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- Platform seems outdated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
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
Cryptocurrencies
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.
Spreads
XM has low spreads for CFDs and does not charge cash withdrawal costs. The spreads for CFDs in forex are average.
Demo account
Learn to use the trading platform in the free demo mode. You can practice CFD trading indefinitely. Once you understand it, you can easily switch to real mode.
In short
XM is the ideal broker for the investor who likes to invest in forex. The CFD offer in currency pairs is wide, and the trading platforms are set up for forex trading. Unique with XM is the possibility to use MetaTrader 5.
- Low spreads
Good educatie
Trading instruments
No price alerts - Active investors
200,000
- Reliability
- Trading platform
- MetaTrader 4
- MetaTrader 5
- Social platform
- Suitable for:
Allround investor
- Functions platform
Average
- Mobile app
- Tradable assets
1,300
- Spreads
Low
- Spread EUR/USD
1.7
- CFDs in stocks
1,200
- CFDs in forex
57 pairs
- CFDs in cryptocurrencies
5
- CFDs in commodities
15
- CFDs in indices
18
- CFDs in ETFs
- Loss-making investors
70%
- Customer service
- Education
- Usability
- Inactivity fee
£5 PM after 3 months
- Bank transfer
- Credit card
- Skrill
- PayPal
Enable desktop mode for a better visibility of the comparison tables.
- Pros and cons
- Active investors
- Reliability
- Trading platform
- MetaTrader 4
- MetaTrader 5
- Social platform
- Suitable for:
- Functions
- Demo account
- Mobile app
- Spreads
- Spread EUR/USD*
- Tradable assets
- CFDs in stocks
- CFDs in forex
- CFDs in cryptocurrencies
- CFDs in commodities
- CFDs in indices
- CFDs in ETFs
- Loss-making investors
- Customer service
- Education
- Usability
- Inactivity fee
- Bank transfer
- Credit card
- Skrill
- PayPal
- Good education
Advanced platforms
MetaTrader 4
High beginners spreads - 10,000
- Allround/experienced investor
- Professional
- High for beginners
- 2.2
- 280
- 161
- 51 pairs
- 33
- 17
- 20
- 82%
- £80 PM after 2 months
- Low spreads
Good educatie
Trading instruments
No price alerts - 200,000
- Allround investor
- Average
- Low
- 1.7
- 1,300
- 1,200
- 57 pairs
- 5
- 15
- 18
- 70%
- £5 PM after 3 months
- Professional platform
Daily analyses
Customer service
High minimum deposit - 178,000
- Allround/experienced investor
- Professional
- Average
- 0.6
- 12,600
- 10,500
- 95 pairs
- 8
- 47
- 68
- 1,900
- 68%
- £18 PM after 2 years
- Very user-friendly
Competitive spreads
No MetaTrader platform
Fewer analysis tools - 110,000
- Experienced investor
- Average
- Low
- 0.6
- 2,000
- 1,900
- 50 pairs
- 14
- 22
- 30
- 95
- 76.4%
- £10 PM after 3 months
*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.
