Admiral Markets Review
Why Admiral Markets Doesn’t Suck In 50 Words
Regulation, solid choice of trading platforms, tight spreads (as low as 0.5 pips for EUR/USD), cryptocurrency trading, Negative Balance Protection (account balance cannot go below zero) and a relatively low first deposit at 100 USD minimum.
Why Admiral Markets Sucks In 50 Words
US Traders are not accepted and while a lot of people are unaffected by this, I am sure that it sucks for Americans who are looking to trade with a reliable, regulated broker.
Is Admiral Markets A Scam?
No way! Take a look at their regulation, see how long they’ve been in business and you’ll clearly see this broker cannot be a scam. FCA, ASIC, and CySEC are three of the most prominent financial regulators in the trading world and usually, if a broker is regulated by even one of these entities, we can safely say it’s not a scam. But Admiral Markets is regulated by ALL three, so if they are a scam, that would mean regulation is useless, which I seriously doubt. That being said, keep in mind that trading is inherently risky and that you should always conduct your personal review before investing with any broker.
Should I Open An Account With Admiral Markets?
Admiral Markets is a well-known, respected CFD broker that’s been in business since 2001. Depending on the location you access the website from, you will be registering with either Admiral Markets UK Ltd (regulated by the FCA – reference number 595450), Admiral Markets AS (regulated by the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority – licence number 4.1-1/46), Admiral Markets Cyprus Ltd (Regulated by CySEC – licence number 201/13) or Admiral Markets Pty Ltd (regulated by ASIC – ABN 63 151 613 839). All the companies mentioned so far are members of Admiral Markets Group AS.
The broker recently rebranded to Admirals but apart from the logo and the slight name change, everything is the same. Admiral Markets/Admirals seems to tick all the boxes and to have all the characteristics of a trustworthy trading partner. The available platforms are Meta Trader 4, Meta Trader 5, WebTrader (Meta Trader’s web-based version), and Meta Trader Supreme Edition Add-On. The latter is a package of additional features for MT4 and MT5, such as a built-in economic calendar, market sessions map, advanced order types, trade alerts, and more. The good thing is that it’s free and available for even the lowest deposit, so I don’t see why you shouldn’t use it.
As a special tool, Admiral Market offers StereoTrader, which is a MetaTrader trading panel, with unique functions that enable smoother, more controlled trades. It facilitates the use of strategic and/or stealth orders, history trading, and allows the use of multiple trading strategies within one instrument and one account at the same time. These are just some of the advantages offered by SteroTrader but unfortunately for some, there’s a requirement of minimum 2,000 EUR account equity before you can use the tool.
Admiral Markets offers three types of accounts: Trade.MT5, Invest.MT5 and Zero.MT5 (Trade and Zero also have MT4 counterparts). Invest.MT5 is an account type that allows trading over 4,000 Stocks and over 200 ETFs. As for the other two account types, both have the same minimum deposit requirements and similar trading conditions but the Zero account will have spreads starting from 0 pips and a commission between 1.8 – 3.0 USD per 1 lot. On the other hand, the Trade.MT5/MT4 account doesn’t have commissions for Forex and other asset classes but has higher spreads (which are still very tight, starting at 0.5 pips). The lowest deposit is 100 USD but this minimum only has to be met on your first deposit and after that, it goes to 50 USD.
Admiral Markets offers a wide selection of cryptocurrencies, both as crypto vs fiat pairs and crypto crosses (crypto vs crypto). Spreads are again a highlight of this section, floating at 0.3% for BTC/USD and BCH/USD, at the time of writing. Considering that some brokers charge spreads of over 250 for BTC/USD, Admiral Markets is very competitive in this department and definitely worth checking out if you are looking to trade CFDs on crypto.
The education section is complex, consisting of webinars, seminars, tutorials, articles, and a 21-day course titled Zero to Hero. The course is free and will teach you the basics of technical and fundamental analysis as well as real-time and real market trading techniques.
As we’ve already said above, this broker ticks all the boxes and looks like a solid choice whether you are looking for your first trading account or want to replace your current broker.
Admiral Markets UK Ltd has a registered office at 37th Floor, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5AB, United Kingdom. Admiral Markets Cyprus Ltd has a registered office at Dramas 2, 1st floor, 1077 Nicosia, Cyprus. Admiral Markets Pty Ltd has a registered office at Level 10, 17 Castlereagh Street Sydney NSW 2000.
The broker can be contacted at email [email protected] and phone (UK) +442035041364.
Admiral Markets Complaints
With a long time in business, it’s only normal that not 100% of your clients are satisfied and Admiral Markets had its share of backlash, but not all of it seems well-founded. For example, a user complained that his account opening documents were not verified for 4 (FOUR) years. I don’t understand, did he really wait 4 years to post a complaint on a trading forum? Did he try contacting the broker in the meantime? It sounds a bit weird but maybe that’s because we don’t have all the details. Other users have complained about having to send extra documents before being able to withdraw, but it’s not unusual for regulated brokers to ask for additional verification.
Admiral Markets Regulatory Warnings And Announcements
The British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned that Admiral Markets UK Ltd was cloned by individuals that used the details of the real firm to gain the trust of unsuspecting clients. This is by no means a stain on Admiral Markets’ reputation because the warning wasn’t directed at them, but it is worth mentioning. Always check you are doing business with the real firm, not a clone. See details here.
Admiral Markets Withdrawal
Withdrawals can be made via bank transfers and Skrill with no minimums for wires and 1 USD minimum for Skrill. The processing time is up to 5 business days for wires and instantaneous for Skrill, which is great. Although credit cards are not listed as a withdrawal method, upon speaking to a support rep, we found out that if you make a deposit via credit card you will be able to withdraw money to this card. Also keep in mind that additional methods may become available depending on the location of the client.
Admiral Markets Extras
Instant withdrawals, Negative Balance Protection, no minimum withdrawal limits, supervision from 4 financial regulatory bodies (depending on the region you access the broker from). A recently introduced account type (Invest.MT5) allows you to trade over 4,000 stocks and over 200 ETFs, and the recently introduced SteroTrader allows better control over your trades and statistics.
Admiral Markets Overall Ratings
User Friendliness 16/20
The website is clean and has accessible information, translated into 24 languages. The trading platforms are great but not suited for the complete newbie. Demo accounts are available, as well as mobile platforms but US clients are not accepted.
Range Of Markets, Spreads And Leverage 18/20
The broker offers 40 currency pairs, 32 cryptocurrency pairs (crypto vs fiat as well as crypto vs crypto), 26 commodities, 40 indices, over 4350 stocks, and over 300 ETFs, so it’s safe to say the number of their tradable assets is huge. All these assets can be traded as CFDs but Admiral Markets also offers Stock and ETF trading.
Spreads are very tight, starting at 0.5 pips for EUR/USD, lower than 1% for Bitcoin Cash Bitcoin (vs USD). These are floating so they can change according to market conditions. Leverage goes up to 1:30 for Forex pairs for retail customers and higher for professional clients. Crypto leverage is limited to 1:2 for retail clients.
Fees And Support 16/20
Apart from spreads and rollovers (normal trading fees with all brokers), clients will have to pay a 1% fee for withdrawals to Skrill. However, please note that the first 5 withdrawals are free. There’s also a small inactivity fee of 10 EUR per month after 24 months of inactivity. Support was very quick to respond and answered all questions without any fuss.
Deposits And Withdrawals 18/20
The first deposit has a minimum requirement of $100; the methods are bank wires, credit cards, Skrill, Neteller, and Klarna (please note that availability may depend upon clients’ location). Withdrawals take up to 5 business days for bank transfers but are instantaneous for Skrill.
Extras 18/20
StereoTrader, webinars, seminars, a 21-day trading course (Zero to Hero), Negative Balance Protection, instant withdrawals, ETF and Stock investing, full regulation from respected financial watchdogs, economic calendar and news right on the trading platform. Overall a very good selection of features.