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Best FTSE Brokers of 2024

BrokerNotes.co

Written by BrokerNotes.co

March 14, 2024

What is the FTSE 100 Index?

The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index more commonly known as the FTSE 100 or the 'Footsie' index is a stock market index comprised of the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in terms of market capitalisation. The FTSE 100 is now operated by FTSE Russell and was started in 1984 as a joint venture between the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange.

As of the 31 January 2017, the 100 companies that make up the FTSE 100 had a market cap of over GBP 1,795 billion pounds which represented approximately 39 % of the total London Stock Exchange market cap of GBP 4,581 billion from a total of 2,261 companies.

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74% and 89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Best Forex Brokers for Trading FTSE 100

Here are the best forex brokers for trading the FTSE 100.

  • IG
    - 9.9/10 Overall
  • Interactive Brokers - 9.9/10 Overall
  • Saxo - 9.7/10 Overall
  • CMC Markets - 9.6/10 Overall
  • FOREX.com
    - 9.4/10 Overall
  • City Index - 9.3/10 Overall
  • XTB - 9.1/10 Overall
  • eToro - 8.8/10 Overall
  • Swissquote - 8.8/10 Overall
IG
9.9/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit£250.00
Tier-1 Licenses8
Tradeable Symbols (Total)19537

Year after year, IG has shown itself to be the best broker in the forex industry and a fantastic choice for forex traders. Highly trusted and regulated across the globe, IG delivers a wide variety of rich features, market research, and powerful trading tools. Fans of copy trading will appreciate IG’s seamless integration of trading signals into its web platform. Read full review

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
Visit Site

Join 239,000+ traders worldwide.

(Trading forex carries a high level of risk.)

Interactive Brokers
9.9/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$0
Tier-1 Licenses9
Tradeable Symbols (Total)8500

Interactive Brokers is a highly trusted broker regulated across the globe that delivers access to over 100 markets, including forex and CFDs. Its Trader Workstation (TWS) platform offers a variety of advanced trading tools for experienced traders, and IBKR's web-based platform is great for beginner forex traders.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)No
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
Saxo
9.7/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$0
Tier-1 Licenses7
Tradeable Symbols (Total)70000

Saxo is a highly trusted broker that operates multiple banks and is regulated across the globe. Saxo delivers an incredible cross-platform experience alongside powerful research and a vast selection of more than 60,000 symbols across multiple asset classes. It’s worth noting that minimum deposits at Saxo are steep.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)No
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
CMC Markets
9.6/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$0
Tier-1 Licenses5
Tradeable Symbols (Total)12074

CMC Markets is a highly trusted multi-asset broker regulated in multiple Tier-1 jurisdictions. CMC's powerful Next Generation trading platform for web and mobile delivers a huge selection of markets and a fantastic user experience. CMC Markets also ranks highly for its high-quality research and educational content.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
FOREX.com
9.4/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$100
Tier-1 Licenses7
Tradeable Symbols (Total)5500

FOREX.com is a highly trusted brand with a long history of offering forex in the U.S. and across the globe. FOREX.com offers its own flagship trading platforms for web and desktop, as well as the full MetaTrader suite. Though its pricing is higher than average, FOREX.com is a balanced choice for traders of all experience levels.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)Yes
Visit Site

A Global Market Leader!

(Trading forex carries a high level of risk.)

City Index
9.3/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit£100.00
Tier-1 Licenses7
Tradeable Symbols (Total)13500

City Index, part of StoneX Group, is an award-winning, highly trusted broker with a long history of offering forex and CFDs across its global offices. City Index delivers a well-designed mobile trading app and a powerful web platform, as well as a large range of tradeable markets (though pricing is just average).

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
XTB
9.1/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$0
Tier-1 Licenses2
Tradeable Symbols (Total)6010

XTB is a highly trusted brand with a proprietary platform (xStation 5) that delivers a rich selection of trading tools. XTB also offers CFDs for a wide range of asset classes, including multiple cryptocurrencies. Beginners will appreciate XTB's excellent educational content and the hundreds of lessons that are available via its Trading Academy.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
eToro
8.8/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$10-$10,000
Tier-1 Licenses3
Tradeable Symbols (Total)3479

Best known for its copy trading platform suite, eToro is a highly trusted broker offering a large selection of cryptocurrency products, CFDs, shares, forex pairs, and a wide range of powerful trading tools. It’s worth noting that eToro is not a discount broker (though it offers zero-dollar commissions for U.S. stocks).

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)No
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)No
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
Swissquote
8.8/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$1000
Tier-1 Licenses5
Tradeable Symbols (Total)472

Swissquote delivers a balanced offering of easy-to-use proprietary trading platforms and popular third-party platforms like MetaTrader and TradingView. Swissquote also offers a staggering 3 million financial products. It’s worth noting that Swissquote's pricing is more expensive than what you'd find with low-cost forex brokers.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)Yes

Which Companies are Listed on the FTSE 100 Index?

The companies which make up the FTSE 100 Index span a wide range of industries including banking, mining, telecoms, oil and gas, as well as private equity. While many of the companies on this Index are headquartered in the UK, quite a few are international organisations with their headquarters located outside of the UK.

The constituents of the FTSE 100 Index are decided on a quarterly basis by a committee and the main basis for inclusion is the total market capitalisation of those companies at the end of the previous quarter. Companies from the FTSE 250 index that have experienced market capitalisation growth to the extent that they would occupy the 90th or better position on the FTSE 100 index, are listed on the FTSE index for the upcoming quarter.

At the same time, a company on the FTSE 100 index that experiences a market capitalisation reduction to the extent that it falls to the 111th or worse position, would be delisted from the index. If there are any mergers or acquisitions, the index is updated immediately instead of quarterly.

Top 20 FTSE 100 Companies as at 31 January 2017 by Market Cap

How is the Value of the FTSE 100 Index Derived?

The value of the FTSE indices is calculated using market capitalisation, This means that the larger companies have a bigger influence on the value of the FTSE indices. The FTSE indices also take into account the free float capitalisation which means restricted stocks are ignored when calculating the market capitalisation using a Free float adjustment factor.

How can you trade the FTSE 100?

Three popular financial instruments to trade the FTSE 100 include ETFs,futures and CFDs.

Stock Index futures are complex financial instruments that were initially developed as a hedging instrument for institutional traders to protect against a reversal in stock prices in a portfolio. However, with technological advances and tech-enabled trading, retail traders that have the required capital to trade futures have entered the market and speculate on Stock Index Futures like the FTSE 100 Future on The Ice Exchange.

CFDs offer retail traders much smaller contract sizes and therefore a smaller capital requirement. For example, a minimum trade of a UK 100 future, a derivative of the FTSE 100 would require a trader 14.57 at the current 7286 index points with a broker like London Capital Group compared to a single contract on the Futures exchange of 72,860. Unlike trading on an exchange, trading CFDs involves buying and selling the instrument from the broker, therefore find a trusted and regulated broker like London Capital Group is an important step for traders.

*All information collected from LCG, see website for full terms and conditions. Example is for illustrative purposes only. Your capital is at risk. Last updated on February 21, 2017.

ETFs or electronic traded funds are investment products made of a group of assets designed to track the performance of the underlying asset, for example, the FTSE 100. ETFs can be bought from share dealing brokers like IG.

Related Indices

  • FTSE 250: this index does not include the top 100 companies which form the FTSE 100. The FTSE 250 is also referred to as 'mid cap' index.
  • FTSE 350: This index includes the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies
  • FTSE Small Cap:
  • FTSE All-share: This index is made up of the FTSE 350 and FTSE small cap companies and represents 98-99% of the UK market capitalisation
  • DAX 30
  • Dow Jones

BrokerNotes.co 2023 Overall Rankings

To recap, here are our top forex brokers for 2023, sorted by Overall ranking.

Company Overall Rating Minimum Deposit Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard Trust Score Tradeable Symbols (Total) Read Review Visit Site
IG logoIG 9.9 £250.00 0.98 info 99 19537 IG Review Visit Site
Interactive Brokers logoInteractive Brokers 9.9 $0 0.63 info 99 8500 Interactive Brokers Review
Saxo logoSaxo 9.7 $0 1.1 info 99 70000 Saxo Review
CMC Markets logoCMC Markets 9.6 $0 0.61 info 99 12074 CMC Markets Review
FOREX.com logoFOREX.com 9.4 $100 1.4 info 99 5500 FOREX.com Review Visit Site
TD Ameritrade logoTD Ameritrade 9.3 $0 1.25 info 99 0 TD Ameritrade Review
City Index logoCity Index 9.3 £100.00 1.4 info 99 13500 City Index Review
XTB logoXTB 9.1 $0 1.07 info 96 6010 XTB Group Review
eToro logoeToro 8.8 $10-$10,000 1 info 90 3479 eToro Review
Swissquote logoSwissquote 8.8 $1000 N/A info 99 472 Swissquote Review
Capital.com logoCapital.com 8.7 $20 info 0.67 info 87 3007 Capital.com Review
AvaTrade logoAvaTrade 8.7 $100 0.92 info 94 1260 AvaTrade Review
Plus500 logoPlus500 8.6 €100 0.8 (August 2021) info 99 5500 info Plus500 Review
OANDA logoOANDA 8.5 $0 1.57 info 93 1744 info OANDA Review
FXCM logoFXCM 8.5 Starts from $50 0.74 info 95 440 FXCM Review
Admirals logoAdmirals 8.5 $100 0.8 info 93 8702 Admiral Markets Review
Pepperstone logoPepperstone 8.4 $200 0.77 info 95 2342 Pepperstone Review
XM Group logoXM Group 8.4 $5 1.6 info 88 1429 XM Group Review
FP Markets logoFP Markets 8.3 $100 AUD 1.1 info 87 10000 FP Markets Review
FxPro logoFxPro 8.1 $100 1.51 info 90 2249 FxPro Review
IC Markets logoIC Markets 8.1 $200 0.62 info 84 3583 IC Markets Review
Markets.com logoMarkets.com 8.1 $100 1.9 info 96 2179 Markets.com Review
Tickmill logoTickmill 8.1 $100 0.51 info 83 725 Tickmill Review
Fineco Bank logoFineco Bank 8.0 $0 N/A info 94 9770 Fineco Bank Review
BlackBull Markets logoBlackBull Markets 8.0 $0 0.827 info 77 26000 BlackBull Markets Review
Vantage logoVantage 8.0 $50 1.30 info 90 1000 Vantage Review
HYCM (Henyep Capital Markets) logoHYCM (Henyep Capital Markets) 7.9 $20 0.6 info 88 1199 HYCM Review
HFM logoHFM 7.9 $0 1.2 info 86 3500 HFM Review
ThinkMarkets logoThinkMarkets 7.8 $0 info 1.1 info 92 4000 ThinkMarkets Review
FlowBank logoFlowBank 7.7 $0 N/A info 80 408600 FlowBank Review
DooPrime logoDooPrime 7.8 $100 N/A info 83 10000 DooPrime Review
Trading 212 logoTrading 212 7.7 €10 1.9 info 79 8025 Trading 212 Review
BDSwiss logoBDSwiss 7.7 $10-$5000 info 1.6 info 76 1081 BDSwiss Review
Trade Nation logoTrade Nation 7.6 $0 0.6 85 601 Trade Nation Review
TMGM logoTMGM 7.6 $100 N/A info 83 12000 TMGM Review
Moneta Markets logoMoneta Markets 7.5 $50 1.27 info 72 1016 Moneta Markets Review
Eightcap logoEightcap 7.5 $100 1.0 info 85 736 Eightcap Review
MultiBank logoMultiBank 7.5 $50 N/A 84 1042
ACY Securities logoACY Securities 7.4 $50 1.2 info 75 2200 ACY Securities Review
RoboForex (RoboMarkets) logoRoboForex (RoboMarkets) 7.3 $100 1.4 info 71 12000 Roboforex (RoboMarkets) Review
VT Markets logoVT Markets 7.3 $100 1.2 info 70 1000 VT Markets Review
easyMarkets logoeasyMarkets 7.3 $50 0.9 info 80 199 easyMarkets Review
IronFX logoIronFX 7.2 $50 1.2 83 340 IronFX Review
Spreadex logoSpreadex 7.2 $0 0.81 info 71 10000 Spreadex Review
IFC Markets logoIFC Markets 7.2 $1 1.44 info 67 630 ATFX Review
Trade360 logoTrade360 7.2 $250 N/A info 76 1062 Trade360 Review
Octa logoOcta 7.2 $25 0.9 info 70 230 OctaFX Review
Axi logoAxi 7.1 $0 N/A info 81 175 Axitrader Review
TeleTrade logoTeleTrade 7.1 $100 N/A 71 500 Teletrade Review
GKFX logoGKFX 7.0 $0 N/A info 65 354 GKFX Review
Exness logoExness 7.0 $1 0.9 info 71 112 Exness Review
Vestle logoVestle 7.0 -1 N/A 78 750 Vestle Review
FXOpen logoFXOpen 7 $100 N/A info 80 87 FXOpen Review
FXPrimus logoFXPrimus 7.0 $100 N/A info 71 140 FXPrimus Review Visit Site
Forex4you logoForex4you 6.9 $0 N/A info 61 150 Forex4you Review
GBE brokers logoGBE brokers 6.8 $500 N/A info 71 500 GBE Brokers Review
Alpari logoAlpari 6.8 $20 N/A info 68 105 Alpari Review
TopFX logoTopFX 6.7 Depends on payment method N/A info 67 655 TopFX Review
Libertex (Forex Club) logoLibertex (Forex Club) 6.7 $10 N/A info 73 300 Libertex Review
LegacyFX logoLegacyFX 6.7 $500 N/A 67 425 LegacyFX Review
FXGT.com logoFXGT.com 6.6 $5 N/A 69 117 FXGT Review
ATFX logoATFX 6.5 $500 N/A info 73 150 ATFX Review
Xtrade logoXtrade 6.5 $250 N/A info 80 142 Xtrade Review

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Methodology

At BrokerNotes.co, our data-driven online broker reviews are based on our own extensive testing of each broker's products and services as well as the qualified observations of our expert editorial team. In conjunction with our sister site, ForexBrokers.com, we’ve published well over 100,000 words of research and collected thousands of data points across hundreds of variables. Our online trading guides are created with the same rigorous, data-driven approach.

The online brokers on our site provide the ability to trade forex in one or more ways, such as non-deliverable spot forex (i.e., rolling spot contracts), contracts for difference (CFD), or other derivatives such as futures. The availability of specific markets or features will depend on your country of residence and the broker's applicable brand or entity that services your account(s). Our proprietary Trust Score rating system tracks data from over 100 regulatory jurisdictions to help forex traders understand the regulatory status of their forex broker and choose a broker that they can trust.

Our editorial team is led by Steven Hatzakis, an industry veteran with decades of experience and a deep understanding of the forex market. Our team conducts thorough testing on a wide range of brokers, platforms, products, technologies, third-party trading tools, and mobile apps. We also test for the availability of high-quality educational content, actionable market research resources, and the accessibility and capabilities of mobile platforms. All of our ratings and rankings are based on the collection and validation of thousands of data points and our in-depth product testing.

Part of our testing process involves in-depth research into commissions and fees. We dive into each broker’s trading costs, such as VIP rebates, inactivity fees, custody fees, bid/ask spreads (we always strive to determine the average spreads for each broker to better serve our readers), and a variety of other fee-based data points.

All websites and web-based platforms are tested using the latest version of the Google Chrome browser. Our Desktop PCs run Windows 11, and we use MacBook Pro laptops running the latest version of macOS to test trading on the go.

When testing mobile apps or mobile products, we test on both Apple and Android devices. For Apple, we test with the iPhone XS running iOS 16, and for Android we use the Samsung Galaxy S9+ and Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra devices running Android OS 13.

All of the content on BrokerNotes.co is researched, fact-checked, and edited by members of our editorial team. Our ratings and rankings are driven by our independent data collection. We may use generative AI tools to assist in some of the rote aspects of our content production processes, but the substance of our content, as well as our opinions and evaluations are based on our extensive research and product testing. Read our Generative AI policy to learn more.

Our rigorous data validation process provides our readers with quality data they can trust. Click here to learn more about how we test.

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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 foreign exchange risk.

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