Author: Eduardo Montero
Customer reviews are becoming increasingly important in users’ decisions to purchase a particular product or service, so each company tries to take care of its image by encouraging positive comments about it, either with excellent services or products, or even with a personalised and effective customer service.
Taking this to our field, with brokers or financial intermediaries the same thing happens, after all you will be using their brokerage services, tools, trading platforms, among other things. That is why we give special importance and devote a lot of effort to collect and analyse every user review of a particular broker.
In today’s article we will be analysing each of the features and reviews of FP Markets, a very popular financial broker with more than 15 years of experience.
Among the most outstanding features of FP Markets we can mention that:
- Allows trading of more than 10,000 instruments across a wide range of assets in markets such as Forex and CFDs.
- It offers the possibility to trade on all variants of the popular Meta Trader platform (4/5), either in its PC or mobile versions.
- FP Markets has recently added cTrader to its list of available trading platforms.
- It has several types of trading accounts to best suit different customer profiles.
- It offers the possibility of autotrading through the Myfxbook platform.
- It offers a social trading tools.
- It has considerably low spreads on a large number of different assets.
- It has multiple methods of deposit and withdrawal of capital.
- Has an extremely quick and easy account opening process.
- Allows you to create a demo account for each of the types of live accounts offered.
FP Markets broker reviews
Sometimes, depending on the broker, we can find more or less reviews, as some are more popular or long-lived than others. It is also valid to clarify that many of these comments are well founded, while others are the result of bad experiences on the part of the user due to errors or lack of knowledge.
We have made a study of those reviews and opinions about FP Markets that have a real basis so that you can take as realistic an opinion as possible of this broker and from there decide whether or not you want to try their services.
Support and customer service reviews
First of all, we have to start with one of the most outstanding aspects of this broker, the customer support service.
Customers are satisfied with the service and even leave very favourable comments for support agents in particular.
In general, they find FP Markets’ customer service to be efficient, and the agents are professional and friendly.
Feedback on fees and commissions
As for FP Markets’ commissions, users say that they are quite competitive, as it has very tight spreads, especially in Raw accounts, where they can reach 0 pips.
Some say that the spreads are quite consistent even during important news and events, which is not often the case with other online brokers.
They also comment that FP Markets has a point in its favour in this regard considering that, unlike other brokers, it does not charge inactivity fees, deposit or withdrawal fees, with the exception of international transfers which do have a cost, something that clients do not like very much.
Opinions on available markets and assets
While FP Markets offers a wide range of financial assets from different markets, some customers find many assets lacking, especially in the area of cryptocurrencies, but these are really fairly isolated opinions, so overall this aspect can be rated as good or excellent.
Opinions on trading platforms
We have been able to find few comments related to desktop trading platforms, and the reason may be that, being top platforms (Meta Trader 4/5) with so many years of evolution, there are few problems that customers have with them.
But we have found some opinions about the FP Markets mobile platform, both in its iOS and Android versions. The comments we have found are mostly positive, saying that the interface is excellent, intuitive and that it has no serious bugs when it comes to order execution.
Opinions on trading account types
Another relevant aspect that FP Markets’ clients talk about and comment on is the types of trading accounts, especially the Iress accounts, which are among the newest ones.
Users who prefer stocks are very comfortable with the Iress platform, but those who prefer the Forex market are not, claiming that the Meta Trader platform, and its respective Standard and Raw Spread accounts, are better suited for this market.
You can compare these FP Markets reviews with the ones we have collected in these articles about other brokers such as: eToro customer reviews, XTB customer reviews, Pepperstone customer reviews, IQ Option customer reviews,…
Main advantages and disadvantages of FP Markets
Before going on to detail each of the features and user reviews of FP Markets, we have compiled a set of advantages and disadvantages that we believe can help you to have a more objective opinion about this online broker.
Advantages of FP Markets
- Social trading: This way of trading can undoubtedly be a great advantage for inexperienced clients, as it allows them to copy the trades of more experienced traders and with a constant profitability, effectiveness that users can check through their statistics.
- Considerably low spreads: It allows trading on a wide range of financial assets with excellent spread commissions, which can be as low as 0.0 pips on Raw accounts.
- Multiple learning tools: FP Markets offers its users a wide range of educational materials, including video trading courses, webinars, podcasts, ebooks, and many more.
- High maximum leverage: You can enjoy quite high leverage (as long as you are not resident in Europe where there are regulatory limitations). However, taking into account the risks involved in opening a trade with such a high leverage, we must point out that it can be really advantageous for small accounts to be able to access larger positions with less capital. We advise you to be extremely careful and not to make excessive use of this advantage as it can lead to the loss of your capital in the blink of an eye.
- No deposit fees: FP Markets does not charge commissions for depositing funds and takes care of the bank fees for international deposits. If this broker receives a document proving that the original deposit fee does not exceed USD 50, it will cover the international bank fees (charged by banks to clients) for deposits over USD 10,000.
- Low spreads on cryptocurrencies: It is worth noting that despite having a limited number of cryptoassets available, the spreads provided by FP Markets are quite low compared to similar brokers.
Disadvantages of FP Markets
- Commissions on international withdrawals: FP Markets charges a commission of 10 Australian dollars to accounts that make withdrawals outside the territory, to this is added the commissions corresponding to the particular method we choose to withdraw our money.
- Educational content in English: Most of the educational resources are only available in English, something really disadvantageous for Spanish-speaking customers.
- Few cryptoassets to trade: Perhaps it is not a disadvantage in itself, but the fact of having few tradable cryptocurrencies today when this type of assets are so popular and represent a great investment opportunity, could be considered improvable in that aspect.
FP Markets broker features:
In this section we would like to detail each of the features of FP Markets, and in turn, comment on what their clients think of each of them, taking into account their experiences.
Available markets
The markets offered by FP Markets are quite varied, and clients are very grateful for that. Let’s take a closer look at the conditions offered by each of them:
Forex
- Allows trading of more than 60 currency pairs (major, minor and exotic).
- Significantly low minimum spreads from 0 pips.
- Open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.
Shares
- FP Markets allows international stock trading through its Iress accounts with access to over 10,000 assets and direct market access (DMA). For all other accounts, users can access the equity markets using the MT5 platform with access to over 50 international stocks.
- The maximum leverage for accounts trading stocks on MT5 is 20:1.
Precious Metals
- It allows trading Gold and Silver in their variants (Gold/US Dollar, Gold/Australian Dollar, Silver/US Dollar, Silver/Australian Dollar, Silver/Euro).
- The average spreads for these instruments are below 1 Pip for standard and Raw accounts.
CFD Commodities
- It allows trading 7 types of commodities including Coffee, Natural Gas and Oil.
- The average spreads for these instruments range from 0.04 to 16.69 pips, the latter only for Palladium.
CFD Indices
- It allows trading 15 types of world indices, including EURO50 and US500, and with direct market access we can trade 8 types of global indices, including (NASDAQ 100 E-Mini, S&P 500 E-Mini and DAX Index).
- Significantly low minimum spreads, starting at 0.05 and up to 6.6 pips
- Competitive leverage on world-class trading platforms.
Cryptocurrencies
- Allows trading 11 types of cryptocurrencies.
- The spreads are really low for these types of instruments, which can vary from 0.0004 pips and up to 7.66 pips for Bitcoin, undoubtedly one of the lowest in the market.
As for the markets and instruments offered by FP Markets, clients are quite satisfied except for those who prefer cryptocurrency markets, as even though this broker offers them, its offer is quite limited.
FP Markets Platforms
Unlike other more risky brokers, FP Markets has not wanted to launch with its own trading platform knowing all that this entails, but that does not mean that it does not have good options, in fact the platforms it offers, Meta Trader 4 and 5 in this case, are the most popular and used by traders around the world.
Let’s see what advantages and features you can take advantage of if you use either of them.
Metatrader 4 (MT4)
Available in all its versions, both for PC and smartphones. MT4 is undoubtedly one of the most widely used and powerful trading platforms in the world. Some of the main features you can take advantage of are:
- Customisable interface. You can even change the colours of the technical indicators.
- One-click trading
- Real-time price streaming on live and demo accounts
- 128 bit encryption for secure trading.
- Ability to add Expert Advisors (EAs).
- Customisable alerts.
- Access to MetaTrader marketplace and MQL4 community.
- Compatible with iOS, Android and Mac devices.
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is an all-in-one trading platform for Forex, Stocks, Metals, Commodities, Indices and Cryptocurrencies. MT5 is a multi-asset, technologically advanced platform designed specifically for Forex and CFD trading.
Some of its main features that you can benefit from are:
- Displays market depth and technical indicators
- 6 types of pending orders, including buy stop limit and sell stop limit
- Enhanced strategy tester for algorithmic trading and Expert Advisors (EAs)
- Integrated marketplace of trading systems and apps
- Trading functions and alerts with email and push notifications on mobile devices
- Improved accuracy in forex and CFD trading using scalper trading robots.
- Forex signals and copy trading
- 21 timescales and 8 order types
cTrader
FP Markets has recently added cTrader to its list of available trading platforms. cTrader is a renowned all-in-one platform that is versatile for all types of traders and trading strategies, whether manual or automated trading. It stands out for its powerful, customisable interface, speed of execution, advanced charting and a large number of indicators for technical market analysis.
WebTrader
The FP Markets web terminal allows you to trade with both versions of Metatrader, either MT4 or MT5. The main advantage of this terminal is the ability to access the financial markets instantly and without having to download and install any software on our devices.
Its main features are:
- Ease of trading (no downloads required and you get started in seconds)
- Full range of trading tools and operations
- Trade from anywhere
- One-click trading
- Multiple order types and execution modes
- Real-time price quotes
- Data synchronisation between all platforms
- 24/7 online support and personal account manager
- Multi-language support
- Market depth function
Mobile Trading App
The FP Markets trading app is compatible with all iOS and Android devices. Among its main features we can find:
- Perform market analysis using charting tools and a range of technical indicators.
- Full access to your account from within the app. Deposit funds and change leverage levels.
- Create, edit and customise your own favourites menu.
- With the added benefit of browser access via the mobile web version.
- Access to 24/7 customer support (multilingual) from within the mobile trading platform.
FP Markets platforms are the target of many of the opinions left by its customers in forums and review websites, especially about FP Markets’ own mobile platform, which according to its users, has no bugs that affect the flow of operations and analysis of traders, and in turn has an intuitive interface, and easy to use.
Analysis and training tools
FP Markets wants its clients to make money trading the markets, after all, as its execution model is ECN, they have no conflict of interest with these users, so it offers a large number of educational materials, which we will detail below.
Video trading courses: We can access a wide range of courses in the form of videos. These courses are separated according to the level of training required by the user, from beginners, intermediate to advanced levels.
The video courses not only provide basic trading information, but also cover a large number of indicators including strategies for many of them, providing users with not only the content but also the correct way to put them into practice. It is worth noting that the content of these videos is entirely in English, which can be very difficult for clients who are not fluent in English.
Webinars: Another of the online training resources provided by FP Markets are webinars. These range from live analysis of the financial markets to tools to help us improve our trading in real time. Access to these webinars is completely free and with a regular schedule that can be found on the broker’s official website in the (Resources/Webinars) section. The webinars are given by highly qualified individuals with years of experience in the financial markets.
Podcasts: They may not have the scope of the webinars but they are undoubtedly another of the online resources that FP Markets makes available to us and with which they seek to cover as many of the doubts that their clients may have. Through Spotify or Google Podcasts we can access these training resources for free, where we can find answers to many of the questions or details in which we have doubts. Also on the broker’s official website you can access all the podcasts available so far by going to the section (Resources/Podcasts). Like the video courses, the podcasts are also in English, something that can be really annoying for people who speak Spanish, but it is very useful when it comes to covering this content for as many clients as possible around the world.
eBooks: Whether you are just starting out in Forex trading or you are a professional trader, FP Markets’ free trading eBooks can help you raise the level of your trading. FP Markets’ professional financial industry partners have collaborated to develop a series of educational materials that are designed to address key areas associated with Forex. You’ll find specific trading eBooks on both technical and fundamental analysis, along with tips on how to spot trading opportunities in volatile markets. Discover how experts use tools such as candlestick charts when trading intraday on financial instruments such as Forex, Stocks, Indices, Metals, Commodities, and Cryptocurrencies.
News and Calendar: The economic calendar is an essential tool for planning trades and future orders. FP Markets provides an excellent economic calendar which lists important upcoming market events along with economic activities and indicators that could influence global financial markets, including Forex. This calendar has a wide range of categories including central banks, inflation, interest rates, economic activity and politics. Undoubtedly the biggest advantage of the economic calendar is that upcoming news and events can be accessed in real time from a single page that provides all the data, charts and descriptions.
Traders Toolbox: The Traders Toolbox (MT4 Traders Toolbox) from FP Markets is a set of 12 online trading tools that will take your trading experience to the next level. The Traders Toolbox brings Wall Street to your doorstep, combining a robust trading infrastructure with valuable market analysis and a range of trading support applications.
Traders can access the economic calendar and breaking news that can impact market prices from within the same platform. Risk management is facilitated by the Traders Toolbox alarm manager. It sets up automated actions such as opening and closing positions, in order to take profits and minimise losses, two fundamental elements of trading.
Tracking, comparing and analysing can be difficult at the best of times, but not with Traders Toolbox. Get real-time access to price activity and trend direction with the Correlations Trader, or use the Correlation Matrix, which gives you an excellent overview of all the various currency pairs and how they correlate with each other.
Trading Calculator: As part of our technical analysis, it is crucial to know how to manage risk before opening a trade. The FP Markets Forex calculator helps you assess the risks associated with your next trade before executing it. The calculator includes a number of functions that allow you to determine the pip value of your base currency in order to accurately monitor your risk per trade. We will also be able to calculate the margin requirements needed to open and maintain positions, calculate the interest rates between two currency pairs on our open positions, assess the projected profit or loss on any transaction you are going to make in the Forex market.
Autochartist: We will be able to make use of Autochartist’s powerful technical analysis tools in order to easily understand real-time trading opportunities. This tool provides real-time, pre-configured trades for both novice and experienced traders. Trading opportunities are delivered via email, mobile applications with push notifications, within the client area and on the MT4/MT5 platform. Using this tool saves time by continuously scanning the market for high quality trading opportunities.
FP Markets clients appreciate this wealth of resources and tools that the broker makes available to them, but some reflect that this is not very helpful to them simply because all the material is in English only, as not everyone is fluent in English, even though it is the most universal language.
FP Markets account types
FP Markets allows you to open different types of accounts. These accounts are separated according to the trading platform we wish to use and subject to specific features for each of them.
For MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms, users can choose between Standard and Raw accounts, which are also known in the broker as Forex accounts.
Below we will look at the common features of these accounts and then move on to look at the individual aspects of each of them.
Common features of Standard and Raw accounts:
- Minimum deposit of 100 AUD or equivalent.
- Over 60 FX pairs, metals, indices, commodities.
- Execution type on these accounts is ECN.
- Minimum trade size per trade is 0.01 lot.
- Allow the use of EAs
- These accounts can be traded from mobile devices with the corresponding versions of MetaTrader.
- Allow the use of VPS
Standard Account
Spreads for Standard accounts can vary from 1 pip upwards because Standard accounts do not charge commissions per lot, instead the spread is charged slightly higher values than Raw accounts.
This feature of zero commissions per lot is undoubtedly the main difference with Raw accounts.
Raw account
Spreads for Raw accounts can vary starting at 0 pips.
On these accounts a commission of 3 usd per side is charged once we reach one lot and trading volume traded. Therefore, for each closed trade (meaning both sides) the commission will be 6 USD or its equivalent, depending on the base currency of the account.
The Raw account is the most popular among FP Markets’ retail clients.
Iress Accounts
The other accounts that can be opened at FP Market are the Iress accounts. These accounts are separated into three specific types, which we will discuss below.
(Iress) Standard Account
- The minimum deposit for this account is AUD 1000 or equivalent.
- The minimum commission on (AXS) is 10 Australian dollars, then 0.1%.
(Iress) Platinum Account
- The minimum deposit for this account is AUD 25,000 or equivalent.
- The minimum commission on (AXS) is AUD 9, then 0.09%.
(Iress) Premier Account
- The minimum deposit for this account is AUD 50,000 or equivalent.
- This account has no minimum commission on (AXS), then 0.08%.
As a common feature for all three we can mention that:
- It offers a maximum leverage of 20:1
- The margin rate for CFDs on shares varies from 3% upwards.
Demo Account
FP Markets allows you to open a free demo account for each of the real accounts it provides, in order to facilitate the management of the same once we start trading with real money.
It is worth mentioning that this type of account will only be valid for 30 days, which they consider enough time to learn the correct use of their platforms.
It is worth noting that like other brokers, we can switch from the real account to the demo account and vice versa whenever we want.
The virtual balance of the demo account will be 100 000 USD, which will allow us to access the same trading features of a real account, except that we will not put our money at risk.
FP Markets’ main commissions
Commissions are never lacking when it comes to financial services and brokers, both for operational and non-operational costs, we will always have to cough up money to our intermediary, after all it is the way they can survive and we can access the financial markets.
Important: Below you will see some examples of FP Markets commissions compiled at the time of creating this article but to consult the current conditions in real time of this broker you should go to its official website in Spanish:
You will also have them available on the broker’s trading platform after opening a demo or live account. Let’s get to it:
Trading Fees
As the name suggests, they are those that we will have to assume when we operate in the markets, either by opening, closing and even maintaining trading operations.
The commissions that stand out most in this category are:
- Spreads
- Overnight commissions
Spreads
Also known as spread, it is nothing more than the difference between the bid price (ASK) and the offer price (BID).
For example, if you want to sell the broker gives you the lower price, but if you want to buy you will have to pay the higher price.
As you can see in the following image:
In FP Markets, as in most brokers, this type of commission usually varies according to the volatility of the market.
Spreads on Standard accounts are as low as 1.0 pips, which are usually higher than on Raw accounts, as no direct trading commissions are charged on this type of account.
On the other hand, Raw accounts have a much tighter spread due to the collection of fixed trading commissions once a certain trading volume is reached, this value usually varies starting at 0 pips.
If you want to know more specific details about a particular asset you can visit the official FP Markets broker website in the Trading/Pricing section.
Overnight rates
In this case we are referring to the fees that are generated when you keep a (leveraged) position open overnight, which is also categorised as a trading commission.
FP Markets offers some of the most competitive swap rates in the industry. This means that when you hold open positions overnight, you won’t have to worry about the overnight or rollover fee greatly diminishing your profits.
To find out the rolloverrate (swap fee) on each instrument, you can use the swap rate calculator in MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5, depending on which one you are using.
To do this, we choose the financial instrument we want to hold overnight, indicate the currency and volume we are going to trade and click on “Calculate”.
It is important to note that this commission starts to be charged from 00:00 hours on the platform and that the fees are three times the usual amount on Wednesday nights to take into account the weekend.
If you need to know more specific details about a particular asset, you can go to the broker’s official website in the Trading/Swaps section.
Other trading commissions
On Raw accounts the broker charges a trading commission of USD 3 per side for both Forex and Metals assets, on all other instruments this commission is charged to the spread so it is not paid directly as above.
In the case of CFDs on MT5 stocks, the broker charges a minimum commission of around $10.
If you wish to review these commissions in more depth you can take a look at the broker’s website, where you will find a detailed list of charges by asset type.
Non-operating fees
As you might be guessing, non-operating fees are fees that you will have to pay whether or not you execute transactions in the financial markets.
The most common fees that qualify for this category are those you are charged for:
- Deposits and/or withdrawals
- Inactivity
- Currency exchange
- Individual tools or services
Deposit fees
FP Markets does not charge commissions for depositing funds, but not only that, but if you send them a document proving that the original deposit fee does not exceed 50 USD, they will cover the international banking fees (charged by banks to clients) for deposits over 10,000 USD.
Withdrawal fees
FP Markets charges certain fees when withdrawing our funds from the broker. These fees are directly related to the amount and method of withdrawal.
In addition FP Markets charges an internal fee of 10 AUD for international withdrawals only.
To find out the fees associated with each specific withdrawal method, please go to the Trading/Withdrawing Funds section of the official website.
Inactivity fees: At the time of writing, there is no inactivity fee, so you can leave your account inactive indefinitely without fear of having money deducted from your funds.
Is FP Markets a safe broker?
Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Australia, FP Markets is authorised and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), and registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
We can also mention that this broker is owned and operated by First Prudential Markets Pty Ltd.
Although it does not have too many regulations, the ones it has are quite serious and recognised worldwide.
Another thing in its favour is that it is an ECN broker, and by not being a counterparty to your trades, it does not enter into a conflict of interest with its clients, so in the eyes of the users themselves this gives them a certain degree of security and peace of mind (reflected in several opinions and comments on FP Mrkets that we have found), as they do not care about taking your money but that you have a successful trading experience, as the more you trade, the more they earn.
Safety of funds
With several awards in the areas of customer service and execution technologies, FP Markets is considered to be one of the most reliable Forex brokers in the industry, as winning numerous awards in the competitive Forex market is not something that happens overnight and represents consistency, good performance and reliability.
But the security of its funds is not just about appearances, as FP Markets also ensures that its clients’ (retail) funds are always kept separate from the company’s capital and protected by top-tier banks, claiming that under no circumstances is client money used to cover company expenses.
It is worth noting that because FP Markets’ liquidity is sourced from top tier financial institutions it provides its users with the highest levels of inter-bank liquidity.
Furthermore, FP Markets’ financial accounts are audited by external firms to ensure constant regulatory compliance in all transactions. In addition to regularly offering its clients the account statements presented by the company.
What user profile is this broker suitable for?
If we take into account the characteristics and types of accounts that FP Markets offers to its clients, we can say that this broker is suitable for both professional and retail clients, but it is important to know what type of account is suitable for each one.
In the case of FP Markets, the Standard accounts are best suited for retail clients and those with little time in the markets.
While the Raw and Iress accounts are more suitable for experienced traders, especially the Iress Platinum account and the Iress Premier account, just by looking at their minimum deposit requirements we can see that they are designed for traders with more capital and experience in the markets.
The platforms, trading conditions and the markets that can be accessed with each of the FP Markets accounts make it clear what type of account is for each user profile in this broker.
How to open an account with FP Markets?
Opening an account with FP Markets is a relatively simple and quick process.
The first thing you need to do is to access the FP Markets website:
and then click on ‘START TRADING’:
Once we access it, we will be shown a series of steps that we must complete to carry out the process of creating our account.
The registration page indicates that the process of filling in the data will take us an estimated time of 2 minutes, so it is considered really quick and easy compared to other similar brokers
The first form will ask us to enter a series of personal data as in most brokers:
Among the data we must complete we must put our email, phone number, country and full name.
In this form we can make use of Facebook or Google accounts to complete our profile.
Once we have completed the previous form we must enter some more personal data, such as our date of birth, our address, the average amount of our annual income and choose the option that corresponds to the way in which we obtain our income.
We will then go on to complete the details related to our account settings.
In this form we must select the type of account we want to open, the platform we are going to use (MT4 or MT5), the currency we will have in our account, the leverage we want to trade with and finally the password we choose to secure it.
The next step is very simple but still important, as it consists of accepting the broker’s terms and conditions.
It is recommended that you take a moment and review these terms, as it will help you avoid future problems related to various legal issues that the broker may or may not be responsible for.
That’s it, if you have completed each of the above forms you will have created your FP Markets account, and you will have access to the dashboard, you only need to choose a deposit method and make your first payment to start trading, but remember that you also have to send the identity verification documents so that you can withdraw when the time comes.
Final thoughts on FP Markets
Throughout this article we have analysed every aspect of the broker FP Markets, both its features, as well as the opinions and ratings that users have about its services and tools.
From what we could find, the opinions have a mostly positive tone, highlighting above all the customer service and personalised support, as it seems that its agents are efficient and committed.
It only has two regulations, but taking into account that these are among the most important at a financial level, and that it is also covered by other methods of protection, it can be said that it is a safe broker, offering quality services.
Remember that you have the possibility to open a demo account with FP Markets and test its services, trading platforms and operating commissions and draw your own conclusions beyond what is discussed in this article.
In summary, this would be our compilation of opinions and analysis about FP Markets. We encourage you to share this content on your social networks so that other users can get information about this broker.
Thank you for your time!
This post is also available in Spanish: fp markets opiniones