FXTM

Indian clients will be trading under the subsidiary, Exinity Limited, regulated by the FSC Mauritius, which allows brokers to offer their clients higher leverage.  Unlike top-tier regulators such as the FCA and ASIC, the FSC does not mandate that companies segregate client funds, provide negative balance protection or participate in investor schemes. FXTM does, however, segregate client funds from its operating capital in various banking institutions, and will not use customers’ funds in its operation or any other investment, ensuring their protection at all times.  Note that negative balance protection is available on a discretionary basis, and requests are evaluated case by case.  

Exinity Limited is also a member of the Financial Commission, an international organisation dedicated to resolving disputes in the Forex industry. Accordingly, the Compensation Fund will only cover judgments that have been made by the Financial Commission of up to €20,000 per case.

With many years of responsible operation, regulation from some of the strictest authorities in the world, and a long list of awards for best trading experience, FXTM is considered a reliable and safe Forex broker for Indian traders to trade with.

Opening a trading account at FXTM is a fully digital process and is hassle-free compared to other brokers.

All Indian traders can open an account at FXTM but will need to meet all the minimum deposit amounts to do so; these are:

• Micro Account: 10 USD
• Advantage Account: 500 USD
• Advantage Plus Account: 500 USD

Creating an account is straightforward, the process is fully digital, and accounts are usually ready within one to two business days.  

How to open an account at FXTM:

1. First, click on “Open an Account.”
2. FXTM’s intake form requires clients to fill in their personal details (including name, country of residence, email address, birth date, and level of education) and provide a telephone number so that FXTM can send a verification PIN code. 
3. Clients are then required to fill in their financial information and answer questions about their trading knowledge.
4. Clients are required to choose their preferred trading account.  
5. FXTM requires individuals to submit a copy of their National ID or Passport with the signature page, as well as a copy of a recent utility bill or bank statement.  
6. Documents can be scanned or sent through as a high-quality digital camera picture.
7. We advise you to read FXTM’s risk disclosure, customer agreement, and terms of business before you start trading. 

Once all the documents have been received, the account will be ready for trading within one day.  

FXTM’s account opening process is fast, hassle-free, and fully digital compared to other similar brokers.

FXTM’s range and depth of trading instruments is extremely limited compared to many other brokers.

In most cases, FXTM’s trading costs are built into the spread – though the Advantage Account Spread account does carry a 4 USD commission and tighter spreads. Spreads are variable at FXTM, meaning they will get wider or tighter depending on trade volume and market volatility.

If you hold a position overnight with FXTM, a swap fee will also be charged, which is the interest paid on a leveraged position.  A leveraged position is the money borrowed from the broker to trade.  For example, on the EUR/USD, the swap fees are 0.03 on a short position and 0.69 on a long position.  While FXTM publishes its overnight financing fees (swap fees) for each instrument, it does not clarify how these fees are derived.   

Account Trading Costs:

We opened and tested a number of FXTM’s trading accounts:

Micro Account

This account is aimed at beginner traders with a low minimum deposit (of 10 USD) and instant execution. Only available on MT4, this account features micro-lots and spreads that are similar to Micro Accounts at other brokers – starting at 1.5 pips on the EUR/USD, which is around the average offered by other brokers on Micro accounts. Traders with this account will also be unable to trade stocks or stock CFDs, and leverage is restricted to 1:1000.  

Advantage Plus Account

The first of two market execution accounts at FXTM, this account is commission-free but spreads start at 1.5 pips on the EUR/USD, which is wider than most other brokers. Available on both MT4 and MT5, this account provides floating leverage up to 2000:1 on Forex pairs and a minimum deposit of 500 USD. Stock trading and stock CFD trading are only available via the MT5 platform.

Advantage Account 

A good account for more experienced traders, spreads start at 0.0 pips on the EUR/USD, which is tighter than other similar brokers, and instead of a spread markup, traders will pay a variable commission of 0.4 – 2 USD per side, depending on volume traded. In addition, traders can choose between MT4 and MT5 on this account, but stock and stock CFD trading is only available on MT5.  Leverage is also set at a maximum of 2000:1on this account.  

Demo Account

Traders can practice trading risk-free using all trading strategies in a real trading environment on FXTM’s demo account. In addition, traders can increase the virtual balance on their demo account from within the MYFXTM portal.  Demo accounts will remain active as long as traders login to the trading platform at least once every 14 days.

Islamic Swap-free Accounts

Muslims in India will be pleased to note that all accounts are available as Islamic swap-free options.   When the swap-free mode is enabled, the account will not accrue interest for carrying positions overnight. Therefore, it is perfectly suitable for Muslim traders as it complies fully with the no-riba tenets of Sharia law.  The swap-free option is usually available for seven days, depending on the trading instrument you are trading. If you keep positions open more than the swap-free allowance days, the swap-free fee (daily fee) will be charged, which is 12.90 USD per day.

MetaTrader and FXTM’s proprietary trader app are freely available on both Android and IOS mobile phones and tablets.  The advantage of using the MetaTrader platform is the cross-device and multi-broker functionality, making it easier to change brokers or use multiple brokers.  

The FXTM MT4 and MT5 apps allow traders to work from anywhere, with nine timeframes, 30 indicators, and interactive currency charts. Functionality to close and modify existing orders, calculate profit/loss in real-time, and tick chart trading further empowers traders while on the move.  

FXTM Trader App

FXTM has developed its mobile trading platform, the FXTM Trader app.  The mobile app allows traders to access over 250 instruments, including currency pairs, spot metals, share CFDs, commodities, and indices.  Features of FXTM’s Trader app include:

• Traders can access the latest live updates 24/5 and easily monitor preferred assets.
• The ability to manage all FXTM’s accounts, and trading action.
• Being able to easily keep track of trades with details of balance, margin, and profit.
• The ability to deposit, withdraw and monitor funds.

Trading Platform Comparison:

FXTM supports both the Metatrader 4 and Metatrader 5 platforms in addition to its proprietary FXTM Trader App. 

FXTM offers MT4 – the most popular trading platform globally – and MT5 – the latest version of the industry standard. In addition to the desktop applications, FXTM also offers MT4 and MT5 WebTerminal, which are browser-based versions of the platforms, along with mobile and tablet versions of both iterations. The advantages of using MT4 are numerous, but most centre around the community support and the number of users that the tool boasts. 

The primary difference between MT4 and MT5 is that MT4 is a Forex-only platform, while MT5 is a multi-asset trading solution. With MT5, you can trade not only Forex but also stocks, stock indices, and precious metals. MT5 also has a built-in news feed and an economic calendar, and trades can be made on a chart.

Metatrader 4 

Developed by MetaQuotes in 2002, MT4 is still the most popular CFD trading platform in the world.  Although the platform’s interface is now dated, MT4 is still widely recognised for its fast execution speeds, a wide range of charting tools, algorithmic trading, and customisability.  Other features of MT4 include:

• Supports the creation, modification, and utilisation of automated trading strategies.
• Supports MQL4 programming language.
• Algorithmic trading, which allows any trading strategy to be formalised and implemented as an Expert Advisor. 
• Allows traders to develop their own custom indicators.
• Superior charting tools in nine timeframes
• 31 graphical objects
• 30 built-in indicators
• Three order execution types.
• Four types of pending orders

Also available through MT4 are six add-ons.  Most brokers only provide the out-of-the-box version, which does not provide all the necessary functionality.  These tools include the Orders Indicator, the Pip Value Calculator, the Pivots SR Levels, the Spread Indicator, the Market Data to CSV, and the Day Bar Info Indicator. FXTM also offers its FXTM Pivot Points strategy, available as an expert advisor (EA) running on the MT4 trading platform (see the Trading Tools section for more).

Metatrader 5

MT5 is more powerful and faster than MT4, especially when it comes to back-testing functionality for automated trading algorithms.  MT5 also has a built-in news feed, market depth indicator, economic calendar, and trades that can be made on charts. Additional features of MT5 include:

• 21 timeframes
• 38 technical indicators
• 44 graphical objects
• Six pending order types
• Multi-threaded strategy tester
• Economic Calendar

The benefit of brokers offering third-party platforms such as MT4 and MT5 is that traders can use the platforms should they choose to migrate to another broker.  However, MT4 and MT5 are often not as user-friendly as platforms that are developed in-house.   

Copy Trading

FXTM offers an award-winning copy trading service.

FXTM provides a powerful copy trading system, which is helpful for beginner traders who lack the expertise and skills in CFD trading.  

FXTM Invest allows investors to choose a strategy manager from a list of top-rated traders.  Once an investor makes a minimum deposit of 100 USD/GBP/EUR, the Investor account will be activated, and clients can then copy the trades of the strategy managers.  With this system, investors can follow suitable strategies and receive a portion of the profits, and Strategy Managers can earn extra money by generating profits for their investors.  At the time of writing, there are over 600 strategy managers to choose from, so there is plenty of choice.

FXTM Invest is not available for clients of Forextime UK Limited.

A well-regulated broker, FXTM ensures that all Anti-Money Laundering rules and regulations are followed. As such, all non-profit funds are returned to the original deposit source. No matter your deposit method, the withdrawal of all profits must be made by bank transfer to a bank account in your name.

FXTM offers a number of deposit and withdrawal methods:

FXTM offers a limited number of base currencies compared to its competitors, and it does not offer INR accounts.

At FXTM, you can only choose from four base currencies: USD, EUR, GBP, and NGN.  NGN is only available for Nigerian residents.   

This is a disadvantage for Indian traders who will likely have bank accounts denominated in INR and will thus have to pay conversion fees.  Conversion fees can make trading very expensive and are usually not presented on the fee report but affect your profitability.

• FXTM Pivots Points Strategy: Allows traders to identify market sentiment and potential profit opportunities.  Three chart types are available in eight timeframes, and traders can choose between 5 calculation methods, including Standard, Fibonacci, DeMark, Camarilla, and Woodie Pivot Point.  Traders will also receive live updates of prices from FXTM’s head of education.
• FXTM Trading Signals: Combines a range of tools into one, including popular technical indicators, a choice of 4 take-profit levels, and protective stop-loss recommendations.  
• Currency Converter: FXTM assists traders in viewing how much their currency is worth in another foreign currency.  This tool is useful for identifying how much local currency needs to be deposited to meet the various minimum deposit requirements.  
• MT4 Trading Indicators: FXTM offers six MT4 add-ons to assist traders in optimising their trading strategies.  These include an Orders Indicator, a Pip Value Calculator, Pivots SR Levels, a Spread Indicator, Markets Data to CSV, and a Day Bar Info Indicator.  
• VPS: FXTM clients with a minimum deposit of 5000 USD can also subscribe to a free VPS hosting service provided by external third-party providers. VPS services ensure trades are never disrupted by technological or connectivity issues, such as load-shedding or internet service failure. 
• FXTM Invest Profit Calculator: The profit calculator helps traders calculate the potential profits accrued by following a strategy provider. 

Trading Tools Comparison:

FXTM provides a great variety of market research, available in several locations:

• Through the MetaTrader trading platform.
• “Trading Services” section in MyFXTM: FXTM provides trading ideas based on technical tools.
• On FXTM’s website, traders can find a comprehensive selection of market analysis materials, including: 
  • Daily Market Analysis: A daily look at what will be affecting the markets over the day, written by a senior member of the FXTM analysis team.
  • Forex News Timeline: A constant news feed of events that will affect the Forex market.
  • Market Analysis Videos: This is a library of FXTM’s weekly video roundup of the market and what to look for in the coming week. It is updated every Monday. 
  • FXTM also has a bio page for each of their market analysts with links to all the articles they have written alongside their social media profiles.

Overall, FXTM has an excellent analysis section, written or curated by Forex experts, and full of detail and interesting leads for new trading opportunities.

FXTM has a world-class education section available for free in 22 languages and a comprehensive market research and analysis unit. Additionally, FXTM is one of the few brokers with weekend support, which is helpful for beginner or part-time traders.

• Beginners Guide to Forex Trading: This guide introduces traders to Forex terminology and answers common FAQs for those just getting started. It is a good overview of Forex trading and links to more detailed sections of the Education mini-site so new traders can focus on what they want to learn.
• Ebooks: Ebooks are written by an experienced FXTM staff member and cover topics such as the habits of successful traders and bearish candlesticks. To access these, you will be required to register but won’t need a live account.
• Forex Trading Strategies: A good overview of common strategies used in Forex trading and the indicators many traders use to make these strategies work for them.
• Short Education Videos: These are aimed at new traders and are all between one minute and three minutes in length, perfect for beginner traders who want to get up to speed quickly. All are freely available on YouTube.
• Education Videos: A set of videos for both beginner and experienced traders. These are longer and more detailed than the Short Education Videos and are also available on YouTube.
• Education Articles: A library of free educational articles written by FXTM’s Head of Education; the pieces are well-written and concise, even when tackling complex topics. Example topics include Bearish Trend Reversals and Harmonic Patterns.
• Forex Glossary: This is a comprehensive glossary of Forex terms – very useful for new traders.
• Forex Trading Seminars: FXTM regularly hosts live workshops across the globe where you can learn directly from experienced traders in your language. Here you can see the current schedule and sign up for events. Be aware that to attend, you will need a live account with a minimum 200 USD deposit.
• Forex Trading Webinars: FXTM also hosts frequent webinars in multiple languages. These require registration with FXTM but not a live account.

FXTM’s education section is an excellent resource for new traders, and much of it is available for free.

Education Material Comparison:

Support is available Monday to Friday: 24 hours, Saturday: 14:30-19:30, and Sunday: 15:00-23:00 (local Indian time) in over 22 languages, via email, live chat, email, telephone, and messenger services (including Whatsapp, Viber, and Telegram).

The customer support team was able to answer all our questions quickly and to our satisfaction.  They also provided links and extra reading material where appropriate.