Pepperstone Review

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Pepperstone are one of the largest trading brokers providing traders worldwide access to trade across all markets via powerful yet user-friendly platforms with cutting edge technology, low costs, low-latency high speed execution and award-winning customer service. I have had an account with them for many years now and have been very happy with the trading conditions and support they have provided. They are great for day trading when you require low spreads and are one of my top choices for running automated strategies on the MetaTrader platforms.

Summary

Pepperstone is an online trading broker founded in 2010 and headquartered in Melbourne, Australia with global offices in London, Cyprus, Nassau, Dusseldorf, Nairobi and Dubai. They offer traders a great selection of over 1,200 instruments to trade including CFDs on Forex, Commodities, Cryptocurrency, Stocks, Indices and ETFs, all via the MetaTrader 4/5, cTrader, WebTrader, TradingView and mobile trading platforms. They also offer spread betting to UK clients.

Pepperstone is widely regarded as one of the best trading brokers processing an average of US $8.3 Billion of trades every day and providing online trading to over 170+ countries. They provide traders worldwide with access to trade across all markets with cutting edge technology, low cost spreads, low-latency high speed execution and award-winning customer service. The broker has won numerous awards over the years, including forex broker excellence, customer support, innovative technology and providing the best possible trading conditions to clients.

Trading Conditions

Pepperstone incorporates an execution only trading model that ensures direct access to a deep pool of liquidity providers with no dealing desk or execution manipulation. Having direct access to a large liquidity pool helps to ensure the lowest possible spreads and fast execution speeds for all levels of traders. This is great if you are scalping or using automated trading robots.

Pepperstone utilises technology developed to support institutional trade flow for those that trade large single ticket sizes. They can handle multiple fills to put through larger orders on multiple levels into a liquidity aggregator. Your orders are executed without requotes on a “market execution” basis with positive and negative slippage possible and no broker intervention.

What this means is that there will not be any conflict of interest between you the trader and the broker. It also means that you can get your trades at the price points you desire. Nothing can be more frustrating than sending an order and having it rejected are placed at a less favourable price.

Whilst they use the latest trading technology, they are committed to staying up to date with the latest innovations to further improve their services where possible. The vision for Pepperstone is to become the largest broker in the world by providing investors from all backgrounds access to easier and fairer online trading. After years of being with them, I can say with confidence that they have delivered on that from my perspective.

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AvaTrade is an award-winning and multi-regulated broker offering a great selection of trading instruments including Forex, Cryptos, Stocks and Commodities. You can trade on all of your devices via user-friendly platforms with excellent trading conditions and no commission fees.

Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

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Regulation

Pepperstone is a broker with strict regulations in multiple locations. Pepperstone Limited (UK) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Pepperstone Group Limited is authorised and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). Pepperstone Financial Services (DFIC) Limited is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). Pepperstone Markets Limited is incorporated in The Bahamas and licensed by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB). Pepperstone EU Ltd is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). Pepperstone GmbH is the German entity of Pepperstone that is BaFin regulated. BaFin is the financial regulatory authority for Germany. Pepperstone Markets Kenya Limited is authorized and licensed by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).

Under these licenses, Pepperstone are obliged to meet strict capital requirements while implementing and complying with stringent internal procedures that include: client money protection, risk management, anti-money laundering, conduct, training, accounting and audits.

This certainly gives me plenty of confidence to keep my accounts with them ticking over and should give you confidence that they are a broker who can be trusted. There are not many brokers who come close in terms of licenses, Plus500 are certainly up there though.

Countries

Pepperstone accepts clients from all over the world, excluding USA, Canada, Japan, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Zimbabwe and some other jurisdictions due to restrictions. Please check the brokers website for the latest list. If you are based in a country that the broker does not accept, you can take a look at other options in our broker reviews.

Platforms

Pepperstone offers a great selection of online trading platforms including the very popular MetaTrader 4 for Windows, MAC and mobile. They also offer cTrader, WebTrader and mobile trading apps for iPhone / Android for trading the markets from wherever and whenever you want, with reliable platforms and lightning-fast execution speeds.

These powerful trading platforms are provided for free by Pepperstone and incorporate expert-like tools to help you conduct in-depth market analysis and trade efficiently.

It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or seasoned pro, you can use these user-friendly platforms for basic trading or more complex market analysis. Whatever your trading style, they can be fully customised according to your own needs.

I do like to run automated systems so I am a fan of the MetaTrader 4. It is also used by most brokers which means that I can put my MT4 skills to use across different companies without being tied to one broker. I would be frustrated if I mastered a proprietary platform but then wanted to switch brokers and had to learn a new platform all over again.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4)

MT4 is perhaps the worlds most popular trading platform used by millions of traders with all experience levels across the globe. It was developed by trading software company MetaQuotes and is know for being user friendly. MT4 has a vast array of implemented technical indicators and trading tools whilst there are thousands available freely online.

I find it so easy to use, literally fire up a chart, choose a timeframe, place some indicators on the chart, and wait for trading signals. It is a breeze to do everything from analysing the charts to placing and managing trades. You can switch seamlessly between the MT4 desktop version and app to manage your account as and when it works for you.

Despite the positives of this very good platform, it is limited in terms of chart timeframes, order types and indicators when compared to its successor MT5. That platform has more functionality but if you are a casual trader who just want quick and easy access to the markets, MT4 should be more than sufficient. What’s more, you can find plenty of tools in the MQL marketplace if you want to improve the platforms capabilities beyond the defaults.

MT4 Trading Platform

MetaTrader 4 (MT4) Features

• Get real-time bid/ask price quotes in the market watch window
• Multiple chart types & timeframes
• Support for market, pending & limit orders
• Customise MT4 charts and indicators according to your trading preferences
• Develop and run automated trading systems (expert advisors) in MQL4
• Identify high probability trades with Autochartist analysis software
• Vast range of technical indicators and EAs with Smart Trader Tools
• Alert notifications via email, SMS & pop-ups
• Access to historical data
• Social/copy trading functionality
• MetaTrader 4 (Windows / MAC)
• MetaTrader WebTrader
• MetaTrader App (iPhone / iPad / Android / Tablet)

MetaTrader 5 (MT5)

The MT5 trading platform is an updated version of MT4 that maintains most of the same features along with greater functionality. Despite this, many traders still prefer MT4 due to its ease of use and large range of addons already developed and available.

However, I always tend to consider MT4 more of a forex trading platform, whereas MT5 is probably better as a stock trading platform. In the long run, there is a chance MT4 could become obsolete. Thus, if I was starting from scratch today and not already well versed in MT4, I would probably lean towards MT5 as it provides all of the functionalities of MT4 and more.

MT5 Trading Platform

MetaTrader 5 (MT5) Features

• Similar features to MT4 with more indicators, timeframes & chart types
• Customisable charting and indicators
• Additional order types
• Depth of market (DOM)
• Built in economic calendar
• Code custom indicators and multi-currency EA’s in the MQL5 programming language
• Enjoy faster processing
• Tailor to your trading style with advanced customisation for endless possibilities
• Access to historical data
• Social/copy trading functionality
• MetaTrader 5 (Windows / MAC)
• MetaTrader WebTrader
• MetaTrader App (iPhone / iPad / Android / Tablet)

cTrader

cTrader offers professional online trading with an intuitive platform design that replicates an institutional trading environment. It is also ideal for those who are just starting out due to its intuitive and user-friendly interface. It also has more complex automated features if this is something that is important to you.

In saying that, you won’t find nowhere near as many add-ons for cTrader as you would MetaTrader due to its popularity and availability. The differences between the platforms would probably not matter to the average trader and I am sure intuitional traders already know what they are looking for.

Just keep in mind that if you start using cTrader, your options of other brokers who use this platform will be limited compared to MetaTrader brokers. Purple Trading are another option who have both platforms available and I would consider a competitor to Pepperstone.

cTrader Trading Platform

cTrader Features

• Suitable for new and professional traders
• Control slippage and order fills with advanced cTrader features
• Access FIX API
• Code in C# with cTrader Automate
• Customisable charting and indicators
• Adjustable session times
• Depth of market functionality
• Advanced take-profit/stop-loss levels
• Detachable charts for multiple monitors
• Social/copy trading functionality
• Cloud-hosted profiles, templates and passwords
• cTrader WebTrader
• cTrader Algo
• cTrader Mobile

TradingView

You can gain access to TradingView’s advanced charting tools and interact with millions of other traders with integration powered by cTrader. TradingView is a leading charting platform that has lots of features and functionality that can help take your trading to the next level.

TradingView

TradingView Features

• Industry leading charting technology
• Connect with the largest social trading network in the world
• Coding language Pine Script lets you create automated systems
• Explore a vast range of indicators, both pre-built and customisable
• Gain access to an economic calendar and news features to keep up to date with the latest market moves
• Access the markets and trade conveniently whilst on the go using your desktop or mobile device
• Trade directly from TradingView charts

Tools

Pepperstone have a great selection of trading tools to help you manage your trading risk, improve your trading strategies and stay up to date with the latest market movements. You could easily get by with the tools that are already built into the platform but I like it when a broker provides some extra tools as I am always looking for ways to improve my trading strategies. I think it also emphasises the fact that they care about clients making informed trading decisions and shows that they are prepared to invest in their services.

Smart Trader Tools for MetaTrader

You can unlock your trading potential with 28 tools, expert advisors and indicators exclusively available to the MetaTrader platforms.

cTrader Automate

You can build automated trading robots and custom indicators in the popular C# language using the cTrader API.

API Trading

Pepperstone provide you with an API technology that lets you access their industry leading liquidity feed from within the comfort of your own platform. These enables you to create and implement your own customised trading solutions. I would say the brokers FIX API solution is comparable to Global Prime.

Autochartist

Pepperstone’s Technical Analysis software which is powered by Autochartist is available to clients free of charge. This trading software can continuously scan your selected markets for potential trade setups. It has a built-in pattern recognition tool to alert you when trading opportunities are identified which can be filtered by probability based on historic success. Subscribers receive daily market reports that cover economic news releases and market analysis. Autochartist can help to remove the market noise and enable traders to focus on the trade opportunities with the powerful Autochartist market scanner.

If you need some inspiration for what to trade, this is an excellent tool for finding trading signals across thousands of instruments. I think it’s great that Pepperstone provide Autochartist for free to clients and is another thing that could sway you in their direction. That being said, there are other brokers who support Autochartist such as Axi.

Autochartist

Social Trading

Pepperstone also offer clients a range of social trading platforms where you can follow and copy trading signals from other strategy providers. This provides an automated trading solution where you can specify your own risk and choose strategies that suit your individual style. Followers can add or remove signals they are copying at any time.

If you don’t have the skills to trade manually or time to educate yourself, social trading can be a great way to take advantage of the experience of others. However, nobody is the perfect trader, so don’t expect any certainty in terms of performance. I actually prefer to trade by myself, that way I can learn from my own mistakes and garner a greater understanding of the markets in the long run.

DupliTrade

Pepperstone let clients diversify investments with DupliTrade, a popular trading strategy marketplace that allows you to automate your trading. DupliTrade uses signals from proprietary traders, tapping into their expertise, which lets you build your trading knowledge and gain a key understanding of pro techniques.

If you make a minimum deposit of AUD$5,000, you’ll gain access to DupliTrade’s robust portfolio of leading strategy providers, automatically traded on your own MT4 account. If you’re still getting to know the markets, you can also practise strategies on your demo account.

DupliTrade

MetaTrader Signals

Clients can access thousands of strategies from MetaTrader’s own social trading platform and choose to copy them directly into their Pepperstone broker account.

VPS Hosting

Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting allows traders to run their trading platform and automated algorithmic strategies, including expert advisors 24 hours a day 7 days a week on a virtual machine. This means that you do not need your computer switched on all of the time whilst minimising the chance of system downtime due to technology and connectivity failures.

Pepperstone have teamed up with two popular VPS providers in FXVM and New York City Servers, to offer clients a substantial discount on any of the available VPS packages.

If you plan on running trading robots around the clock and can’t have your computer up and running, you may want to take advantage of the discounted VPS. I have had a VPS for my trading for many years now, it only cost around $30 per month but probably saves me not far off that in terms of electricity and is great for comparing brokers and testing out my automated systems.

Education

Pepperstone have a wide range of online trading educational resources including trading guides, expert webinars available in English and detailed market analysis.

You are probably only going to find these useful if you are new to trading online. If you already have experience, the guides are quite basic but you may find some use in the daily market analysis. I find the analysis useful in spotting potential trading opportunities that I may have otherwise overlooked.

Webinars

Pepperstone offers free webinars from experts that can help you to improve your trading knowledge whatever your current expertise is. There is also an archive to catch up on previous webinars. These webinars cover a range of topics primarily focused on trading basics, trading strategies and trade management.

Trading Guides

Pepperstone has a large catalogue of free educational trading guides (written by third parties) that help to assist you with your trading and improve your knowledge. These trading guides are regularly updated and cover a wide range of topics including how to trade forex, how to trade stocks, how to trade cryptos, trade planning, trade analysis, money management and more.

Market Analysis

You will never have to miss a trading opportunity with high impact economic event coverage, expert commentary, videos and more from the Pepperstone global market analysts’ team. Stay in the know with weekly global market news, insights and up-to-the-minute economic outlooks from market experts. Find out everything you need to know about major world financial events that can affect market volatility and how to trade these unique opportunities. You can stay up to date with the Pepperstone experts as they review upcoming political and macroeconomic events, assessing price action to provide you with trading opportunities on various markets from across the globe.

Economic Calendar

There is an economic calendar available on the Pepperstone website that displays the latest financial news events along with the actual and forecasted impact they have on the markets. This is a very useful tool and often used as part of the fundamental analysis in a trading strategy. You can filter the news according to what matters most to you and set alerts so you know when to trade or avoid the markets.

Markets

Pepperstone started out as a broker focused on forex trading with interbank execution and extremely low spreads. They offer a great selection of FX currency pairs and have one of the biggest selection of exotic currency pairs offered by any forex broker. Since then they have expanded to offer more trading products whilst maintaining the lowest possible trading costs across all markets.

Other trading instruments include CFDs on Commodities, Cryptocurrency, Stocks, Indices and ETFs. There is a selection of major US and global stocks for trading online. Pepperstone also offer spread betting if you are in the United Kingdom.

Despite adding more markets and instruments over the years, I would still consider them more of a forex broker. I don’t think they really compete in terms of stock trading when there are brokers such as Admirals who have thousands of stock CFDs available.

That being said, if you want to trade forex with some of the lowest spreads and commissions you will find, Pepperstone are definitely up there with the very best forex brokers.

Whatever your interests, you can certainly find something to trade with Pepperstone. Even if you only plan on trading one particular asset class now, it is great to have the options to diversify your portfolio in the future, should you wish to do so. Other brokers that have an excellent range of trading products include FP Markets with an even greater choice of 10,000+ financial instruments and IG who have one of the largest at a staggering 17,000+ tradeable assets.

Accounts

Pepperstone offer a range of different account types to suit each individual trader’s needs. All of the account types are offered within retail trading leverage and margin limits. Professional clients can apply to trade with higher leverage of up to 1:500.

High leverage does let you trade larger position sizes than you could without it, just bear in mind that if you increase your position size, you are also increasing the risk.

You can choose between commission free accounts that have variable spreads starting from 0.6 pips, or you can opt for a commission based account where spreads start from just 0 pips with a very competitive $3.5 commission fee (per lot per side), which equates to $7 in total (per round turn, per standard lot size).

The minimum deposit requirement starts from $200 which is more or less what you will find from most top broker nowadays. If your budget is lower than this, have a look at XTB who are up there with Pepperstone in terms of quality but require a minimum deposit of just $5 instead.

Pepperstone provide demo accounts if you would like to test the different trading platforms and conditions before opening a real account with them. This can be a good way to practice trading online without any risk.

The account type that you go for will depend on your trading strategy and investment size. I like tight spreads as I use scalping strategies, therefore the Razor account is my preferred choice as it has the lowest spreads. Yes, there is a commission fee on top, but it still works out cheaper more often than not. If you are not trading frequently and plan on holding trades for a long period of time, all of the account types should suffice. I would like to see them offer fixed spread accounts like Trade Nation do.

It does not matter how big or small your investment is, they welcome clients from all backgrounds. If you trade with them long enough, you can even negotiate better commission rates which is a good incentive for active traders and nice to see them reward clients for their loyalty. Not many brokers do this from my experience.

Support

Pepperstone provides 24/5 support via phone, chat and email. They have won multiple awards for customer service and are on hand to answer any questions that you may have in a prompt and efficient manner. Pepperstone supports 12 different languages: English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic, Indonesian, Italian, French, Laotian, German, Polish.

I have reached out to them many times over the years and always received a prompt response. This is important because you don’t want to hang around for days to get a response especially when the markets are moving fast and you have time sensitive questions to put forward. It would be good if they could extend support to weekends just like IC Markets who have 24/7 support in comparison.

The Pepperstone management team come from a trading background themselves with years of experience within the industry and therefore have a great understanding of what retail traders require to be able to trade efficiently.

Funding

Pepperstone offer a range of convenient and user-friendly deposit and withdrawal options. This includes wire transfer, credit/debit cards and e-Wallets. Fees may be charged when using certain payment methods. Bank transfers can take a few business days to clear.

I use various digital wallets so find this a more convenient option. Especially if there is big market news and I need to quickly fund my trading account. I don’t want to wait around for days for a bank transfer to clear and possibly miss the opportunity to try and take advantage of the news.

Accounts can be opened in USD, GBP, EUR, CHF, JPY, NZD, CAD, SGD, HKD & AUD. The various different currency options are beneficial as currency conversion fees do not apply when using an account in your own currency. This might not impact you when depositing small amounts but the fees can add up if moving larger amounts around.

Conclusion

Pepperstone are one the most popular trading brokers that have a proven track record of providing excellent and innovative trading conditions backed by industry leading support. They are well regarded as one of the largest forex brokers in terms of volume and have strict regulation to ensure that you can trade with peace of mind. They give you a vast range of trading platforms, instruments and accounts to choose from thus making them suitable for each trader’s individual needs.

I have used them for many years and have never had any problems. They’ve always been quick to respond to my questions and the trading conditions have always been reliable. I haven’t had any issues with withdrawals either. Whether you are an active trader or looking to invest for the long term, Pepperstone are certainly worth consideration.

$200

Pepperstone are one of the largest brokers providing traders worldwide access to trade across all of the major global markets with cutting edge technology, modern platforms, low costs, high speed execution, convenient funding options and award-winning customer service.

Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

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