Hey guys,
I was wondering what you look for in a broker? What do you classify as a good broker and what it takes for you to give a broker a try?
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I check the following things in a broker:
- Is broker regulated?
- Leverage
- security
- Other traders’ view for broker
That sums it up pretty well. I basically look for the same plus customer service is very important to me. Who do you use as your primary broker? I am with PaxForex right now and happy so far.
I first check out how the website looks, whether the english grammar is correct.
Also check out the addresses given in the contacts, do they exist?
Check “insert broker’s name” scam on google.
i’m new here on babypips, but been trading stocks for a while and forex for just over a year. i tend not to switch brokers often (currently with my 2nd), but here’s my thoughts:
1st broker (stocks and a bit of forex) got selected due to reasonably low fees, easy funding (deposit / withdrawal), and intuitive interface. they were great for stocks, but once i moved to exclusively forex, their interface was far behind.
so i went to the 2nd broker (my current), and picked them due to their honest approach w.r.t spreads & commissions, their ‘status’ and ‘cachet’ in the marketplace, and the ability to have access to my trading account via multiple devices at the same time (desktop pc, laptop pc, and iphone [at the time]). obviously, this is Dukascopy.
what i also look for - and in a NEGATIVE way - is any broker that gives you “$5,000 USD bonus” into your account, or is based in a flakey country that i’d unlikely visit. i also tend to ignore any enticements to fund your account using a credit card - that’s just BAD HORRIBLE financial behaviour on the traders’ part. i also don’t worry TOO much about what it takes to set up the account in the first place - it’s only done ONCE so even the long-winded Dukascopy approach is no big deal.
customer service IS important, but funny enough if their website is adequately full of relevant information, and if your account / platform doesn’t see any major glitches, you actually don’t need to use customer support so how good it is becomes less of an issue. i’ve had nearly zero glitches with D, and emails to support@__. are usually answered within a day or two (gotta allow for the time-zone differences).
but really, the broker isn’t the most important thing. assuming you select a good one (there should be at least a half dozen to pick from), the broker should basically be transparent in your daily / weekly operations. you should be seeing ‘your account’, and not ‘your broker’. the best broker is the one that stays out of your way while you attempt your trades.
Yes, that is very important as well. Bad English is a sign to run for the exits and so are false addresses. When it comes to scam reports, I am a bit more cautious. I know Forex Peace Army does a good job to ensure they do their research before they label a broker as a scam broker.
Hi BP7, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this matter. You obviously took some time to respond. I agree that funding your account with a credit card is not the right thing to do. I like the option, but never used it myself. If a broker presses you to do so would view it as a warning sign.
I think your last paragraph summed up what a good broker should do.
But i would like to go with an ECN/STP broker only… And will suggest not to work with market makers even if they are regulated, provides security of funds etc etc…
I don’t really see regulated brokers as addicted to FX righteousness. No. I don’t convincingly see either regulation as the chief recipe in cooking a moral FX. What I look for in a broker (regulated or not) is transparency and accountability. Regulatory bodies may find fraud in the FX too hard to FISH out because traders are not using a BAIT of collective FX caution. There has been a consequent FX inflation- caution and alertness in the FX seem to be so costly that traders can’t afford them anymore; this could be because regulatory bodies hoard these FX virtues by promoting a deep but shallow sense of security in the market. That a client can dive into the market easily only to have his purse reduced to bones by shark-brokers (regulated or not).
Basically, what I admire most in a broker is transparency. That is the primary ingredient of reliability in a broker. A broker those FEEDs clients’ ears regularly with information may find it hard to EAT dishonestly from their purse. I don’t necessarily believe all these big brokerage firms are FX veterans of morality. No. Whether a FX celebrity or not, what I need from my broker is accountability, then his trading style, and how convenient his spread policy should honestly suit my taste. That is principal.
Yeah, the truth is I entered the FX with a large amount of money but with a small amount of diligence- never cared to literally borrow some investigative character from the CIA and hence I gave my money to brokers based on their high reputations without sniffing them personally. After suffering scams on the hands of those so acclaimed honest big names brokers that I resolved that whether big or small, book maker or bucket-shop, I would trade with any if they have a convincing amount of transparency and accountability. Now, I have deserted InvestTech and searching for more morally greener pastures. Transparency is really a distance off reputation, what do you think?
Yeah, the truth is I entered the FX with a large amount of money but with a small amount of diligence- never cared to literally borrow some investigative character from the CIA and hence I gave my money to brokers based on their high reputations without sniffing them personally. After suffering scams on the hands of those so acclaimed honest big names brokers that I resolved that whether big or small, book maker or bucket-shop, I would trade with any if they have a convincing amount of transparency and accountability. Now, I have deserted InvestTech and searching for more morally greener pastures. Transparency is really a distance off reputation, what do you think?
The one thing that struck me the most in this post is TRANSPARENCY. This is rare nowadays amongst brokers, the one thing I was most interested in after a friend told me about Profiforex, was their level of transparency. They satisfied my curiousity, they only charge 0.3pips for the whole deal and no other hidden ones. In a a nut shell, making thorough research about the broker helps a lot.
The feature can never be underestimated in a broker, because sometimes what we see there is not all there is. I trade with same broker and transparency is one thing I would speak about when it comes to them. But much of this things could be seen in the traders agreement terms.
The most important determinants of a Forex trader’s success is the forex trading brokers they choose. Excellent and reliable Forex trading brokers can offer you stable and easy to use trading platform to trade Forex with, and also give you better guarantee to the security of your fund and customer services.