XM Review
The ideal forex broker
Pros
- Ideal for forex traders
- Low spreads on CFDs
- Good education
Cons
- Platform seems outdated
- Product range not really big
Contents
9.
Introduction
With more than 2,500,000 clients since it was founded in 2009, XM has become one of the largest CFD brokers. XM currently employs more than 450 professionals with experience in the financial sector. XM provides support in more than 30 languages, including Dutch. This already indicates that it is a major international broker. XM is active in 196 countries and is one of the few brokers where the MetaTrader 5 platform is available. This broker has grown especially in forex trading, as well as in CFDs on stock indices, precious metals and energy.
Target audience
With its wide variety of trading platforms, XM is suitable for both novice and experienced investors. XM focuses primarily on currency trading. At this broker, novice investors can find more than enough educational material to familiarize themselves with the world of investing. Unique to XM is "XM Live" where you can ask questions every day to two guests reporting on a camera. In addition, webinars and instructional videos etc. are available.
Is XM reliable?
XM is regulated worldwide by three financial authorities: the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the International Financial Services Commission of Belize (IFSC). XM is therefore a reliable broker. Retail client amounts are insured by the Investor Compensation Fund up to £20,000. In the meantime, all clients benefit from negative balance sheet protection, so that they never run the risk of losing more than their account balance.
Trading instruments
The product range in CFDs is fairly small. You can only invest CFDs in forex, stocks, indices, commodities and cryptocurrencies. There are therefore no ETFs, bonds, options and futures available. If you only want to invest in forex, this is of course no problem. You can trade in a large number of currency pairs at XM. The CFD offer in the most important categories can be seen below.
Forex
Stocks
Cryptos
Commodities
Indices
ETFs
Trading platform
The XM trading platform is based on the universal MetaTrader 4 platform. It is adaptable to your own wishes in many ways. Downside is that not all price alerts are available, and the platform looks dated. You can also use the advanced MetaTrader 5, where you can also buy CFDs in shares (this is not possible on MetaTrader 4) XM also offers a social trading service. With the Mirror Trader platform, investors can mirror professional traders on their own trading accounts and execute transactions manually, semi-automatically or automatically.
Fees and commissions
XM has low spreads for CFDs and does not charge cash withdrawal costs. The spreads for CFDs in forex are average. Below are the costs of a number of common transactions with different CFD brokers. These are long 20:1 CFD and 30:1 forex positions held for 1 week (source: brokerchooser.com). For a complete cost comparison you can check out the CFD comparison page.
£2.000 Apple CFD
£2.000 Europe 50 Index CFD
£20.000 EUR/USD
£20.000 GBP/USD
£3.40
£2.40
£17.10
£13.80
£6.30
£2.70
£19.60
£16.20
£8.90
£1.30
£17.90
£14
£0.90
£1.60
£17.30
£18.20
£6.40
£2.50
£24.50
£25
- Low spreads
- Good education
- Trading instruments
- No price alerts
# Active investors
200,000
Reliability
Trading platform
- MetaTrader 4
- MetaTrader 5
- Social platform
- Type of investor
Allround
- Functions
Average
- Mobile app
Spreads
Low
Spread EUR/USD*
1.7
Tradable assets
1,300
CFDs in shares
1,200
CFDs in forex
57 pairs
CFDs in cryptos
5
CFDs in commodities
15
CFDs in indices
18
CFDs in ETFs
Loss-making investors
74%
Customer service
Education
Usability
Inactivity fee
£5 PM after 3 months
Bank transfer
Credit card
PayPal
- Excellent platform
- Low spreads
- Also share dealing
- High trading fees
# Active investors
Unknown
Reliability
Trading platform
- MetaTrader 4
- MetaTrader 5
- Social platform
- Type of investor
Active
- Functions
Professional
- Mobile app
Spreads
Low
Spread EUR/USD*
0.5
Tradable assets
2,200
CFDs in shares
2,000
CFDs in forex
67 pairs
CFDs in cryptos
6
CFDs in commodities
26
CFDs in indices
43
CFDs in ETFs
57
Loss-making investors
75%
Customer service
Education
Usability
Inactivity fee
£10 PM after 3 months
Bank transfer
Credit card
PayPal
- Very user-friendly
- Competitive spreads
- No MetaTrader platform
- Fewer analysis tools
# Active investors
200,000
Reliability
Trading platform
- MetaTrader 4
- MetaTrader 5
- Social platform
- Type of investor
Beginner
- Functions
Average
- Mobile app
Spreads
Low
Spread EUR/USD*
0.6
Tradable assets
2,000
CFDs in shares
1,900
CFDs in forex
50 pairs
CFDs in cryptos
14
CFDs in commodities
22
CFDs in indices
30
CFDs in ETFs
95
Loss-making investors
76.4%
Customer service
Education
Usability
Inactivity fee
£10 PM after 3 months
Bankoverschrijving
Creditcard
PayPal
- Social trading platform
- Copy professionals
- No MetaTrader platform
- High spreads on crypto
# Active investors
400,000
Reliability
Trading platform
- MetaTrader 4
- MetaTrader 5
- Social platform
- Type of investor
Allround
- Functions
Average
- Mobile app
Spreads
Average
Spread EUR/USD*
3
Tradable assets
1,200
CFDs in shares
1,000
CFDs in forex
57 pairs
CFDs in cryptos
92
CFDs in commodities
13
CFDs in indices
13
CFDs in ETFs
21
Loss-making investors
75%
Customer service
Education
Usability
Inactivity fee
£10 PM after 1 year
Bankoverschrijving
Creditcard
PayPal
- Low spreads
- Good education
- Trading instruments
- No price alerts
# Active investors
200,000
Reliability
Trading platform
- MetaTrader 4
- MetaTrader 5
- Social platform
- Type of investor
Allround
- Functions
Average
- Mobile app
Spreads
Low
Spread EUR/USD*
1.7
Tradable assets
1,300
CFDs in shares
1,200
CFDs in forex
57 pairs
CFDs in cryptos
5
CFDs in commodities
15
CFDs in indices
18
CFDs in ETFs
Loss-making investors
74%
Customer service
Education
Usability
Inactivity fee
£5 PM after 3 months
Bank transfer
Credit card
PayPal
*This was the spread on 1/1/2020
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.