Between 54-87% of retail CFD accounts lose money. Based on 69 brokers who display this data.
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BrokerDNA™
The BROKERDNA™ score tells you, overall, how reputable, suitable, and affordable a broker is compared to other brokers. This score is algorithmically-generated based on 31 factors. Neither our team, nor the brokers featured on our site, are able to change this without changing their service offering. Learn more here. |
CMC Markets
9
/10
VISIT CMC MARKETS
The BROKERDNA™ score tells you, overall, how reputable, suitable, and affordable a broker is compared to other brokers. This score is algorithmically-generated based on 31 factors. Neither our team, nor the brokers featured on our site, are able to change this without changing their service offering. Learn more here. |
ADS Securities
8.9
/10
VISIT ADS SECURITIES
The BROKERDNA™ score tells you, overall, how reputable, suitable, and affordable a broker is compared to other brokers. This score is algorithmically-generated based on 31 factors. Neither our team, nor the brokers featured on our site, are able to change this without changing their service offering. Learn more here. |
XTB
10
/10
VISIT XTB
The BROKERDNA™ score tells you, overall, how reputable, suitable, and affordable a broker is compared to other brokers. This score is algorithmically-generated based on 31 factors. Neither our team, nor the brokers featured on our site, are able to change this without changing their service offering. Learn more here. |
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About |
CMC Markets is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, NFA and ACN. CMC Markets have provided Forex trading services since 1989. |
ADS Securities is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. ADS Securities have provided Forex, CFDs trading services since 2012. |
XTB is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. XTB have provided Forex, CFD, and social trading services since 2002. |
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Why choose them? |
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Headquarters | London, UK | London, UK | Level 34, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, E14 5AA, London, UK | |
TRADING SERVICES OFFERED |
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Spot Forex | ||||
Forex (CFD) | ||||
CFD | ||||
Spread Betting | ||||
Social Trading | ||||
MARKETS & INSTRUMENTS | ||||
Forex (currency pairs) | 32 | 57 | 48 | |
Commodities Offered | 0 | 8 | 21 | |
Stocks Offered | 9000 | 805 | 1606 | |
Bitcoin | ||||
Majors | ||||
Indices | ||||
US Stocks | ||||
Penny stocks | ||||
Energies | ||||
Metals | ||||
Agriculturals | ||||
FTSE | ||||
Dow Jones | ||||
Dax | ||||
Nikkei | ||||
ETFs | ||||
IPO | ||||
See all instruments
78% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider |
See all instruments
76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
See all instruments
79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
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PLATFORM & FEATURES |
See the platforms and features offered by each broker |
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Screenshot |
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MT4 | ||||
MT5 | ||||
MT4 Mac | ||||
WebTrader | ||||
Mirror Trader | ||||
ZuluTrade | ||||
Sirix | ||||
cTrader | ||||
PAMM | ||||
Custom Platforms | Next Generation | OREX Optim, OREX Pro | Xstation5 | |
APPS |
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iOS |
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Android |
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Windows |
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Available Languages |
English, German, French, Polish, Spanish, Swedish, Italian, and Norwegian |
English, Arabic, and Chinese |
English, Spanish, Czech, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovenian, Turkish, Arabic, and Russian. |
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See platform & features
78% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider |
See platform & features
76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
See platform & features
79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
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ACCOUNT INFORMATION |
From micro accounts to ECN accounts, compare the accounts offered by CMC Markets and ADS Securities |
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Demo account | ||||
Mini account | ||||
Micro account | ||||
Standard account | ||||
ECN Account | ||||
Islamic account | ||||
Zero spread account | ||||
VIP account | ||||
Fixed spreads | ||||
Variable spreads | ||||
See account options
78% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider |
See account options
76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
See account options
79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
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TRADING CONDITIONS |
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Scalping | ||||
Hedging | ||||
Expert advisors (EAs) | ||||
Virtual private server | ||||
Direct market access | ||||
STP broker | ||||
Market maker | ||||
Min trade | Varies | 0.01 Lot | 0.01 Lot | |
Max trade | Varies | None | 100 Lot | |
Min deposit | $200 | $100 | $1 | |
RISK MANAGEMENT |
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Stop losses | ||||
Limit orders | ||||
One-click trading | ||||
Trailing stops | ||||
Price alerts | ||||
Signal trading | ||||
FUNDING METHODS |
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Credit card | ||||
Bank transfer | ||||
Standard account | ||||
Paypal | ||||
Neteller | ||||
Skrill | ||||
Payment processing time | 1-5 business days | Varies | Same day if requested before 1PM | |
Withdrawal processing time | 1-2 business days | Varies | Same day if requested before 1PM | |
See all funding options
78% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider |
See all funding options
76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
See all funding options
79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
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DETAILED INFO |
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Excluded countries | US | US | US,IN,PK,BD,IQ,IR,IL,AF,AU,CA | |
Contact email | Send Email | Send Email | Send Email | |
Phone number | +1300 303 888 | No | 44 2036953085 | |
Live Chat | ||||
Website | https://www.cmcmarkets.com | http://www.ads-securities.com/ | www.xtb.com | |
Spreads: | ||||
EUR/USD (Average: 0.7 pips) | 0.7 pips + $0.00 | 1.9 pips | 0.1 pips | |
GBP/USD (Average: 1.1 pips) | 0.9 pips + $0.00 | 2.5 pips | 0.1 pips | |
USD/JPY (Average: 1.1 pips) | 0.7 pips + $0.00 | 1.9 pips | 0.1 pips | |
AUD/USD (Average: 0.8 pips) | 0.9 pips + $0.00 | 2.4 pips | 0.2 pips | |
USD/CHF (Average: 2.3 pips) | 1.5 pips + $0.00 | 2.4 pips | 0.2 pips | |
USD/CAD (Average: 2.9 pips) | 1.7 pips + $0.00 | 2.5 pips | 0.3 pips | |
NZD/USD (Average: 3.6 pips) | 2.0 pips + $0.00 | 3.0 pips | 0.3 pips | |
EUR/GBP (Average: 2.4 pips) | 1.1 pips + $0.00 | 2.5 pips | 0.1 pips | |
View all spreads
78% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider |
View all spreads
76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
View all spreads
79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
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FEES |
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Inactivity Fee | Yes | No | No | |
Commission | Yes, 0.10% | No | Yes | |
Deposit Fee | Varies | No | No | |
Withdrawal Fee | Varies | No | No | |
View All Fees
78% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider |
View All Fees
76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
View All Fees
79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
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Last update |
All information collected from https://www.cmcmarkets.com. Last updated on 01/02/2021. |
All information collected from http://www.ads-securities.com/. Last updated on 01/02/2021. |
All information collected from www.xtb.com. Last updated on 01/02/2021. |
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Company |
CMC Markets were founded in 1989 and are one of the leading CFD and spread betting providers. The main differentiator about CMC Markets is their bespoke award-winning trading platform. CMC Markets also offer very reasonable spreads and offer a wide range of instruments. |
ADS Securities is a London based brokerage and ECN provider for both retail and institutional traders. They provide excellent pricing with pips starting from 0.0 through investments in advanced technology and access to a mix of Middle East liquidity. They provide fast pricing and execution with low latency and are a top choice for London money managers. The ADS MT 4 builds on the power of the MT4 platform to give the user an unparalleled level of excellence with advanced order tickets, sentiment trading and advanced alarm settings. With a simple account opening process, ADS Securities can have you up and running in under a minute. For more information about trading with ADS Securities, we have put together an indepth ADS Securities review with some of the pros and cons about this broker. |
XTB provides hyper fast execution and facilitates seminars with external professional traders, providing personalised education depending on your individual circumstances. |
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Popular comparisons |
Popular comparisons feat. CMC Markets
ETX Capital vs CMC Markets |
Popular comparisons feat. ADS Securities
ADS Securities vs IG |
Popular comparisons feat. XTB
XTB vs IG |
If you’re a trader looking for a broker with low spreads on popular instruments like EUR/USD, CMC Markets is likely a better option. However, if you want a broker that offers MetaTrader4 as a trading platform, ADS Securities may be more suitable.
You can determine a broker’s reliability & trustworthiness by looking at eight factors:
Based on these eight factors, we consider CMC Markets to be the more reliable broker. We’ve broken down why below:
CMC Markets and ADS Securities are both regulated by Financial Conduct Authority
XTB are also regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
If a broker has been around for a long period of time, they’re likely to be more reliable (in comparison, most scam brokers only exist for several years before they disappear).
This also suggests that a broker has good risk management processes that have prevented them being caught out by major financial events, as was the case with Alpari UK going bust when they were there was a policy reversal of capping the Swiss Franc against the Euro.
CMC Markets has been around for 32 years, while ADS Securities have been around for 2 years. Our third alternative broker, XTB, have been around for 19 years.
You wouldn’t want your broker paying their staff out of the same bank account account that you’re depositing your trading funds into, would you?
Fortunately, all regulated brokers must use segregated bank accounts to hold client money. This is one of the reasons why we only feature regulated brokers here on BrokerNotes.
All three brokers above will hold your money in a separate bank account.
Most tier-1 banks like Barclays and HSBC have been around for over 100 years and manage trillions of dollars of assets, proving that they have stood the test of time.
Both CMC Markets and ADS Securities use tier one banks, but we are not sure of which bank specifically.
If a broker has been penalised by a regulator in the past five years, it may mean that they were caught doing something they shouldn’t be doing - which may be of concern to you as an end client.
We’re not aware of any penalties or fines imposed by regulators on CMC Markets or ADS Securities in the past five years.
While not always the case, the number of traders a broker has can be a good metric for understanding how reputable a brokers is.
Companies that are publicly listed on a stock exchange tend to be considered more reputable as they will be required to disclose their financials, and aspects of their operations, to the public.
CMC Markets is a publicly listed company, while on the other hand ADS Securities is still a privately owned company.
Most reputable brokers tend to be headquartered in a major capital city or a financial hub such as Cyprus.
Both CMC Markets and ADS Securities are based in London, UK .
Assuming the brokers you’re choosing between are reputable, the next point to consider is whether they offer all of the features you require to trade.
This can be broken down into three categories:
If you’re looking to trade currency pairs, both CMC Markets and ADS Securities offer forex trading. ADS Securities have a slightly larger variety of currency pairs with 57 pairs, compared to 32 offered by CMC Markets. Also, if you’re looking to trade cryptocurrencies, ADS Securities offers a handful of cryptocurrency CFDs to trade, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple.
Both CMC Markets and ADS Securities allow you to trade commodities like gold, silver and crude oil.
ADS Securities also offer social trading, which allows you to follow the trading activity, engage in discussion, and even copy the trades of other traders.
In addition to the platform, you’ll also want to ensure that the broker you choose offers the account type best suited to your needs. ADS Securities, for example, offer a mini account, standard account and VIP account.
If you have a certain trading style (e.g. scalping, hedging, or using EAs), you’ll want to double check that the broker you choose allows this, as not all of them do.
CMC Markets does allow scalping and hedging. While ADS Securities also allows scalping and hedging. You can't trade with EAs (expert advisors) on CMC Markets but you can trade EAs (expert advisors) with ADS Securities.
In terms of risk management tools, neither CMC Markets or ADS Securities offers negative balance protection. Negative balance protection prevents you owing your broker more than you’ve deposited.
CMC Markets also offer stop losses, limit orders, and price alerts to help you automate aspects of your trading strategy.
CMC Markets accept Payoneer.
Comparing the fee structures of different brokers can be a minefield at times. The important thing to consider is what the spreads & fees are on the specific instruments and account type that you will be using.
For trading EUR/USD, CMC Markets and ADS Securities both charge 0.70 points. Therefore, both brokers are equally affordable for this instrument. You can jump back up to our comparison of their currency pair & indice spreads above.
Another consideration is whether or not your broker charges inactivity, deposit/withdrawal fees, or commissions on trades. If you’re a frequent trader, inactivity fees are unlikely to be an issue.
There’s no such thing as a perfect broker, but some are going to be a better fit for you than others.
Objectively, CMC Markets is more reliable based on our criteria above. CMC Markets has a wider range of instruments to trade. ADS Securities offer lower spreads on popular forex instruments like EUR/USD and are used by more traders.
Both brokers offer demo accounts, allowing you to test their platforms to see which is suitable for you. You can test drive their demos using the links below:
Finally, if you’re really not sure you can always use our free tool (takes 15 seconds) that will help you find a suitable broker based on your precise requirements here.