SquaredFinancial Review

Richard Montana | August 2, 2022

SquaredFinancial is a retail broker that offers a great selection of more than 10,000 trading instruments across different asset classes, such as energies, futures, forex, metals, stocks, and indices, for trading online using the practical MetaTrader platforms. Some of the main features of this broker that stood out to me are the multiple choice of trading account types with a no minimum deposit requirement, flexible payment options, leverage of up to 1:500, super-tight spreads and negative balance protection. If you are a beginner than you will be pleased to find a copious amount of learning materials including handy guides and insightful videos. I think they can be worth consideration for anyone looking to trade online with minimal fuss. You can invest, trade and access the global markets with low commissions all in one place.

Summary

Based in Limassol, Cyprus, SquaredFinancial is an online financial services provider that allows traders across the globe to invest, trade, and access global markets. The broker provides you with the highly advanced MT4 and MT5 trading platforms, along with a wide range of useful trading tools, a selection of educational resources, and a client support team. I like how they have various account types and payment options with no deposit or withdrawal fees. On top of that, there is no minimum deposit required for a standard account. However, the required deposit for a zero spread account seems a bit high ($500) when compared to other brokers such as IC Markets who give you access to 0.0 pips spreads with a $200 deposit. In addition, if you want to take a break from the markets, there is no inactivity fee which is great. There are some excellent tools like iQbyQi and Trading Central which can automatically find customised trading signals. In terms of safety, they provide you with negative balance protection and keep your funds in segregated bank accounts, which is a plus point.

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Regulation

One of the most important aspects to look for in any broker is the regulation. I would always prefer to use a regulated brokerage firm that must follow strict rules and procedures that can help to protect traders and investors. It gives me the confidence that they should operate in an open and transparent manner. I am pleased to see that this broker is regulated, just keep in mind that not all regulations are the same. Some regulators are considered more effective than others.

• Squared Financial is owned and operated by Squared Financial (CY) Limited, Cyprus, which is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC)
• Squared Financial (Seychelles) Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority Seychelles (FSA)

Funds

Squared Financial Cyprus provides negative balance protection to you, which means you will never lose more than what you have invested. Another worth mentioning thing is that they keep your funds in separate accounts from the broker’s operational costs. This means your funds should not be used for any purpose other than your trading activity.

Countries

Traders from different parts of the globe can open a trading account with the broker but there are some limitations. If you find that you cannot sign up with the broker, please feel free to use our broker comparison tool to help you find a feasible option.

Platforms

SquaredFinancial offer MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 to meet the needs of new and experienced traders alike. The MetaTrader platform is one of the best trading platforms and is provided by many forex and CFDs brokers which makes it easy to switch between providers. I use it primarily for its user-friendly interface and abundance of powerful features, including automated trading and complex chart analysis. Both platforms are very similar in the way that they look and feel, with the advantage of MT5 being that it has more capabilities compared to MT4. For instance, it has more chart types, timeframes and technical indicators. It also has a multi-currency strategy teste with tick data for more accurate back testing. You can get a ton of add-ons for both platforms from the MQL marketplace or you can programme your own using the built-in editor. I think either platform can meet the needs of all traders and if you learn how to use one of them, you shouldn’t have a problem using both due to their similarities.

MetaTrader Platforms

MetaTrader 4 (MT4)

The MT4 platform was launched in 2005 by the software company MetaQuotes. It has an easy-to-use interface whilst allowing you to create custom layouts and templates to suit your trading workspace and style. MT4 offers back-office reporting functions and statements, thus providing you with the essential tools and resources needed for post-trade analysis, audits, and review. The platform is available as a desktop application for Windows and Mac computers, a WebTrader that can run directly on most modern web browsers, and a mobile app that is designed for Android and iOS devices. I like to use the trading app to manage my account and place trades on the go. It is also a great way to keep track of what is going on around the markets.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4)

MetaTrader 5 (MT5)

MT5 is the latest generation of the MetaTrader platform and perhaps more suited towards stock trading. It is a multi-functional trading platform with great trading capabilities and inbuilt professional market analysis features. MT5 includes a market depth system as well as a separate order and trade accounting system. With four separate order execution types: Instant, Request, Market, and Exchange, it supports both the classic netting system and the hedging option system. All sorts of trade orders, including market, pending, stop, and trailing stop, are supported by the platform.

MetaTrader 5 (MT5)

For your convenience, all SquaredFinancial MT5 accounts include a mobile version of MT5 for both iOS and Android smartphones, tablets, and other devices. When you’re on the more, you never need to pass up a market chance. You can view live prices and your trading history, and quickly and easily place any MT5 order type. You may also use the app in conjunction with your Client Terminal to receive push notifications, alerts, and news and communicate online with other traders.

Tools

There is a vast array of useful trading tools on the broker’s website, such as Trading Calculators, Currency Converter, Market Analysis, and an Economic Calendar. The best tool they offer in my opinion is Trading Central. This can significantly improve your market analysis and find signals on your behalf. That being said, the MetaTrader platforms are already packed with more tools than most traders would ever need. You can still build your own trading strategy templates as simplistic or complex as you need them to be.

Trading Central

Trading Central can assist you in identifying and validating new possibilities, timing trades, learning about financial markets, and risk management, all while having fun managing your portfolios. Their award-winning combination of automated AI analytics and senior analyst knowledge includes fundamental, technical, news, sentiment, and economic research. This range allows them to provide appropriate solutions to everyone, from beginner investors to expert traders. Trading Central’s video channels and analyst blogs are an excellent entry point for investors of all skill levels, providing timely, actionable knowledge outside traditional trading platforms. Meanwhile, its news desk and analytics assist investors overcome information overload by advising them on what to read and how it influences their investments. You can access the brilliant Trading Central through the learning section of the SquaredFinancial website. Whilst I think it is a great tool, but I would always want to confirm each signal with my own market analysis.

Trading Central

iQbyQi

SquaredFinancial has partnered with Quant Insight (Qi), a provider of analytics and market insights, to help optimize your trading experience with actionable analysis. iQbyQi’s analytics are backed by artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science. It gives you institutional-grade analytics to deepen your knowledge and react knowing the latest market updates and insights in order to make the right trading decisions. The integration also provides clients with expert views to help them confirm their own views of potential risk/reward opportunities in the financial markets. iQbyQi is all about empowering Retail Investors globally by democratising access to institutional grade analytics that improve their odds for real.

iQbyQi

Education

The broker provides you with a good selection of educational resources on the ‘Learn’ section of its website. They include the Squared Academy, which contains a generous range of articles and trading guides, video tutorials, a glossary and an FAQ section. I think they can still improve in the education section in terms of live webinars, seminars and podcasts. This is a minor though, most of you will be more than satisfied with the content provided and it is available free of charge.

Markets

SquaredFinancial offers a wide variety of trading instruments across different asset classes, including CFDs on forex, cryptos, stocks, commodities, indices and futures. You can choose from 7 different asset classes and 10,000+ trading instruments. A contract for difference (CFD) is a legally binding agreement between two parties, typically described as “buyer” and “seller”, stipulating that the buyer will pay to the seller the difference between the current value of an asset and its value at contract time. This means that you can speculate on the price of instruments without needing to physically own them. You can buy (long) or sell (short) your favourite instruments and the difference between price from when you open and close the trade is your profit or loss, minus any brokerage fees.

• Forex CFDs: Trade 40+ major, minor, and exotic CFD currency pairs
• Metal CFDs: Trade CFDs on Metals including Gold and Silver
• Stock CFDs: Trade the most covered & highest-profile asset classes
• Indices CFDs: Trade 15 of the most famous global indices as CFDs
• Futures CFDs: Get direct access to the commodity market
• Energies CFDs: Trade Brent Crude Oil, WTI and Natural Gas
• Crypto CFDs: Trade in Crypto CFDs

Accounts

SquaredFinancial has a choice of pro, elite, Islamic demo accounts. Below are their features:

• Pro Account: No Minimum deposit required, spreads from 1.2 pips and commission-free trading
• Elite Account: $5000 minimum deposit, tight spreads starting from 0.0 pips, but with a commission fee of $5 per lot per round
• Demo Accounts: Practice trading online without the risk using $50,000 in virtual funds
• Islamic Account: Swap-free Islamic accounts are also available for the Muslim community

The main account type you opt for is probably going to depend on your investment size and trading strategy. I use automated scalping systems that need the lowest spreads possible. Therefore, I would want to go for the elite account which has low spreads and a competitive commission fee, but I would be put off by the high minimum deposit. You can get access to similar conditions with XM and they have a minimum deposit of just $5. If you are not worried about the spreads and would prefer to trade with zero commission, the pro account would probably be what you opt for.

Support

The broker has a client support team that is polite and prompt in response. They are available 24/5 and can be reached via telephone, email, social media, online form, or by paying a visit to their office in Limassol, Cyprus. However, it’s a bit worrying for me as a crypto trader. As you may know, crypto markets are open 24/7, and any trouble over the weekend will be addressed on Monday when it’s already late. I think they could improve be adding 24/7 support but if you aren’t trading on the weekends, this might not matter in any case.

Funding

At SquaredFinancial, making deposits and withdrawals is simple and straight forward. It should hardly take up any of your time whilst they are constantly striving to offer you even more deposit and withdrawal options to make the process even easier. Deposits and withdrawals are processed through a good variety of payment methods including the following:

• Credit/Debit cards
• Bank Transfer
• E-payments
• Cryptocurrencies

Conclusion

Overall, SquaredFinancial is an established and regulated trading broker that gives traders the opportunity to trade lots of financial instruments on the user-friendly yet powerful MT4 & MT5 platforms. Traders can benefit from a great selection of educational resources and trading tools to help them find trading signals and make informed decisions. There are multiple account options with no minimum deposit and you can fund your account using flexible payment methods. Demo accounts and interest-free Islamic accounts are available. I found the broker to have low spreads but that does require a high minimum deposit and you will still incur a commission fee. Otherwise, you can trade with zero commission fees but incur a spread mark-up instead. I think they are worth consideration for anyone looking to trade online with minimal hassle.

Min $1 Deposit

SquaredFinancial is an online broker that offers a large selection of around 10,000 CFD instruments for trading using the versatile MetaTrader platforms on all of your devices.

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

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About the Author

Richard Montana
Richard has many years of experience in broker research, testing, analysis and reviews. He knows what to look for through years of trading himself with different brokers and listening to the feedback of others.