Skilling Review

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Skilling is a regulated online trading broker that has a great selection of over 900 financial instruments across different asset classes, such as forex, shares, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. They provide you with a fantastic choice of sophisticated trading platforms for all of your devices, including their very own user-friendly and intuitive Skilling platform. You can also trade on the powerful and professional cTrader platform along with the widely used MetaTrader 4 platforms. I like how the broker has a good variety of account types for you to choose from with a minimum required deposit of just €100 to start investing and trading online. The excellent trading conditions include competitive spreads starting from as low as 0.2 pips, low commission fees and quick execution speeds. I think Skilling can be a solid choice for beginners as they have all of the tools and resources you need to learn how to trade online and make informed decisions.

Summary

Headquartered in Cyprus, Skilling is a Scandinavian-owned online trading broker that aims to make trading simple and accessible to everyone in a transparent and secure environment. The broker provides you with a superb choice of trading platforms in Skilling Trader, cTrader, MetaTrader and Skilling Copy where you can copy other traders. You get plenty of variety with an excellent selection of 900+ trading instruments across multiple markets, including forex, shares, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. The broker has rapid order execution speeds (within 0.05 seconds) and competitive spreads that start from just 0.2 pips. This makes them suitable for all types of trading strategies including scalping and automated trading. You can get the conditions that work best for you with versatile account types to choose from and free demo accounts if you want to give them a try before making a commitment. I like how there are no hidden charges, with all charges clearly displayed in your account currency. Overall, I feel they are a strong broker that have continued to grow and lead the way with innovative technologies and services over the years since I first heard of them.

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

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Regulation

When I am choosing a broker to trade with, one of the first things that I look out for is regulation. This is because I would always prefer to use a regulated broker as it gives me the peace of mind that they must operate in an honest and transparent manner in order to comply with the regulators. Thankfully, Skilling Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). They are also regulated by the Seychelles Financial Service Authority (FSA). Skilling Ltd is authorized to operate via its UK Branch by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). I personally consider this to be top-tier regulation and would therefore have no problem trusting them so that I can focus on my day trading activities without worrying. As there are different entities that you can join under, for the purpose of this review, I am discussing the CySEC entity.

Countries

Skilling allows traders from different parts of the world to open an account with them if their countries of residence permit online trading with international brokers. The broker does not accept clients from some countries including the USA. If your country is not accepted by them for any reason, I recommend checking out our broker comparison tool for alternatives.

Platforms

Skilling provides you with an excellent variety of intuitive and powerful trading platforms for trading the various offered instruments. The trading platforms include their proprietary Skilling Trader, the sophisticated cTrader and the popular MetaTrader 4 platforms. I like how they provide the option of their own proprietary platform and others whilst some brokers usually only provide one or the other. I personally prefer to use MetaTrader, mainly because it was the first platform that I became accustomed to and I just find it so easy to use. It can do everything that I need it to for trading manually and running automated systems. One of the main advantages of MetaTrader over the other platforms, is that you will find it is available through many brokers. This means that you might not need to learn how to use another platform should you decide to switch providers down the line. That being said, all of the platforms are fantastic in their own right and can give you quick and easy access to the market along with all of the tools you need to find well thought out opportunities.

Skilling Trader

This is the broker’s proprietary trading platform. I like that it is a user-friendly and intuitive trading platform with multiple chart display options, offering access to trade over 900 financial instruments with ultra-fast order executions (within 0.05 seconds). The Skilling Trader platform includes an economic calendar that keeps you up to date on the latest events in the global markets and their expected impact. I like how it also has multiple indicators and drawing tools that enable you to keep track of your trades, price movements, and important market moments. Other unique features of the Skilling Trade platform are the Skilling Trade Assistant and the Skilling Academy: they are designed for improving the overall trading experience of both novice and experienced traders. You can analyse your trading patterns and your historical performance, broken down by the markets you trade. The Skilling Trade platform offers full web and mobile support, hence you can trade on multiple platforms, such as desktop, web, and the Skilling mobile trading app. You can download the Skilling Trading App today and get instant access to the world’s marketplace.

Skilling Trader

The Skilling Trader platform has the following features:

• User-friendly and intuitive trading experience
• Full web and mobile support
• Ultrafast order execution
• Simple, yet powerful
• Seamless integration with Skilling cTrader
• Skilling Trade Assistant
• Technical indicators and drawing tools
• 900+ instruments to trade

cTrader

The cTrader platform is a more expansive trading platform that is geared toward professional retail traders and institutional clients that are looking for a versatile trading solution. cTrader is an intuitive and easy-to-use platform with advanced order capabilities and customization features. Designed by traders for traders, the platform features a user-friendly interface that can be customized with different preset and detachable charts. It also allows you to fill orders with advanced cTrader features. What I really like about the cTrader platform is that it makes it possible for you to write your own script by letting you code in C#. You can easily access all cTrader features from any popular web browser, such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge, and trade on any device without any download required. You can also download the cTrader app on your iOS or Android devices from the respective app stores. I find trading apps to be a great way to keep tabs on my account and follow what is happening around the markets whenever I feel like it. It is not unlike me to check my trades from the sofa or even whilst in bed.

cTrader

The Skilling cTrader platform has the following features:

• Real time price quotes
• Full market depth
• Detailed trade analysis
• Large range of indicators
• Multiple charts view
• Advanced order protection
• Trailing stop loss
• Algo trading
• Ability to create price alerts

MetaTrader 4

The broker also offers the Forex & CFD trading platform that established itself as one of the industry standards for many years, MetaTrader 4. It has been developed for any type of trader but especially within the forex community it has a 90% of market share. It was developed from scratch in 2005 by MetaQuotes and ever since, it became the reference in forex trading. The trading platform is packed with an extensive selection of indicators, charting tools and customisation options. The main characteristic MT4 has versus other trading platforms is that it’s very versatile and easy to customize. And given the wide community of users that the platform has, the support is easily available. When it comes to customizations, it’s ideal for automated trading, as it offers a huge variety of trading robots (also known as Expert Advisors) which traders can use. It allows users to write their own trading robots and scripts. Despite MetaQuotes releasing a new version in 2013 (MT5), MetaTrader 4 continues to be the preference today.

MetaTrader 4

Some of the key MetaTrader 4 features include:

• Real time price quotes from the market watch window
• Support for different order types including instant, limit and pending orders
• Multiple chart types and timeframes for a detailed market overview
• 50+ technical indicators for market analysis
• Algorithmic Trading with expert advisors (EAs)
• Full customisation to setup in a way that works best for you
• Desktop & mobile support for trading at your convenience
• Ultrafast order execution speeds at the best possible prices
• 200+ instruments to trade (limited compared to the other platforms)

Skilling Copy

Skilling offers Copy Trading via cCopy – an award winning, web-based system integrated with the Skilling cTrader platform. With Skilling Copy you can copy other investors, and automatically mirror the strategies and trades of more knowledgeable traders. The in-depth performance statistics available allow you to research Strategy Providers and their track record of investments as well as reviewing their performance results and trading style to determine the strategy most suitable to you.

Skilling Copy

Copy trading, also known as social trading, is in essence a community that brings together new and seasoned investors. It allows experienced traders to put forth their trading strategies for others in the community to follow and copy at a fee. Copy Trading with Skilling is simple, transparent and reliable. With the award winning Skilling cTrader Copy Trading platform you can choose from over 1000 different strategies and providers to follow and copy. Just remember, there can be no guarantee on performance and past results are by no means an indication of future results.

Tools

I could not find any standalone trading tools through Skilling, but this is not an issue when you consider the provided platforms have a vast array of built-in trading tools, which are developed to satisfy the trading needs of traders of all experience levels. I think there will be more than enough for everyone to build trading strategies as complex or simplistic as you need them to be. That is not to mention, you can get a ton of additional tools to improve the platforms capabilities and even programme your own. However, if you still prefer to have the option of a wide range of standalone tools, I really recommend checking out JFD Brokers.

Education

I was pleased to see that the Skilling website has educational materials. There are some interesting articles for all types of traders of all levels. You can get a grasp of how CFDs work with the provided trading guides and find out more about trading in general. They aim to make trading easy for everyone. You can explore the possibilities with the Skilling Trade Assistant, a one-of-a-kind tool aimed at new traders, which gives an easy-to-follow trade guide to walk you through the process of placing a trade, step-by-step. You can discover trading opportunities and learn more about the markets with a cool research portal and bespoke market filters to reveal your next trade. There you can read industry news based on the selected instruments. There is also a help centre on the website that contains some basic information about the broker’s commissions, leverage, and how to make deposits and withdrawals. For an even greater variety of educational resources, I recommend checking out Admirals.

Markets

The Skilling trading app gives you a generous range of over 900+ instruments to trade with CFDs and offers instant access to the world’s most popular shares, indices, commodities and currency pairs. Choose from a range of instruments, from traditional assets like gold, EURUSD and S&P 500, to popular shares like Facebook, Tesla, Moderna, Alibaba and many others.

• Forex: The broker offers you over 70 different forex currency pairs to choose from including major, minor, and exotics
• Shares: There is a good number of shares to choose from, including the big-name companies like Amazon and Facebook, as well as Alibaba and Netflix, to name a few
• Indices: The broker has a good variety of indices to choose from, such as the S&P500, Germany 30, UK100, Spain 35, and many more
• Commodities: Skilling provides you with competitive trading conditions for trading Gold, Silver, Crude Oil (WTI), Natural Gas, and Crude Oil Brent
• Cryptocurrencies: You can get access to trade various cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum

Accounts

The broker provides you with a variety of different accounts which depend on your experience, trading style, and capital. You can choose between standard and premium account types, depending on your trading goals. I like how the accounts give you access to trade forex currency pairs, cryptos, indices, commodities, and equities. The account types include:

Standard Account

The Standard Account requires an initial deposit of €100. It charges no commission on trades, whereas leverage of up to 1:30 is available. This account type is available on both the Skilling Trader and Skilling cTrader trading platforms and has spreads starting from 0.7 pips. I like how it offers negative balance protection along with other competitive trading conditions. This account can be a good way to get a feel for what the broker has to offer in a real live trading environment. However, the spreads aren’t the lowest so probably won’t be great for scalping and the costs could add up if day trading. That being said, there is no commission fee if that is what you are looking for above everything else.

Premium Account

With an initial opening balance of €5,000, the Premium Account is aimed towards the more seasoned traders. It has a low spread starting from 0.1 pips, while the leverage is capped at 1:30. The Premium Account is available on the Skilling Trader and Skilling cTrader trading platforms. It offers access to trade over 900 financial instruments whilst the commission is from €7 per standard lot round turn. This is my preferred account type as I find that it has the lowest overall costs which is important for me as a use scalping strategies and automated systems that can be impacted by high fees.

Professional Account

Those who qualify as professional clients can apply for the professional accounts which give increased leverage of up to 1:30 for certain instruments and a reduction on current margin rates, allowing you to trade with more leverage, as opposed to the limitations imposed by ESMA on retail clients. It is important to note that some benefits and protections are removed should you qualify for a professional account as you are then classified as a professional trader under ESMA regulation.

To qualify as a professional client requires meeting 2 out of the 3 following guidelines, 1) Have a portfolio of greater than $500k (not including property or cash) 2) Have a verified history of placing significant sized positions (down to broker discretion) 3) Have worked in the capacity of a professional position related to derivatives / speculation / trading. Match any two of these requirements to qualify as a professional client.

Demo Accounts

There are risk-free demo trading accounts, which are preloaded with virtual funds for practice purposes. The demo account is perfect for traders who wish to test out the broker’s platforms and practice their strategies before opening a real live trading account. I think this can be a great way to get a feel for trading and build your confidence up without making any commitment.

Support

The broker provides you with a knowledgeable customer support team, who are polite and prompt in response. They are on hand to respond to your general, technical, and account-based inquiries. Their telephone support is available from Monday to Friday, between 08:00 and 17:00 hours CET. You can speak to the customer support experts via the live chat which is available from Monday to Friday, between 08:00 and 21:00 hours CET. I would’ve liked to see them offer 24/7 live chat support like other top brokers such as Trading 212 in case of emergencies. Alternatively, you can also send an email, and one of the customer support experts will get back to you within 24 hours.

Funding

I like how Skilling has a great selection of methods for simple, hassle-free deposits and fast withdrawals. Dependent on your location, you can choose between credit/debit card, bank transfer and digital wallets. Since cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are becoming a popular way of making payment, I would’ve liked to see them offer this service too. If you’d like to fund your account with cryptos, then you could take a look at Coinexx as they support crypto funding.

The broker does not charge any fees for deposits regardless of the payment method. However, you might be charged by your bank or the payment service provider. I appreciate that Skilling does not accept payments from any third parties due to its Anti-money Laundering (AML) Regulations. The same applies for withdrawals, the broker can only send money back to the depositing person. Some payment methods may not be available to specific countries, while the transaction processing time may vary, depending on the payment method used.

Conclusion

As a user-friendly, simple and powerful CFD broker, Skilling has been designed by expert traders to satisfy the needs of both beginners and advanced traders. You can trade on the go, or access your account on desktop. The platform has a unique and seamless integration with cTrader whilst MT4 is also available. These powerful platforms allow you to find your next trading opportunity with a variety of chart types, indicators and drawing tools.

The Skilling trading app charges no commission, and there are no hidden costs. All fees are clearly displayed in your account currency and your funds and personal data are fully secure with a regulated broker. You get an ultrafast and industry-leading average execution time of 0.05 seconds. I also like how there are professional multilingual advisors who are available to talk to via in-app chat, e-mail and phone call.

Skilling makes CFD online trading easy. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, Skilling offers powerful, competitive tools, and industry leading trading conditions, designed to take your trading to the next level. You can join one of the world’s largest social trading communities with skilling copy. From there you can access a host of opportunities you can effortlessly copy with 1000s of trading strategies ready to be copy traded. Past Performance is not indicative of future results.

Overall, I think they can be a great choice of brokers for beginners and even the more experienced traders who are to trade in a regulated environment with minimal hassle.

€100

Skilling provide you with access to the top markets via exceptional trading platforms for all of your devices. You can choose from 900+ top CFD instruments across 7 asset classes at the most competitive prices.

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

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