 4 platform. MT 5 is more complex and offers access to various asset classes such as FX pairs, commodities, indices, stocks, and more. Whereas MT4 is more dedicated to Forex trading. 

The ActivTrader platform was developed by the broker itself. The software gives access to all of the instruments offered by the company for trading. The platform is more modern looking than MT4 or MT5.

ActivTrades provides access to mobile trading through MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and the ActivTrader mobile app. All of the apps are accessible on App Store and on Google Play. In addition, ActivTrader offers a web trading option. 

Various trading apps increase connectivity between traders and financial markets. Mobile apps make trading on the go available. In addition, they help monitor your positions from anywhere on the globe where there’s an internet connection. 

Quality education is essential for every trader. Trading platforms are complex and there are an infinite number of trading strategies. Well-put-together educational material can speed up the learning curve. 

ActivTrades provides access to various educational materials including seminars, one on one training, webinars, a webinar archive, a trading glossary, educational videos, and educational manuals. Moreover, the broker provides an economic calendar and in-depth market analysis to its clients. 

The establishment and development of great customer relationships are essential for every company’s success. ActivTrades provides a professional and friendly team of customer service agents that are accessible 24/5. 

There are numerous ways you can reach out to the company. You can send them an email, call or request a callback, and chat online. A chat option is available via WhatsApp, Telegram, and the company's website.

To sum everything up, ActivTrades offers low fees, access to more than 1,000 tradable instruments, some great customer support that is available 24/5, extensive educational material, and access to the most famous trading platforms. In addition, traders can place orders using ActivTrader software.

The broker is regulated by top-tier regulators, but on the downside, the number of regulatory bodies is limited to 3. Traders that are short on funds might find it difficult to open trading accounts as the minimum initial deposit required starts from $500. What’s more, traders are limited in choice when it comes to opening different account types.