FXCM Review

Fxcm is the first broker to provide online brokerage services. It is a UK based broker offering trade in forex and CFDs.The broker provides 4 platforms to trade on and good customer service. 

This FXCM review is going to give an overview of the company and its products and services offered.

About FXCM :

FXCM was founded in 1999, and is owned by a top financial group. The company is listed in the New York Stock Exchange(NYSE). 100% owned by Jefferies Financial Group. It provides trading assets like forex, shares, commodities, indices and crypto currencies.

Serves countries like; UK, Australia, France, India, Israel and many others. 

FXCM operates its offices and branches in three major financial centers :

London, UK: Forex Capital Markets Limited (“FXCM LTD”) 

Sydney, Australia: FXCM Australia PTY Limited (“FXCM Australia”) 

Paris, France:  Forex Capital Markets Limited (“FXCM France”)

Products Offered :

FXCM provides only forex and CFDs for trading. 

It offers 39 pairs of different currency : AUD/CAD, GBP/CHF, AUD/CHF, GBP/JPY, AUD/JPY, GBP/NZD, AUD/NZD, GBP/USD, AUD/USD, NZD/CAD, CAD/CHF, NZD/CHF, CAD/JPY, NZD/JPY, CHF/JPY, NZD/USD, EUR/AUD, TRY/JPY, EUR/CAD, USD/CAD, EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, EUR/GBP, USD/CNH, EUR/JPY, USD/JPY, EUR/NOK, USD/MXN, EUR/NZD, USD/NOK, EUR/SEK, USD/SEK, EUR/TRY, USD/TRY, EUR/USD, USD/ZAR, GBP/AUD, ZAR/JPY, GBP/CAD.

FXCM provides trade in 8 pairs of crypto currencies, under 4 types; Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple.

FXCM offers different types of forex baskets and stock baskets. 

Forex Baskets :

• US DOLLAR (The Dow Jones FXCM Dollar Index Basket)

• JPYBasket (Yen Index)

• EMBasket (Emerging Markets Index)

Stock Baskets : 

• FAANG — Facebook Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc, Netflix Inc, Alphabet Inc. Class C (Google) 

• BIOTECH — AbbVie Inc, Amgen Inc, Gilead Sciences, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated

• CANNABIS — Tilray Inc, GW Pharmaceuticals PLC, Canopy Growth Corp, Aurora Cannabis Inc, Cronos Group Inc, Innovative Industrial Properties Inc 

• ESPORTS — Adv Micro Devices, Nvidia, Electronic Arts, Activision, Sony 

• CHINA E-COMMERCE — Alibaba, Trip.com, JD.com Inc, Pinduoduo Inc, Tencent Music Entertainment Group

FXCM Account Type :

Account opening at FXCM is easy and hassle free. However, a minimum deposit is required for opening an account in FXCM. 

What is the minimum deposit at FXCM?

Minimum deposit of $300 is required in Europe, whereas, only $50 is required in non-European countries.

Types of accounts offered :

• Individual – Standard
• Individual – Active Trader
• Joint
• Corporate

Fees :

FXCM fees snapshot.

Assets	Fee Terms
EURUSD	The fees are built into the spread, 1.4 pips is the average spread cost during peak trading hours.
GBPUSD	The fees are built into the spread, 2 pips is the average spread cost during peak trading hours.
S&P 500 CFD	The fees are built into the spread, 0.45 points is the average spread cost during peak trading hours.
Inactivity fee	$50 per year after one year of inactivity

Deposit fees :

FXCM does not charge any deposit fees. The deposit can be made in following ways:

• Bank transfer
• Credit/Debit card
• Skrill
• Neteller
• UnionPay

Withdrawal fees :

*It does not charge any withdrawal fee for debit/credit cards. But charges upto $40 for bank transfer 

Trading Platform :

Along with three basic types of platforms, it provides you with other different kinds of trading platforms as well. 

They are:

• Trading Station 
• MetaTrader 4 
• NinjaTrader
• ZuluTrade 
• TradingView

Research and education tools :

FXCM provides a range of research tools. It provides charts, trading ideas, news feed and economic calendar. Via the help of these tools one can easily understand the basics of trading.

Charts are easy to understand and comprehensible. One can look for all the real timeupdate in the news feed at the time of trading as well. 

They also offers good quality education products. Video lectures, webinars, ebooks and articles are good sources of information for a beginner as well as for an experienced trader. Demo accounts also play a good role in teaching the basics of operations.

Pros	Cons
Fast and hassle free account opening	Limited product portfolio
High quality educational content	No two step authentication
Low financing rate	Higher bank withdrawal fees
Free credit/debit card withdrawal	No price alerts
Good customizability	No fundamental data available

Customer Service :

You can contact them via:

• Live chat

• Phone 

• Email

• The only drawback is 24/7 service is not available.

Is FXCM safe ?

FXCM investor protection 

Country of clients	Protection amount	Regulator	Legal entity
EU	£85,000	FCA	Forex Capital Markets Limited
Australia	No protection	ASIC	FXCM Australia Pty. Limited
South Africa and some other African countries	No protection	FSCA	FXCM South Africa Pty. Limited
All other countries	No protection	–	FXCM Markets Limited

Bottom line :

FXCM has a good name for forex trading. It is regulated by top financial institutions. It has a good transaction history. The benefits it has is that it provides quality educational and research tools. 

The drawback lies in limited product availability and customer support.

But overall it is a good experience to work on FXCM, as inactivity fee hit after a year one can definitely go and try this.