ActivTrades Review

Details

Broker	ActivTrades
Website URL	https://www.activtrades.com/en
Founded	2001
Headquarters	1 Thomas More Square London E1W 1YN United Kingdom and International office 209 & 210 Church Street, Sandyport Business Plaza P.O. Box SP-64388 Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas
Support Number	+1 242 603 5200
Support Types	Phone, email, live chat, contact form on website
Languages	English, German, Spanish, French, Italain, Russian, Ukrainan, Arabic, Chinese simplified, Chinese Traditional, Portuguese, Malay
Trading Platform	ActiveTrader, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5
Minimum 1st Deposit	$100
Minimum Account Size	None
Minimum Trade Amount	1 microlot
Maximum Trade Amount	200 lots
Bonus	20% cashback for non-EU clients
Payout	Within 2 working days
Leverage	1:1 up to 1:30 for professional traders up to 1:500
Spread	From 0.50 pips
Free Demo Account	Open Demo
Regulated
Regulation	ActivTrades Corp is authorised and regulated by The Securities Commission of the Bahamas. ActivTrades Corp is an international business company registered in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, registration number 199667 B. ActivTrades Corp is a subsidiary of ActivTrades PLC, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, registration number 434413. ActivTrades PLC is a company registered in England & Wales, registration number 05367727.
Fees
Fee Info	No overnight fees, just spread charges
Commissions
Commission Info	No overnight fees
Account Types	Demo, Swap-free Account, Individual Account, Professional Account
Deposit Methods	Bank transfer, Neteller, Skrill, Sofort, Paypal, Credit / Debit Card
Withdrawal Methods	Bank transfer, Neteller, Skrill, Sofort, Paypal, Credit / Debit Card
Trading Methods	Hedging, scalping, Expert Advisors, Robot Software
Number of Assets	500+
Types of Assets	across forex, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, shares, ETFs and options via both CFDs and spreadbetting
Trading Currency	48 forex pairs including major pairs, minor pairs and exotic pairs
Account Currency	EUR, GBP, USD, CHF
US Traders Allowed
Mobile Trading
Tablet Trading
Overall Score	7.2

Full Review

In this ActivTrades review 2020 we are going to look at all the pros and cons of trading with ActivTrades.

ActivTrades  Company Information

ActivTrades is founded in 2001 and in 2017 it was the 90th fastest growing company in the UK according to the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 list. Apart from in the United Kingdom ActivTrades is a very popular broker, if not the most popular in both Italy and Germany.

ActivTrades is regulated both by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Securities Commission of the Bahamas. ActivTrades offers forex, CFDs and Spread Betting with direct execution as non-dealing desk.

This broker offers services and features for both beginner and professional traders and investors with a wide range of assets (over 500) across forex, indices, commodities, shares, cryptocurrencies, ETFs and options on both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 trading platforms. Apart from only MetaTrader they also have their own designed trading platform called the ActivTrader platform which has unique features like Progressive Trailing Stops.

Is my money safe with ActivTrades?

ActivTrades does a lot to protect their traders and investors. Not only do they offer negative balance protection but client’s deposits are also insured and segregated from their own company balance(s). ActivTrades also offers one-on-one platform tradining for those new to their trading platform. The broker also developed some unique features and tools only usable by ActivTrades clients like Smart Pattern which detects chart patterns, scans historical data and generates detailed statistics about potential outcomes.

Proof of ActivTrades licenses and regulation

From the images below you can see proof that ActivTrades is really licensed and regulated by both the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Securities Commission of the Bahamas.  The Bahamas branch is mostly to further develop their activities in the South American market and to be available for non-EU traders.

ActivTrades proof of license and FCA regulation

Proof ActivTrades is licensed and regulated in Bahamas

Please note that ActivTrades doesn’t take United States or Japanese customers.

Assets and Financial Instruments on ActivTrades

ActivTrades offer a whole lot of different assets and financial products on their platforms. They offer more than 50 forex pairs, 23 indices, 12 commodities, over 500 shares and ETFs, 4 cryptocurrencies and a complete digital options section. You can find more information about ActivTrades’ tradable assets on their website.

Trading fees as spreads and commissions depend on the chosen account type of the investor. According to ActivTrades themselves, their target spread on EUR/USD is 0.50 pips with an average of 0.66 pips with zero commission nor dealing desk intervention.

ActivTrades Account Types

ActivTrades has four types of accounts to its new clients. Traders or soon-to-be traders can choose between a free demo account, an individual account, professional account or a swap-free account.

If you choose to go for an individual account at ActivTrades you can access all of the broker’s 500+ tradable asset classes and all three different trading platforms, being MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and ActivTrader. The individual account comes with the following benefits:

– Negative balance protection
– Extended fund insurance
– Direct execution of orders
– Account fundable in different currencies: EUR, USD, GBP, CHF
– 24/5 customer support
– Ability to set own leverage

The difference between an individual account and professional account is that a professional account isn’t subject to ESMA restrictions which greatly increases leverage and margin trading features (up to 1:500 instead of 1:30). A swap-free account is obviously for Islamic traders and this account type can have the benefits of either an individual or professional account.

To open an account at ActivTrades you simply click the ‘Open Account‘ button on the broker’s website. From there you will have to follow the on-screen instructions, which should be self-explainationary. During the account opening procedure you will have to answer a few questions and upload a form of ID and proof of residence as per their KYC / AML requirements. You can also choose to do this at a different moment, just know you cannot withdraw any profits yet before verifying your identity.

If you want to practice trading on ActivTrades first with a free demo account, this is very easy to do. Just click on the ‘Try Free Demo‘ link on this page as shown below:

ActivTrades deposits and withdrawals

There a quite some methods to deposit and/or withdraw money to and from ActivTrades. Most of them are commission-free and happen in a split-second, whilst others come with some fee and take as long as 2 working days. From the screenshot below you can see all ActivTrades’ deposit and withdrawal options.

ActivTrades Trading Platforms

ActivTrades offers traders the ability to trade on their different trading platforms which can be easily accessed trough the secure ActivTrades Personal Area. AcitvTrades MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 Of course, MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 are the world’s most popular trading platforms for forex traders. There are some differences however. In this article we explain more about the differences between MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5.

MetaTrader 4 versus MetaTrader 5: What’s the Difference?

ActivTrades ActivTrader Trading Platform

With the ActivTrader trading platform traders can trade directly via their web browser without downloading any software. The trading platform itself offers one-click trading, different timeframes and a vast array of technical trading indicators to use. There are also some advanced features available like progressive trailing stops, trailing stops, hedging, market sentiment bar and specialized charts.

All trading platforms offered by ActivTrades have advantages for both beginner and professional traders. Just like the MetaTrader trading platforms, the ActivTrader platform is quite easy to understand and ActivTrades offers a demo trading account for traders to test out their platform first. In the image below you can see how ActiveTrades own trading platform looks like versus regular MetaTrader 4 and 5.

ActiveTrades Mobile Trading

Just like at most other brokers, ActivTrades clients can download the MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and ActivTrades online trading apps trough the Apple app store or Google Play for Android. Tablet trading is also possible as ActivTrades designed their trading apps fully responsive.

With the ActivTrades online trading app users can trade multiple asset classes like forex, shares, indices, commodities and cryptocurrencies. The app also allows users to see real-time charts, create watchlists and set buy-and-sell orders. It’s also to deposit or withdraw money trough the trading app or contact live chat. The ActivTrades app is available in either light or dark theme, to make trading on-the-go a bit more friendly for your eyes.

ActivTrades Special Features

ActivTrades has built-in quite some special features for it’s traders that use MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5. Some of these special features are:

– Smart Order. This is basically a single-click feature where traders can place OCO orders or schedule these at a specific date.
– Smart Lines. This allows traders to automate orders based on trend lines as set in advance by the trader of investor.
– Smart Forecast. This is basically an indicator that follows certain price changes and gives the trader a rough estimate of different price objectives.
– Smart Pattern. This feature is only available on MetaTrader 4. It detects chart patterns and scans historical data to generate statistics about upcoming market movements using artificial intelligince and deep learning.

There are several more Smart Tools available offered by ActivTrades. These extra features are however only usable by live account holders, which means if you just have a demo account at ActivTrades you won’t have access to them.

ActivTrades Commissions & Spreads

ActivTrades has very competitive spreads and commissions on forex, indices, commodities and cryptocurrencies. Basically ActivTrades has commission-free trading on forex pairs and traders can trade mini and micro lots. However, there are overnight and swap fees. The average spread information can be found on their website.

ActivTrades Bonus & Promotions

Because of the recent ESMA regulatory rule changes and ActivTrades being regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, there are no active bonuses or promotions for either new or existing traders.

Accounts opened under the Bahamas branch of ActivTrades are regulated by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas and are offered two bonus promotions for the time being. Cashback and refer-a-friend. The cashback promotion equals 20% reduction on spreads, 20% on swaps and 20% reduction on shares commission to be rebated every week in your ActivTrades account.

ActivTrades Customer Support

ActivTrades has very helpful and friendly customer support which is available 24/5 by either live chat, phone, email or online contact form on the ActivTrades website. The customer support is available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Chinese (Traditional), Russian, Bulgarian and Arabic.

We have tested the live chat feature out on their UK website and it worked like a charm. No bot but a real customer service representative spoke with me within 10 seconds. The chat employee was very helpful and nice to me. At the end of the conversation we received a chat transcript by email, which is very good because then as a client or would-be-client you have proof what the company said/promised to you.

Since the beginning of 2020 ActivTrades also offers one-oin-one coaching by TeamViewer to help you get to know the trading platform and advanced trader tools available on ActivTrades. Keep in mind that this feature is only for you to get to know their platform, they won’t give you any trade ideas or suggestions as this would be conflict-of-interest.

ActivTrades Research and Education

ActivTrades refrains from offering to much educational material on both their website and from within their trading platform. This has mostly to do with current regulations. They do, however, offer an economic calendar on their website, brief technical and fundamental analysis and research articles. From within your personal area you can access alerts from their unique Smart Tools package.

ActivTrades Review Conclusion and our own Experience

From what we have seen, ActivTrades offers a broad range of financial products, tools and features which are great for both beginner and advanced traders. All of their account types, being Demo, Individual and Professional are commission-free and are subject to low and tight fixed spreads.

ActivTrades is really a great broker to deal CFDs with because they have no overnight fees at some markets. Also they offer a lot of share CFDs which makes this even better. Short-term traders enjoy commission-free trading and the non-dealing desk exection model.

Although ActivTrades has quite limited research tools and educational material available, the Smart Tools package for their MetaTrader platforms will be good for both beginners and experiences traders and investors. It’s a good thing that you can use both MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 in combination with ActivTrades, as well as their own proprietary platform. All of ActivTrades’ trading platforms are available on smartphones and tablets as well in app form, downloadable in their respective app stores.

ActivTrades has more than 500 tradable assets available across forex, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, shares, ETFs and options via both CFDs and spreadbetting. Being regulated by both the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bahamas Securities Exchange Commission, offering negative balance protection policies, segregated client’s funds all add up to the reliability of this broker. Overall we can conclude ActivTrades is a reliable broker and we can definitely recommend opening a demo or live account with this broker.

Screenshots

Pros

• Regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Securities Commission of the Bahamas.
• Negative balance protection policy, segregated client funds and enhanced insurance protection for safety of client funds.
• More than 500+ tradable assets across Forex, Indices, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, Shares, ETFs and Options via CFDs or Spread Betting.
• Wide range of trading platforms such as MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and ActivTrader for use on Windows, Mac, Android and iOS, with some advanced additional add-ons such as the Smart Tools package.

Reviews

There is no review.