IC Markets Review
IC Markets is a well established and popular forex and CFDs online trading brokerage who offers competitive spreads on a wide range of assets across the global markets. IC Markets was founded in 2007 and is owned and operated by International Capital Markets PTY which are based in Sydney Australia.
Advantages
- Excellent selection of sophisticated trading platforms.
- An extensive array of tradeable products across global markets.
- Very safe, secure and highly regulated.
- Excellent customer support and educational resources.
Regulation
IC Markets is authorised and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Trade with a peace of mind knowing IC Markets is monitored by one of the strictest financial regulatory bodies in the world.
Benefits
- Regulated by ASIC, Australian Financial Services Licence Number 335692.
- Australian Based.
- Client Segregated Trust Accounts with Australian Banks – Westpac and NAB.
- Professional Indemnity Insurance – Lloyds of London.
- Member of External Dispute Resolution Scheme – FOS.
- Externally Audited.
Leverage
IC Markets are the best forex broker when it comes to leverage. As shown on several forex broker comparison tables, the leverage of 500:1 is only offered by a handful of Australia’s best forex brokers. This leverage give flexibility in a range of trading conditions.
Technology
Execution Speeds That Average 40ms
IC Markets leverages the best technology to maximise clients execution speeds. This includes a dedicated fibre optic cable to interconnect Australia traders to liquidity providers. Latency is also reduced by having the fastest servers located near the main trading centres. Owned by Equinix these servers are close to the exchanges latency has been recorded as low as 1 millisecond.
The two Equinix servers are located in:
- New York (NY4) for MetaTrader forex trading account holder
- London (NY5) for cTrader forex trading account holders
Platforms and Tools
IC Markets goes above and beyond with the trading platforms they offer. The provide not 1 but 3 trading platforms for their traders to choose from. With three platforms to choose from, traders are sure to find one that meets all their needs and trading style. See them overviewed below.
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)
This is the most popular trading platform not only for IC Markets, but for brokerages around the world. The platform utilizes one click trading solutions and a variety of technical indicators, advanced charting tools, and range of Expert Advisers.
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)
This platform is the most recent addition from the MetaTrader platforms. It has not gained as much adoption and popularity as MetaTrader4 but is the upgraded and improved upon version of MT4.
cTrader
The cTrader platform was made specifically for an ECN trading environment that utilizes automated trading software. With this platform, traders have three options when it comes to implementing automated trading; ZuluTrade, Myfxbook’s AutoTrade and Signal Trader's mirroring technology.
Spreads And Fees
There are two main trading accounts that offer the most popular forex trading platform – MetaTrader 4 & 5.
| Trading Platform | Commission (per lot) | Spreads from (pips) |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Account - MetaTrader | 0$ | 1.0 |
| True ECN Account - MetaTrader | 3.5$ | 0.0 |
| True ECN Account - cTrader | 3$ | 0.0 |
Conclusion
ICMarkets has a very good array of trading conditions which caters to the needs of different categories of traders, from the beginners to the pros and also those who just want to passively invest. Traders who love the MT4 platform’s simplicity and user-friendliness will be enthralled with the variations of trading platforms that are available.