XM

XM clients have access to 6 asset classes and over 1000 financial instruments like stocks, shares, indices, currency pairs, commodities, futures, and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, etc. Spot trading on forex is acceptable at XM as well as copy trading/social trading.

We found that account opening with XM was quite fast and straightforward. The broker accepts clients from most countries with several exceptions such as the USA, New Zealand, China, Canada, etc. The minimum deposit at XM is variable depending on the account type you choose. For example, for standard and micro-accounts, the minimum deposit is only $5 which is extremely low compared to other brokers.

XM allows clients to choose which XM entity they would like trade with based on their individual requirements. Due to the ESMA regulations, CySEC’s maximum leverage has been capped to 1:30, while with AISC account the leverage is 1:400.

XM AU offers three account types: Micro, Standard, and XM Ultra-Low accounts. All of the accounts offer negative balance protection, which ensures that the clients’ accounts will never go below zero. The accounts do not charge commission but instead, trading fees are integrated into the spread.

XM CY also offers three account types: Micro, Standard and XM Zero account. Traders can choose a variety of base currencies for their accounts such as USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, etc while for XM Zero accounts only the USD, EUR, JPY are acceptable. The minimum trade volume is 0.01 Lots. Spreads are as low as 1 pip and are commission-free; commission is only charged when using the XM Zero account, but the spread is lower. XM Zero accounts have a minimum deposit of $100. Swap-free accounts are accepted.

At XM clients have up to 8 trading accounts each. Hedging and swap-free (Islamic accounts) are allowed with all the XM account types.

XM has quite low trading fees compared to its peers. XM offers spreads as low as 1 pip while for the XM Ultra-Low account the spread is as low as 0.6 pips, while for the XM Zero account the broker charges no commissions and the spread is as low as 0 pips.

XM offers average financing rates which are applied when traders hold their leveraged position for more than a day. In terms of non-trading fees, XM does not charge deposit fees or withdrawal fees on sums above $200. XM allows deposits and withdrawals to be made from credit/debit cards (VISA, VISA ELECTRON, MasterCard, Switch, etc), bank transfer (all commissions/transfer fees are covered by XM), and e-wallets such as Skrill, Neteller, Moneybookers, etc.

The broker does charge a very minimal inactivity fee of $5 per month, which occurs after 3 months of inactivity.

XM offers negative balance protection on all accounts and no re-quotes.

XM offers its clients both award-winning MetaTrader platforms, MT4 (MetaTrader 4) and MT5 (MetaTrader 5) to trade on. The platforms are very well-known and popular among traders and are highly functional, customizable, user-friendly and come in a range of languages. The MT4 is available on PC, Mac, Multiterminal, and Webtrader. For mobile trading, XM MT4 is available for both Android and iOS devices. MT5 is available for PC, Mac and WebTrader as well as for both Android and iOS devices. WebTrader can be very beneficial to clients as they can access the platform through browser, without needing to download the software. Multiterminal allows XM traders to handle multiple accounts from just a single terminal.

XM’s MT4 platform allows EAs (Expert Advisors) which allows users to execute orders through pre-programmed automated trading, hedging, and micro-lots that allow for smaller positions than a standard lot. The MT5, on the other hand, is a multi-asset trading platform that builds on the MT4 by adding additional CFDs. Users can access all the platforms with a single login.

XM’s research tools are good, but they do lack detailed, up-to-date content in some areas. The broker offers a very good economic calendar which is powered by investing.com. XM has an in-house team that generates the information that is posted on their website. This includes market news, insights, recaps and analysis in a form of videos and articles. XM also sends out manual trading signals to live account users, twice a day. Mirror trading/copy trading is accepted at XM.

XM offers good trader’s education through their Learning Center which includes:

• Live education: webinars that introduce clients to the basics of trading, trading strategies, Q&As with experts, live market analysis, etc.
• Educational videos: a series of guidance videos to help traders learn about financial markets, trading essentials, trading psychology, etc.
• Live Webinars: Educational webinars where forex professionals offer forex trading guidance in various languages.
• Platform tutorials: Tutorials that help traders learn to use the XM platforms; the MT4 and MT5.
• Forex seminars: Live seminars and workshops were trading experts educate and discuss forex trading. These occur in various locations around the world such as Peru, Mexico, Ghana, Malaysia, Argentina, Thailand, etc.

XM also offers a demo account with a virtual balance that allows users to test the platform; the demo account has no time limit.

XM offers good customer support in various methods like telephone, email, live chat and forums and in a range of languages such as English, Greek, Greek, Spanish, Romanian, Turkish, Chinese, Dutch, Arabic, Indonesian, Japanese, Russian, Vietnamese, etc. Customer support is available 24 hours a day, 5 days a week and we found that the response time was very quick. Customer support was helpful and reverted back with relevant answers. XM also offers an individual account manager to every client.

In whole, XM has many benefits and is regulated by various regulators around the world like CySEC, FCA, and AISC which offers a high level of investor protection and safeguards investor’s funds. XM definitely has some drawbacks such as poor research tools and not a large variety of trading instruments compared to its competitors; for example, their limited number of cryptocurrencies. Despite that, XM is a highly reliable brokerage firm worth considering for the value-added benefits it offers.