Trade Broker AvaTrade.com Review

AvaTrade is a well-regulated market maker broker offering fixed spreads (from 0.9 pips on forex). Therefore, it is a good choice for traders looking for these types of spreads, such as news traders. Although AvaTrade may not be suitable for the most demanding traders, because of its limited number of CFDs (only 200).

You may also be reassured by the fact that with AvaTrade, you will always be well protected. The broker offers protection against negative balances and segregated accounts. The broker offers its services in many countries around the world, but not to traders from the U.S. at this time. Apart from this, AvaTrade is an extremely reliable broker with a very good set of offerings such as extended markets, copy trading and spread betting, although the minimum deposit is slightly above average and the number of instruments is rather limited.

FOUNDED 2006
BROKER TYPE MM
TRADING PLATFORMS MT4, MT5
ACCOUNT TYPES Retail, Professional, Options, Spread betting
LEVERAGE – retail 1:30
LEVERAGE – global / pro 1:400
SPREAD – standart account From 0.9 pips
MINIMUM DEPOSIT 100$
MINIMUM TRADABLE VOLUME 0.01 Lot
DEPOSIT/FUNDING OPTIONS Bank transfer, Credit/Debet card, Electronic wallet
WITHDRAW OPTIONS Bank transfer, Credit/Debit card
SUPPORT 24/5
REGULATIONS MiFID, CySEC, ASIC, BVI, FFAJ & JFCA, ADGM & FRSA, ISA

There are certainly a number of advantages to speak of, given AvaTrade’s reputation. For instance, the fact that the broker offers several account types, including an Islamic account. In terms of trading, AvaTrade offers excellent spreads. Starting with the fixed spread of 0.9 pips on forex.

Among the various disadvantages of trading with AvaTrade, you will notice that the inactivity fee is quite high. This can be a problem, especially if you are a casual trader. Also, the general consensus is that AvaTrade account managers can be quite pushy to get you to start trading in order to achieve their goals. This is even more important if you are a novice trader.

Finally, the last significant drawback of the broker is the very limited number of instruments available for trading. While AvaTrade is well equipped when it comes to forex, with over 200 instruments, other areas are not as deep. This may discourage you if you want to trade other markets.

When trading forex with AvaTrade, you will find a large selection of around 60 currency pairs. This includes major, minor and exotic pairs. You can also trade options on some of them if you wish. One of the most interesting aspects is that, even though other brokers offer lower spreads, AvaTrade offers fixed spreads, which do not change regardless of the market conditions.

Under these conditions, you can be reasonably sure of your trading costs – a certainty that other brokers cannot provide. Overall, while you may find several other currency pairs to trade elsewhere, AvaTrade’s low fixed spreads make it a very popular broker.

Pros

  • 40 currency pairs are also available to trade as options
  • The selection includes major, minor and exotic pairs.

When trading with AvaTrade, you can also opt for spread betting. This option is only available to traders under FCA regulation and to get started you will need to make a minimum deposit of at least £100. Once you start, you will find over 200 instruments available for spread betting on forex, commodities, indices, equity, bonds and ETFs. The minimum size per trade is low and easily accessible, starting with as little as 0.1 lot.

Pros

  • Minimum deposit for spread betting is low
  • Many markets are available for spread betting
  • You can spread bet on all instruments available with AvaTrade

AvaTrade is one of the best regulated brokers in the entire industry. In fact, it is overseen by some of the most respected regulatory bodies in the world.

Of all the brokers, AvaTrade is certainly one of those with the most regulations, controlled globally.

Money Protection

AvaTrade knows that protecting traders’ funds is a high priority, which is why they have several measures in place to safeguard their money.

The first is protection in the event of a negative balance. AvaTrade offers this protection to all its traders even if local regulations do not require it, regardless of their geographical location. Negative balance protection prevents a trader from losing more money than he has available in his account.

The second protection measure provided by the broker requires that all funds deposited by traders are kept in separate accounts. It means that in case of insolvency or bankruptcy of the broker (however unlikely) the traders’ money is always safe.

Finally, if you trade from Europe, you benefit from the protection of the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF) which adds insurance to your deposited money with a maximum of €20,000.

Although as we have seen AvaTrade is one of the best brokers in terms of global presence, there are some countries where they do not offer their services. Here is a list of them:

  • Zimbabwe
  • United States of America
  • India
  • Iraq
  • Israel
  • Pakistan
  • Belgium
  • The broker is regulated in several regions of the globe and by some of the most respected regulators in the Forex and financial industry in general.
  • The broker has a truly global presence with multiple offices close to every trader’s needs.
  • AvaTrade’s negative balance protection is active for all traders around the world, regardless of the regulation in their respective countries.

Like most of the best brokers in the industry, AvaTrade offers various account types to suit every type of trader.

  • Demo Account
  • Standard Account
  • Options account
  • Spread Betting Account
  • Islamic Account
  • Professional Account

AvaTrade only charges fixed spreads.  Although fixed spreads tend to be higher than variable spreads, AvaTrade’s spreads are among the most competitive in the industry. The trader will always know exactly how much he is spending.

We emphasize once again that AvaTrade does not charge trading commissions; the only other trading expense besides spreads is for overnight positions, which is the subject of the next section.

The Metatrader platform

AvaTrade is committed to supporting the best platforms available in the market. There are both MT4 and MT5, for desktop, web and app. These are two of the most important platforms in the industry and allow for excellent customisation. Both offer the possibility to implement automatic trading strategies via EA, using the MQL language.

Metatrader is and will remain one of the most efficient, robust and easy-to-use platforms; as well as working perfectly on virtually any device.

The web platform created by AvaTrade: WebTrader

AvaTrade’s proprietary platform, WebTrader, is a great alternative available on any browser. It is easy to launch and ideal for all trading newbies looking for an intuitive and simple trading platform.

Although it remains slightly less customisable than Metatrader, it obviously provides many charting tools.

AvaTrade’s proprietary app: AvaTradeGO

The app version of WebTrader retains the ease of use and detailed functionality of its browser counterpart. AvaTrade’s Go app makes trading without a computer very easy, even for inexperienced traders.

Available for Android and iOS, it also offers the AvaProtect functionality which we will discuss later.