FXCM was started in the late 1990s with a group of eager investors who wanted to trade the global currency markets. They started FXCM in 1999 by harnessing the power of the internet to allow retail traders who had access to a computer and internet participate in forex trading.
The first year they were able to transact $250 million a month which was respectable for a new player in the industry. Since then they have blossomed and are now transacting $435 billion a month; this proves that more and more people have accepted and approve FXCM as leader in the forex trading industry.
FXCM has made improvements on all their areas and that has enabled them to grow fast. They pioneered a No Dealing Desk (NDD) type of execution that allows the trader to access fast execution for orders placed. FXCM was able to transact $3.9 trillion in 2015.
He has a large pool of liquidity providers; these are tier one banks from all around the world. These banks have made it possible for the firm to bring into place and improve the No Dealing Desk execution greatly.
These banks include Barclays Bank, Bank of America, UBS AG, Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Citibank, Citadel Securities, Credit Suisse just to name a few.
FXCM Trading Platform
FXCM has a number of platforms to choose from, all of them are of high quality and efficiency. These platforms are:
-
Trade Station
This is an in-house trading platform created for traders who have an advanced knowledge in trading and also suitable for beginner traders.
The platform has unique charting systems, intuitive chart trading across all FXCM tradable instruments and it supports automated strategies, custom indicators and one can back test new strategies.
-
MetaTrader4
This platform accepts all Expert Advisors, it allows for partial closing of positions. 0.01 lots can be traded through this platform, and free VPS hosting for traders who maintain a balance of $5000.
-
Mirror Trader
Traders can copy and automate the strategies of successful traders; they can choose from the hundreds of back-tested strategies and select the best one to copy.
-
Ninja Trader
This platform has a strategy builder that allows the trader to create a strategy and back test it. It also has a market analyzer that provides real time quotes and shows the market outlook at the moment.
-
Zulu Trader
This platform is a peer-peer auto trade platform that allows one to subscribe to signals from other traders. It also has sorting features that enable the trader to sort through signals and the subscriptions so as to arrive at the best.
It has a risk management feature called the margin call-o-meter that helps with the risk management.
FXCM Account Types
FXCM has three different account types:
- Mini account: the minimum deposit is $50 and the maximum amount is $20000, the lot size is 1000 and has 18 currency pairs on offer. It has a Dealing Desk (DD).
- Standard account: the minimum deposit is $2000 and there is no limit to how high you can fund your account. The lot size is 1000 and there are 39 currency pairs to trade. This account is a No Dealing Desk (NDD).
- Active trader: this account has a minimum of $25000 as deposit or higher, the lot size is 1000, 39 currency pairs. It is a No Dealing Desk (NDD).
Commissions and Spreads
FXCM has some of the industry’s lowest spreads on the forex pairs. The company does charge a commission and spread on the trades taken, the charged commissions make the spreads tighter.
This allows the trader to keep majority of the profits for themselves. Although during high impact news releases the spread widens and that can hurt the trader who specifically focuses on these types of opportunities.
Customer Service
FXCM has some very good customer service, it is a 24 hour service accessible by their live chat on their website, the telephone numbers, and they have a fax contact and an e-mail address.
The above mentioned are just to maximize the clients ability to reach them when a need arises. If the client needs personal attention to their problem, they have contact centers around the world.
Reliability
FXCM is one of the brokerage firms that are highly regulated; since it is based in the States it has one of the toughest regulations.
FXCM is regulated with the Futures Commission Merchants (FCM), the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer (RFED), and the National Futures Association (NFA). They are also registered across three other countries; France, United Kingdom and Australia.
FXCM’S Pros and Cons
Form the review there are some advantages and disadvantages that have emerged clearly. The following are the pros or advantages that have been found from reviewing FXCM.
Pros
- FXCM has a variety of trading accounts that the clients can select from, the accounts have been categorized as per the trader’s financial ability and the level of trading expertise.
- FXCM is a reputable broker, they have been in the industry long enough and they have been part of revolutionizing the forex trading industry. They are also highly regulated.
- FXCM offers quality support to its clients from all over the world, this ensures that their clients’ problem have been accessed and dealt with in the best possible manner.
- FXCM has creative and innovative trading platforms that have helped many clients improve their trading performance and skills alike.
- FXCM offers quality spreads and commissions for their clients on all tradable instruments.
- FXCM protects client funds using the best banks in the industry; this ensures that clients can access their funds back easily if they want to make a withdrawal.
Cons
- FXCM’s spreads tend to widen during major news releases; this is very expensive for clients who trade during the news events.
Conclusion
FXCM is generally a very good broker and they offer very good services. They can always improve on their disadvantages and carry on with their goals of revolutionizing the forex trading industry.
This is one of the brokers that I will highly recommend when choosing brokers to work with. Their contribution to the growth of the industry will always be admired.
