79.6% of clients lose money. Capital at risk. Looking at the overall review picture of ETC Capital (meaning the various reviews posted about the broker by review sites and FX/CFD portals), one would think that one is indeed dealing with a reputable and straightforward operation.
The actual user/trader reviews tell a different story though. Those who have made use of the services offered by the brokerage are apparently not exactly impressed with how things are handled. The complaints run a wide range and they are way too numerous for comfort.
Stop Loss manipulation is only part of the problem apparently. Some traders have complained about having their accounts suspended as soon as they became profitable, while others have said that their withdrawal requests were squarely denied. The support staff of the broker is also often derided in trader comments.
Long story short in this regard: all this negative feedback is definitely a major red flag, and while it is true that those with something negative to say are always more motivated to actually do it, than those content with the services they get, this is a little too much in this case.
On the other hand, the broker is quick to admit that some 76% of its CFD traders end up losing money. It could also be that there are in fact scores of disgruntled losers voicing their rage. At any rate, you – a prospective client of the this brokerage – should know about this state of affairs.
The corporate owner of the ETX Capital brand is a certain Monecor London Ltd. Monecor is apparently listed at the London Stock Exchange and it is regulated and licensed by the FCA. The registration number of the operator is 124721.
What this means is that the brokerage is indeed licensed and that -at least theoretically – it should be MiFID compliant as well. The official website of the operation makes a point of specifying that the deals it peddles are not aimed at any country outside the UK though. Those residing in the US, Canada, Singapore and Belgium are expressly forbidden from accessing the website and the brokerage.
Knowing the above, why should you open an account with this online FX/CFD brokerage?
The broker allegedly offers some very tight spreads and outstanding leverage for most of its supported asset-classes. The spreads on popular FX pairs such as the EUR/USD start from as little as 0.7 pips. On some stocks, the spread can be as low as 0.08 pips. There are fixed as well as variable spreads.
The leverage is a decent 1:100 on most products, though it can go as high as 1:200. For retail traders though, leverage is capped at 1:30, which is actually not a bad thing as far as we are concerned.
Interestingly, the brokerage considers its customer support one of its main selling points. That goes directly against the popular feeling, according to which the service is unresponsive at best and downright shady at worst… Which side of this story is true is difficult to tell, but again: the negative customer feedback should be considered a major red flag.
The broker offers excellent market coverage. Some 59 FX pairs are included, plus scores of other tradable assets: in total more than 5,000 markets. Interestingly, cryptocurrency-based CFDs are not offered yet.
The broker has some 50 years’ worth of experience in trading and its platform selection is quite outstanding. Besides MT4, the ETX TraderPro is the pride of the brokerage.
ETX Capital is the winner of Best Online Trading Platform at the Shares Awards 2018
ETX Capital Account Types
In this regard, the broker has chosen to keep things ridiculously simple. A single real money account type is offered (though there are Demo account options available on MT4 as well as on TraderPro). The minimum required deposit is $100.
To gain access to perks such as higher leverage, traders need to up their trading volumes.
ETX Capital Trading Platforms
ETX TraderPro is the pride of the brokerage. It is a proprietary trading platform, which is aimed at professional and high-volume traders.
The platform offers an impressive range of trading tools, in addition to a similarly impressive charting package. Through this platform, traders can open up the charts of various products and then trade away directly from there.
Technical indicators and drawing tools are obviously also included in the ETX TraderPro package.
On top of all the above, traders can use flexible layouts, price alerts and they can compile watch lists. The indicators are customizable.
MT4 is the world’s top trading platform for a reason: its capabilities are unparalleled. Its charting package is superb, its trading tools are numerous and its features are extremely useful for those who know how to put them to proper use.
Everything considered, it is safe to say that MT4 is a fully customizable trading environment. As far as technical indicators are concerned for instance, there are more than 50 included in the freely downloadable version. Traders can however add new ones and they can even create their own indicators through the platform.
The same goes for EAs. EAs are auto traders which can be programmed by traders according to their preference. These Expert Advisors can then be coupled with custom scripts, for a superb automated trading experience. Obviously, due to their nature, EAs work best with a VPS service.
EAs as well as custom scripts can be installed by traders and they can be created from scratch making use of the tools provided by the platform.
ETX Capital Market Coverage
The tradable assets covered by the brokerage include FX pairs, commodities, indices and equities.
For every one of these asset-classes, the official ETX Capital website offers explanations and trading tips.
Given the nature of CFDs, the spreads on this asset-class are decent (in some cases). S+P CFDs for instance, feature spreads from 0.5 pips. On Chinese CFDs on the other hand, the minimum spread is 30 pips.
The leverage ranges from 1:25 all the way to 1:200.
The spreads cover an even wider range on FX pairs. While on the EUR/USD, they start from 0.7 pips, and while they remain manageable on most other major pairs, on exotics such as the USD/ZAR, the minimum spread is 120 pips.
On indices, the situation is rather similar. On S+P for instance, the spread can be as low as 0.5 pips. On China A 50 on the other hand, spreads start from 30 pips.
While the spreads are quite competitive on equities, the maximum leverage is capped at 1:20.
On some of the commodities, low spreads are coupled with massive leverage, so this popular asset class in indeed an interesting one.
ETX Capital Support
The broker features an exhaustive FAQ section at its website, which is the first line of support. Other than that, the support staff can be contacted through an email form. There are a couple of phone numbers available too (+44 (0) 20 7392 1434 and +44 (0) 20 7392 1494), together with an email address: [email protected].
Customer support is available 24/5.
ETX Capital Conclusion
The broker looks like a solid trading destination, especially for UK-based clients. Its trading conditions are attractive, its platform offer is more than decent (the proprietary TraderPro is quite interesting), and its market coverage is outstanding.
The negative used feedback simply cannot be ignored though. We can’t help but jot that down as a major red flag.
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