XM Group Review

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XM Group is a globally established and regulated online trading broker. They are one of the best brokers for day trading from my experience. You can get instant access to no-requotes, tight spreads, fast execution speeds, low commissions, and negative balance protection. They are a leading broker that has an impressive 16 trading platforms with over 1000 trading instruments across 6 asset classes and various convenient funding options for quick and easy account funding. I find them to be one of the most reliable brokers for trading and investing online, especially if safety and low costs are important to you.

Summary

XM Group was founded in 2009 and has since grown into a large globally established trading broker. They are based in Cyprus, Australia and Belize. This experience combined with strict regulation and customer service in over 30 languages makes them one of the best forex brokers for traders from all different backgrounds and levels of experience.

They offer an impressive 25+ secure payment methods, 16 trading platforms and 24/5 customer service. I like the fact that they take great pride in being a fair and reputable broker with all clients receiving the same trading conditions regardless of their investment size or trading experience.

The broker has a wide range of trading instruments for you to choose from including Forex, Commodities, Stocks, Shares, Indices, Metals, Energies & CFDs. All instruments are available to trade from the same trading account on 16 trading platforms which makes your trading easier and more efficient.

There are different trading platforms and flexible trading conditions provided for you to choose from, depending on your needs. This means that you can enjoy trading all of your favourite strategies and preference of financial markets without any hassle.

Trading Conditions

In addition to providing excellent support, I am impressed with the trading conditions you can get access to for a small deposit of just $5. XM Group offers a no re-quote and no rejections policy with 99.35% of trades being executed within 1 second. Their business model is built around the belief that execution is everything when trading. From my experience, execution can play a big part in your trading results, especially if using a scalping strategy. In terms of execution speeds, comparable brokers include IC Markets.

XM Group monitors the latest industry trends to keep up to date with innovative technologies and to be able to adapt to clients ever-changing and demanding needs. They do not compromise on trading performance which ensures they offer some of the lowest spreads and fastest execution speeds whilst remaining versatile to ensure you can trade in comfort.

XM Group is operated with client requirements at the forefront of everything that they do. This is not just for the best possible trading conditions but also the simplicity they can offer you when it comes to everything from opening an account to making deposits/withdrawals, contacting support and trading.

I like how they have a best execution policy to provide the most favourable trading conditions to traders. Collaboration with a range of liquidity providers mean that they can offer some of the lowest spreads with plenty of liquidity at all times.

These factors combined with a no-requotes and no extra commissions policy ensures that XM Group are amongst one of the best trading brokers you can trade with in my opinion.

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Regulation

XM Group is authorised and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). This helps to ensure safety of client funds and that they abide by strict regulatory standards with the most sought-after regulators. They are also regulated with the International Financial Services Commission of Belize (IFSC) and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).

I would always prefer to trade with a regulated broker as it gives me the peace of mind that my funds are safe. The more regulators, the better. However, keep in mind that different regulators have different levels of protection. I consider regulators such as the FCA and ASIC to be top-tier when compared to other regulators such as those located offshore.

Funds

XM Group have partnered with regulated entities for the withdrawal and deposit process for extra client protection. Client funds are kept segregated from the company funds in tier 1 banks to ensure that they cannot be used by XM Group or the liquidity providers under no circumstance. They can give you negative balance protection which means that you are not at risk of losing more than the account balance. You just need to open an account with the correct entity to be eligble for this.

Countries

XM Group accepts clients from all over the world, excluding the USA, Canada, Israel, and Iran. If you are from one of the restricted countries, feel free to look for an alternative broker on our compare brokers page.

Platforms

XM Group offer clients the option to choose from 16 variations of the popular MetaTrader 4/5 trading platforms for desktop (PC / MAC), web trading directly in your browser without needing to download or install any additional software and MetaTrader for mobile devices running on iOS or Android. The mobile trading apps are especially useful if you need to access your trading account whilst on the go from anywhere in the world provided that you have an internet connection.

The main difference between MT4 & MT5 is that MT4 does not offer trading on stock CFDs and MT5 has slightly more features and functionalities in comparison. However, if you just want to follow price activity whilst placing and managing trades with ease, then MT4 should be fine. On the other hand, if you want to build more complex trading strategy templates, then you may prefer the extra indicators, timeframes and tools that are included with MT5.

Personally, I have used MT4 for many years and never felt the need to switch over to MT5 just yet. I like that most brokers offer MT4 whereas MT5 is less commonplace. This means that I can test most brokers with a platform that I am already familiar with. You wouldn’t want to master one platform only to be disappointed if you want to switch brokers and the platform is not available. Other prominent MT5 brokers to consider who are on par with XM include FP Markets.

XM Group Platforms

MetaTrader 4 (MT4)

MT4 still has long been the trading platform of choice from all types of trades across the globe. It is well known for its user-friendly interface and abundance of built in trading tools for conducting detailed chart analysis and trading efficiently. XM pioneered offering an MT4 platform with trading execution quality in mind. XM clients can trade on MT4 with no re-quotes, no rejection of orders and with flexible leverage. Whatever your trading style or experience level, MT4 is considered as on of the go to platforms for online trading. XM have a good selection of trading platform video tutorials on their website to help familiarise yourself with MT4. If you are new to trading, I think MT4 is a great platform to get started with. You can open a free demo account to learn how to use the platform and practice trading online risk free, until you build enough confidence to open a live account.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4) Platforms

MetaTrader 4 (MT4) Features

• Over 1000 Instruments Including Forex, CFDs and Futures
• 1 Single Login Access to 8 Platforms
• Spreads as low as 0 pips
• Full EA (Expert Advisor) Functionality
• 1 Click Trading
• Technical Analysis Tools with 50 indicators and charting tools
• 3 Chart Types
• Real time bid/ask price quotes
• Support for instant, pending & limit orders
• Alert notifications (email, SMS & pop-ups)
• Micro Lot Accounts (Optional)
• Hedging allowed
• VPS Functionality
• Freely Available on Desktop, Web & Mobile Devices

MetaTrader 5 (MT5)

The XM MT5 platform offers all of the same powerful features that the XM MT4 has to offer, along with more trading tools and advanced capabilities. It has an additional 1000 CFDs on stocks (shares), which makes it the ideal multi-asset platform. You can trade forex and CFDs on stocks, gold, oil and equity indices from 1 platform with no rejections, no re-quotes and flexible leverage. If you are more of a forex trader, MT4 will do the job. If you want as many trading instruments at your disposal, then you should probably opt for MT5. Even if you only trade forex now, think about how easier it would be if you want to diversify in the future. Regardless, I find both MetaTrader platforms very easy to use. If you want something more advanced, cTrader is another platform to consider but is not offered by as many brokers. FxPro also have the cTrader platform if you want to check them out.

MetaTrader 5 (MT5) Platforms

MetaTrader 5 (MT5) Features

• Over 1000 Instruments, including Stock CFDs, Stock Indices CFDs, Forex, CFDs on Precious Metals and CFDs on Energies.
• 1 Single Login to 7 Platforms
• Spreads as Low as 0 Pips
• Full EA Functionality
• One Click Trading
• All Order Types Supported
• Over 80 Technical Analysis Objects
• Market Depth of Latest Price Quotes
• Hedging Allowed
• Freely Available on Desktop, Web & Mobile Devices

Tools

XM Group provide you with very good proprietary trading tools for the MetaTrader 4/5 trading platforms. These tools are fully automated and can help you to perform technical analysis across multiple instruments and charts, in order to identify potential trading opportunities. This makes it quick and easy for you to identify trading signals without needing to constantly stare at your charts all day and night. I am always on the lookout for new trading tools which can help make my market analysis more accurate. Sometimes I can go through hundreds before finding something that I will implement into my day trading activities. I am impressed with these indicators and certainly see how they can help spot market movements.

Let’s take a look at each of the indicators in more detail below:

Ribbon Indicator

• Follow the prevailing trend
• Identify areas of consolidation
• Predict impending reversals
• Know the best time to trade

River Indicator

• All-in-one trend indicator
• Know which markets are trending
• Identify strength and direction
• Learn how the market is moving

Ichimoku Indicator

• Identify support and resistance levels
• Recognise strong market trends
• Know when is best to enter a trend
• Learn where prices might go next

Bollinger Bands Indicator

• Learn to trade market volatility
• Identify entry points in ranging markets
• Recognise extreme price levels
• Know when price movements will occur

ADX & PSAR Indicator

• Recognise a market in consolidation
• Identify the start of new trends
• Learn the best time to place a trade
• Know when trends reach extreme conditions

Analyser Indicator

• Analyse in seconds instead of hours
• Map the market direction in real time
• Quickly identify the best instruments to trade in

You can automate your analysis and gain access to the proprietary indicators by contacting your personal account manager at XM Group who will be happy to get you started and provide you with assistance. I don’t usually require assistance from the account manager as I have been trading for many years. However, it is a great option if you are new to trading and need some guidance along the way.

Forex Calculators

The XM calculators allow you to make accurate assessments at the right time to make the most out of your trades. The all-in-one calculator, the currency converter, the pip value calculator, the margin calculator and the swaps calculator are available to help you evaluate your risk and monitor profit or loss for each trade you carry out. I often use calculators to help speed up otherwise mundane tasks. They can save hours in time over the long run which is better spent doing other things like following the latest market news and keeping track of any open positions.

Autochartist

XM clients can get access to trade ideas from Autochartist which is a powerful pattern-recognition tool that can automatically monitor the markets on your behalf to help identify chart patterns using technical indicators such as Fibonacci retracements. It monitors the markets 24 hours a day, alerting you to trading opportunities in real time.

I love the Autochartist tool! I think it is great for finding trading signals and can save you hours by automatically scanning the markets on your behalf. It is also a great solution if you don’t have the knowledge or experience to decide which way the market is moving. There aren’t many brokers who offer Autochartist to you, although GO Markets do. They are also up there with XM in terms of trading conditions.

Autochartist

XM VPS

The XM VPS allows you to remotely connect to a Virtual Private Server (VPS) located just 1.5 km away from the brokers data centre in London, with optical fiber connectivity. This can help to ensure rapid trade execution speeds via a lightning fast connection, without having to worry about other factors that can impede your ability to trade effectively, such as internet connection speeds, computer failure, or power cuts. Another great benefit of a VPS is that you can run trading platforms 24/7 without needing your own computer switched on.

If you maintain a minimum account of $5,000 USD (or equivalent) then you are eligible to request the free VPS in the Members Area at any given time, on condition that you trade at least 5 round turn lots or 500 micro round turn lots per month. To qualify for the free VPS, they will also take in to account any other trading accounts you may have registered that use the same email address.

Don’t worry if you are not trading enough volume, you can still request the XM VPS in the Members Area for a $28 monthly fee. This is a very reasonable fee for a VPS, I pay around $30 for mine and it is fantastic for running automated systems around the clock. The VPS fee will be automatically deducted from your MT4 or MT5 accounts on the first day of each calendar month.

Education

XM Group has a vast range of educational materials within the research and education center. This includes daily market updates, economic events, tutorial videos, webinars, seminars and more. This section is frequently updated by 20 multilingual market professionals providing a diverse library of knowledge to assist traders of all levels, from the novice to more advanced trader.

If you are new to trading then you should find these useful. Those of you with some experience will probably not find anything new here. In saying that, there are some unique trading strategies that I found inspiring and learnt some new things to implement into my own trading.

Educational Videos

The video library covers a range of topics including:

• Introduction to the markets
• Trading essentials
• Fundamental analysis
• Technical analysis
• Money management
• Trading psychology
• Trading strategies

Live Education

The broker also offers live trading education with a basic and advanced online educational room to help you learn the fundamentals of trading from XM Groups expert instructors, as they cover strategies for the various trading sessions and answer your questions in real time. This is a great way to get feedback from industry professionals who know what matters the most to traders.

Forex Webinars

As an essential part of their comprehensive educational program, XM Group offer free webinars presented by highly skilled forex professionals who joined forces to provide free interactive webinars available for traders around the globe. The forex webinars are available 19 languages, 7 days a week with 65 webinar instructors.

The management team have hosted hundreds of seminars in over 120 cities to educate traders. They are a human company that put client satisfaction first which explains why they have such a high level of client retention and a loyal user base.

Platform Tutorials

If you are new to trading online and would like to learn more about the different platforms available and how to use them, XM have a generous selection of tutorial videos that can help.

Markets Overview

The XM Market Overview section is dedicated to the latest market news, research and analysis. You can follow the latest market happenings and discover potential trading opportunities based on technical and fundamental analysis across multiple asset classes.

Economic Calendar

The XM economic calendar can keep you up to date with the latest news releases which can be filtered according to the currency pairs, dates and impact relevant to your trading. The calendar shows what news is being released, when it is being released and the expected impact that it can have on the market.

I think it is important to conduct some form of fundamental analysis, rather than relying solely on market analysis with technical indicators. I like to combine both of them along with price action patterns for a more in-depth insight into what the current market situation is.

XM Group Podcast

There is an XM trading podcast which delivers global market insights and reflects the brokers commitment to providing you with meaningful and informative content based on diversity and practical purpose, encompassing up-to-date information needed for online investing and updates on economic events across the globe. This is great for those of you who are fans of auditory learning methods and perhaps less boring than reading complex trading guides.

Markets

XM Group give you access to trade a wide range of more than 1000 financial instruments including Forex, Commodities, Stocks, Shares, Indices, Metals, Energies & CFDs. This is an excellent selection that I would put up there with some of the best in the industry. However, if you want even more, you could consider TMGM who have over 15,000 or Plus500 with more than 2,000.

Whatever your interests, chances are you will find something to trade. However, XM Global does not offer cryptocurrencies or their derivatives. If you are looking to trade cryptocurrencies with all other benefits, Markets.com might be a good alternative for you.

Accounts

You can choose from 3 different account types that provide flexible trading conditions to meet the needs of both beginner and advanced traders. The minimum deposit required is just $5 whilst you can choose between no commission accounts with marked up spreads or pay a $3.5 commission charge to get variable spreads starting from 0 pips. Leverage depends on the financial instrument traded and on client’s country of residence.

The account type that you choose will probably depend on your investment size and trading style. If you are a scalper then you might want to consider the zero account as it has the lowest spreads from 0.0 pips. If you want to trade with less than $200 then you would need to look at the micro or standard account options. Those of you who just want to get a feel for trading can open a demo account free of charge without any commitment. I always start on a demo with a new broker just to get a feel for what they have to offer.

The XM account types are as follows:

• Micro Account: $0 commission, variable spreads from 1.0 pips
• Standard Account: $0 commission, variable spreads from 1.0 pips
• XM Zero Account: $3.5 commission, variable spreads from 0.0 pips
• Demo Account: Practice trading and test the broker without the risk

In my opinion, XM is good in terms of accounts. As the broker provides opportunities for both types of traders, whether they want to bear commission with zero spreads or do commission-free trading with avg spreads. If you are looking for a broker with commission-free trading and the tightest spreads at the same time, Admirals might be an option for you to consider.

XM Group estimate the account opening process to take an impressive 2 minutes to complete. You simply fill out the brief online registration form, verify your email and upload your identification. Once your account has been verified, you are then free to fund it using any of the multiple deposit options and start trading. XM Group Support is on hand to guide you through the process if need be. I didn’t have any problems opening an account and login on a regular basis without any hiccups along the way.

Support

XM Group has over 450 employees with customer service in over 30 languages available 24/5. Support is available 24/5 in 14 languages via phone, chat and email. Well, in my opinion, 24/5 support is enough as long as they don’t provide cryptocurrencies trading (which is the only market opened 24/7).

I found XM’s live chat the easiest and quickest way to contact customer support and the best part is, you will get instant response from human representatives during working hours and they will answer your questions.

They are always around when I need to ask a question whilst I find them very helpful and friendly.

Funding

XM Group have a variety of fast and convenient deposit and withdrawal options. Providing options such as Skrill allows for faster transfers to and from trading accounts.

I know that I don’t always want to wait for days for my funds to clear, especially if there is some major market news that I need to act quickly on to try and take advantage of it. For this reason, I prefer brokers who support digital wallet funding. FXTM have a greater range of online payment options compared to XM.

Fees may be charged when using certain payment methods. Bank transfers can take a few business days to clear and XM covers all the charges for bank transfers of $200 or more. Accounts can be opened in  a great selection of currencies including USD, GBP, EUR, CHF, JPY, PLN, SGD, ZAR, AUD, HUF & RUB. The various different currency options are beneficial as currency conversion fees do not apply when using an account in your own currency.

XM does not have a crypto funding method, which is a bit of a let down considering that many traders have crypto wallets these days. If you are one of those traders, Axi can be a good alternative if you are looking for a broker with crypto funding.

Conclusion

I believe that XM Group understands that clients want fair and transparent trading conditions with the lowest possible spreads and fastest possible execution. The trading model that they incorporate ensures that they are one of the best brokers that you can choose when it comes to favourable trading conditions, regardless of your previous experience or investment size. This combined with strong regulation and a human approach, makes XM Group one of the best trading brokers available to traders worldwide. I have had an account with them for many years and they’ve never let me down.

$5

XM Group is a multi-award winning globally established and regulated broker that offers tight spreads, fast execution speeds and low commission fees, for trading over 1,000 instruments on user-friendly platforms. They also provide education, market analysis tools and convenient funding options.

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

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