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ICM Capital vs HFM - 2024 Comparison | FxScouts
AuthorAuthor: Björn MichelsPublished: October 21, 2020
EditorEditor: Chris CammackUpdated: November 15, 2023

Last Updated On November 15, 2023

Björn Michels

Trading with a reputable online broker is a crucial factor for success in the international markets. At FxScouts, we help you find the broker that suits your trading needs.

Each year we spend thousands of hours testing brokers by opening accounts, testing their platforms, and rating them according to a set of over 200 metrics. We deposit real money with the brokers to ensure that the products and user experience they advertise are consistent with reality.

We have found that the best way for traders to choose a broker is to compare brokers side-by-side. The comparison tool below allows you to compare two brokers based on their ratings and features.

Select brokers to compare

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Broker Score
Risk Statement
Min. Deposit
Regulation
Trading Desk Type
Trading Instruments
Forex Pairs
Crypto Pairs
Pros
Cons
Regulation
Trading Conditions
Trading Platforms
Deposit & Withdrawal
Education & Research
Assets Available
Customer Service
% Lose with this broker
Leverage
Spread
Hedging
Scalping
Account Types
Islamic Acct
Trading Platforms
Funding Methods
Trading Commission
1110.503.61/ 5 N/A of retail CFD accounts lose moneyUSD 0FCA Regulated Forex BrokersFinancial Services CommissionSwiss Financial Market Supervisory AuthorityFinansinspektionenFinancial Services Authority – St. Vincent & the GrenadinesECN/DMAForex, Stock CFDs, Cryptocurrencies, Metals, Energies, Blends, Commodities, Bonds487
  • Well regulated
  • Excellent trading platforms
  • Limited education
  • Non-responsive customer support
  • Expensive deposits and withdrawals
Read Review 111104/ 5 111104/ 5 111115/ 5 100001/ 5 110002/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 111003/ 5 0200:10 pips ICM direct, ICM Zero MT4, MT5, cTraderBank Transfer, Skrill, Neteller, Paypal, Visa, Mastercard, Unionpay7 USD / lot - Zero Account
11110.54.53/ 5 72.90% of retail CFD accounts lose moneyGBP 0CySEC Regulated BrokersFCA Regulated Forex BrokersFinancial Services Conduct AuthorityDFSA Regulated Forex BrokersFinancial Services CommissionThe Seychelles Financial Services AuthoritySTPBonds, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, Energies, Stock CFDs, ETFs, Forex, Indices, Metals, Stock DMAs5340
  • Low minimum deposit
  • Tight spreads
  • Well regulated
  • Good range of accounts
  • Limited base currencies
Read Review 11110.54.5/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 111115/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 72.90%2000:10 pips Pro Plus, Hf Copy Trading, HFCopy, HFM Copy Trading, Islamic, Micro, Premium, Pro, Zero MT4, MT5, HFM Trading AppBank Transfer, Visa, Mastercard, Skrill6 USD / lot - Zero Account

How do HFM and ICM Capital stack up against each other?

The Radar Chart below highlights how the brokers stack up against each other across various metrics. The highest score a broker can receive in each area is 5.

HFM

ICM Capital

At FxScouts, we help traders find the broker that suits their trading needs. In many cases, the best way to achieve this is to compare brokers side-by-side.

To compare HFM and ICM Capital, we used the same factors we use when reviewing brokers: The trust and regulation of the broker, the trading platform, the costs and trading conditions, and the level of education and market analysis available at the broker.

Does HFM or ICM Capital have a better trust and regulation rating?

Trust and regulation are some of the most important factors to consider when choosing a Forex broker. Trust in the Forex trading business is almost entirely founded upon regulation. We spend many hours evaluating the safety of each broker by delving into their fine print and confirming each one of their regulatory licences on the online registers. The more top-tier authorities a broker is regulated by, the higher its trust rating.

In our comparison, we found that HFM holds two Tier 1 and one Tier 2 licences, and ICM Capital holds three Tier 1 and no Tier 2 licences.

 

Is HFM financially regulated?

Yes HFM was founded in 2010 and is regulated by CySEC, DFSA, FCA, FSC, FSCA and FSA-Seychelles.

 

Is ICM Capital financially regulated?

Yes ICM Capital was founded in 2009 and is regulated by FCA, FSA-St-Vincent, FSC, Fi and FINMA.

 

Based on these findings, HFM earned a higher trust rating than ICM Capital.

Does HFM or ICM Capital have lower costs?

Another important aspect we consider when comparing brokers is the cost of trading. When evaluating trading costs, we always consider the minimum deposit required to open an account and the ongoing trading costs, including the spreads and commissions. When calculating trading costs, we measure the cost to trade one lot of EUR/USD using the broker’s account with the lowest minimum deposit. The cost includes both the spread and any commission charged. 

Not all brokers publish their trading costs, so we often open accounts and trade on their platforms to verify the spreads and commissions. Based on our reviews, we found that HFM has overall lower trading costs than ICM Capital. 

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Broker
Trading Conditions
Base Currencies
EURUSD (Standard)
Trading Cost (Standard)
EURUSD (Best)
GBPUSD (Best)
USDJPY (Best)
Commission
ICM Capital
111104/ 5
USD, EUR, GBP, SGD
1.30 pips
USD 13
1.30 pips
1.80 pips
1.30 pips
USD 0
HFM
11110.54.5/ 5
EUR, USD, ZAR
1.00 pips
USD 10
0.10 pips
0.50 pips
0.30 pips
USD 0

 

Does HFM or ICM Capital offer a better choice of trading platforms?

Traders want Forex brokers to offer them a choice of trading platforms, so we give brokers who offer multiple platforms higher ratings. Trading platforms we consider include MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5, cTrader and proprietary mobile and web-based platforms. 

In this case, ICM Capital offers support for and HFM offers support for . 

Do the brokers offer copy trading?

In this case both HFM and ICM Capital offer copy trading.

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Broker
Platform Choice
Copy Trading
Platforms
HFM
11110.54.5/ 5
HFM Trading App

 

Which broker offers a better choice of trading instruments?

A variety of CFD instruments – and a large range of CFDs for each instrument category allow traders more opportunities for profitable trading. The best brokers will have thousands of CFDs to trade, covering all these instrument categories. We found that HFM offers a greater range and depth of instruments to trade than ICM Capital. HFM offers 53 Forex pairs to trade and ICM Capital offers 48 Forex pairs to trade.

Toplist Forex Pairs

And what about Cryptocurrencies?

In this case, HFM offers 40 cryptocurrencies while ICM Capital offers 7 cryptocurrencies. So if you want to trade cryptocurrencies, we advise trading with HFM.

Which broker offers better deposit and withdrawal processes?

Although brokers may have reasonable trading fees, many traders are caught out by the high non-trading fees charged by some brokers, including deposits and withdrawals. Traders want to be able to deposit and withdraw funds quickly and cheaply. Most brokers have multiple funding methods with zero fees for making deposits, but some brokers make it more expensive and take longer to process withdrawals. 

We rate brokers more highly that process withdrawals within 24 hours by multiple withdrawal methods and without charging processing fees. We found that ICM Capital charges a withdrawal fee and HFM does not. Overall, HFM has better deposit and withdrawal processes than ICM Capital. 

Which broker offers better educational support?

We often find that brokers offer very little in the way of educational materials, forcing traders to use other third-party sites or self-educate elsewhere. Beginner traders need well-structured, well-presented materials in multiple formats to get a good start at trading. More experienced traders also benefit from webinars led by experts in the field and advanced trading strategy sections with new trading ideas. 

HFM has better educational support than ICM Capital. Both HFM and ICM Capital offer educational support for more experienced traders.

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Broker
Beginner Course
Advanced Course
HFM

 

Which broker offers better market analysis materials?

To successfully predict the price movements of an instrument, traders will need access to frequent market research and analysis. We find that research and market analysis are always better when they are produced in-house and updated frequently. Third-party resources don’t show the same expertise in trading ideas, so we place a strong emphasis on frequent in-house updates. Some brokers also often offer interactive webinars where traders can learn from experts in the field. 

We found that HFM offers better research analysis than ICM Capital and that both HFM and ICM Capital offer frequent webinars.

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Broker
Economic Calendar
Autochartist
Trading Central
Trading View
Free VPS
ICM Capital
HFM

 

Our overall Verdict on HFM

HF Markets is the European subsidiary of HFM. For FCA protection, we recommend that UK residents look at trading with HF Markets instead.

HFM is a global CFD broker offering a relatively wide range of trading products including Forex, commodities, indices, shares, bonds, and ETFs – though it recently stopped offering crypto CFDs. 

The HFM Micro Account has lower trading costs than most other brokers’ entry-level accounts with a 5 USD minimum deposit, fast market execution and spreads starting at 1 pip on the EUR/USD. Experienced traders will be interested in HFM’s ZERO Spread Account, with EUR/USD spreads starting at 0.0 pips and a 6 USD commission.

HFM supports both the MT4 and MT5 platforms – but unlike most other brokers does not offer its own web-based platform – and has several excellent trading tools to further assist traders. Unfortunately, access to better trading tools like Autochartist, which other brokers offer as a free service, requires an account balance of 500 USD – well above the required minimum deposit.

HFM does not charge any withdrawal or deposit fees, allows hedging, scalping, and copy trading, and offers an excellent selection of educational and market analysis materials to get new traders started.

Our overall Verdict on ICM Capital

ICM Capital was founded in London in 2009 and is recognised for its wide choice of trading platforms, low trading costs, and strong international regulation.

ICM has two low-cost live accounts with no minimum deposit: The ICM Direct Account with spreads starting at 1.3 pips (EUR/USD) and the Zero Account with spreads starting at 0 pips (EUR/USD) and a commission of 7 USD per lot traded. 

Despite the low trading costs, we were disappointed with ICM Capital’s high non-trading fees - including commissions for both deposits and withdrawals -  and the lack of transparency regarding funding options. And with virtually no Forex education or market analysis we consider ICM a poor choice for beginners.

Which broker has the highest overall rating?

HFM has an overall rating of 4.53 and ICM Capital has an overall rating of 3.61. For more detail please read our reviews of HFM and ICM Capital.

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