XM is one of the leading online brokers on the market currently. It is a subsidiary of Trading Point Holding, a renowned CFD, and FX broker that started operations in 2009.
XM offers its services globally and is regulated by three leading financial authorities, including the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), and the Financial Services Commission of Belize (FSC).
If you’re looking for a broker committed to seeing you win, you won’t be disappointed to try XM. And in today’s post, we will take you through everything you need to know about this remarkable online broker.
But before we jump into the nitty-gritty of today’s post, remember that CFDs are complex instruments and come with insane risks, especially due to the high leverage that comes with trading CFDs. According to stats, nearly 75% of investors lose money trading CFDs. So before you decide if trading CFD is worth trying, weigh the risk-to-gain ratio.
Brief overview
XM is a reliable broker for forex and CFD traders who prefer MetaTrader platforms. The platform is also great for people who want to open a trading account without sweating it.
As like we mentioned right from the get-go, XM is regulated by some of the top leading financial watchdogs, including the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and the Australian Securities Investment Commission (ASIC).
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78% of retail investor accounts lose money trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Trading forex or CFDs on margin involves a high degree of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. There is a possibility that you may suffer a loss equal to or greater than your entire investment.
CFDs are complex instruments and involve a high risk of losing money quickly because of the leverage effect. 68% of retail investor accounts lose money trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
One of the things we have come to love about XM is their low stock CFD and withdrawal fees. And yes, they offer a seamless account opening process. Additionally, the platform provides users access to a brilliant array of educational tools they can leverage to give their trading an edge.
Like many online brokers on the market today, XM isn’t all glitz and glam. To start with, they only support a few forex and CFD instruments. While their forex and stock index CFD fees are decent, it’s unfortunate that non-EU customers are not covered by the company’s investor protection policy.
That said, they have many brilliant features and functionalities that traders love. Read on as we delve deeper to unravel some unique selling points of this broker. But before then, let’s look at some pros and cons of XM.
XM pros and cons
There are many things to love about XM, as well as some not-so-cool things we think they can improve on. Here, check some pros and cons of XM we think you should know.
Pros
- Low-cost CFD and withdrawal fees
- Makes account opening easy and hassle-free
- The platform provides users access to robust educational tools
Cons
- The platform has limited portfolios for EU clients
- XM doesn’t offer good investor protection for customers out of Europe.
- Average forex and stock index CFD fees.
Is XM safe to use?
For those asking if XM is a scam, the simple answer is that XM is safe to use. To start with, XM takes the security of users’ funds seriously. The platform leverages state-of-the-art security technologies to prevent hackers from accessing users’ funds. Not just that, XM is licensed by top-tier financial authorities, including CySEC, ASIC, and FCA. If you’re looking for a secure and low-risk broker to trade forex and CFDs with, you won’t be disappointed to try XM.
Who regulates XM?
One of the things traders and investors look out for when looking for a reliable broker is whether it is regulated or not. Good enough, the XM group is regulated by many top-tier financial regulators. For instance, its parent company Trading Point of Financial Exchange Instruments Ltd, which kicked off operation in 2009, is regulated by Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
A branch of XM which operates in Australia is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
Let us also add that XM global operations are guided by XM Global Limited, which launched in 2017. This special arm of the company is regulated by the Financial Service Commission. By virtue of this, XM is able to offer its services globally.
If you’re only interested in regulated brokers, you will surely love XM as they check every box in terms of being regulated.
Awards
Since the company kicked off operations several years ago, they have appealed to many traders because of its unique services. Besides offering competitive conditions and a blend of unique services geared towards improving customer experience, they have won a lot of awards for their exceptional services and transparency.
Thanks to its numerous industry achievements, XM has won multiple awards, including the highly coveted Best Forex Broker for Europe. They have also won the award for the Most Trusted Broker.
Leverage
When it comes to leverage, XM provides mouthwatering leverage options depending on the account type you opt for. In terms of leverage, XM offers leverage on a scale of 1:1 to 888:1. Keep in mind that the leverage you’re entitled to depend on the country you’re trading from, and that’s because of regulatory obligations. Let’s break things down, so you know exactly what we mean.
- If you live in the EU, you’ll be able to take advantage of XM leverage up to 30:1. Another thing we would like to add at this point is that this leverage option is subject to the financial instrument you’re trading.
- Traders in Australia are eligible for leverage up to 500:1.
- If you sign up for the XM international entity, you’ll be able to access high leverage up to 1:888.
Note: When choosing which leverage works for you, make sure you do your due diligence and choose which of the company’s entities you would like to trade with. You can learn more about this via the company’s educational center section.
Another thing you should know is that leverage depends on the financial instruments. For instance, European clients of Trading Point Cyprus have access to leverage of 1:5 for cryptocurrencies.
Account types
XM has made it easy for traders to trade forex and CFDs. And the cool part is that traders have the option to choose a trading account that suits their trading style. If you like to manage risks and want to trade small sizes, you’ll love the XM Micro account type. This account type allows you to use micro lots.
For traders who love trading regular size, you’ll love XM Standard account type. This account type is offered on a spread basis only.
There is also the Zero account which is perfect for large position traders. This account type offers traders a unique fee strategy with pips starting from zero. For this type of account, XM charges a commission per lot.
Can you open an XM trading account in South Africa
Besides being licensed to operate its services globally, XM applied for registration with South African financial regulators. By virtue of this, FX and CFD traders in South Africa can open an account with XM. What many traders have come to love with XM is the fact that its services are available globally, making it a truly global brand.
What is XM’s base currency?
When it comes to base currencies, XM keeps things flexible. What this simply means is that users can choose which base currency they want to use. If you stay in Europe for instance, you can open an XM trading account with your base currency in Europe.
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If you live in South Africa, you can open an account with a base currency in South African Rand (ZAR). Also, you can open an account and choose other global currencies as your base currencies. It all depends on what you want.
The unique thing about choosing one of XM’s supported base currencies is that you won’t be charged currency conversion fees for deposits and withdrawals, something you won’t get with a lot of online brokers.
Supported trading instruments
Besides some of the remarkable features available on this platform, XM appeals to many traders because of the huge variety of supported assets available for traders to trade.
To start with, XM supports a variety of trading markets, including a single multi-asset account which grants traders access to 6 asset classes, including about 55 currency pairs. In addition, XM supports Forex pairs, CFDs, commodities, stocks, metals, energies, indices, and cryptocurrencies.
Fees
What is so unique about XM is that they operate with variable spreads. So just like the interbank forex market, XM doesn’t impose trading restrictions during news releases. On the flip slide, XM fixed spreads are a bit higher than variable spreads. More importantly, they are more flexible with different trading strategies.
What we are simply trying to say here is that all trading costs are calculated into a spread. And good enough, XM is transparent with its operations and doesn’t charge hidden fees for its services.
Note: When choosing a broker, it’s important you don’t only focus on spread. Other things you want to consider include withdrawal fees, non-trading fees, and other applicable charges. This will help you see the full picture.
Trading platforms
Unlike other brokers on the market, XM doesn’t have its own dedicated web trading platform. Instead, XM leverages third-party platforms like MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. These platforms are pretty similar, especially in terms of functionality and design. The major difference between both of these platforms is that while MetaTrader doesn’t support CFD trading, MetaTrader 5 does.
Thanks to supporting MetaTrader 4, XM provides traders access to a brilliant mobile trading platform. MetaTrader’s user-friendly design and impeccable search function are what we love most.
Research
XM provides access to an amazing array of technical tools as well as an economic calendar, which traders can leverage for seamless research. Unfortunately, XM doesn’t currently provide fundamental data on assets.
XM research tools have two sources including the Research and Education section on the website and the MetaTrader trading platforms.
Unfortunately, if you choose a language other than English, you’ll find the Research and Education Section available on the XM platform pretty limited. For instance, you won’t find options for technical analyses or market overviews on non-English websites. On the flip side, if you choose English as your preferred language, you’ll be able to access other great features like:
- Market overview: This feature provides traders with a summary of the latest market news.
- XM research: This page provides analyses, reviews, and comments on market movement.
- Technical summaries: This section provides round-the-clock summaries of asset movements.
- Podcast: This is a brilliant feature you won’t find with other brokers. It is great for research and for getting trading insight from traders.
Customer Support
XM has one of the most professional and responsive customer support teams we have come across. Their customer support team is available 24/5, Monday to Friday, to respond to customer complaints and queries. And since XM is a global brand, it supports more than 25 languages, including English, Chinese, Thai, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Tagalog, Russian and more.
Thanks to supporting multiple languages, there is no language barrier when trying to contact the XM customer support team.
You can contact their customer support team via email, phone, or live chat. If you ever need help with anything, feel free to reach their customer support team, and you’ll get the help you need.
Education
In addition to their impeccable customer support service, another thing we love about XM is that they provide customers access to great educational materials via their XM Learning Center. By visiting XM’s Learning Center, you’ll find brilliant trading data and other important information that will take your trading to the next level.
Compared to other brokers, XM offers some of the best educational materials intentionally designed to give traders an edge.
Even if you already have some trading experience, leveraging the tons of educational materials XM provides will give you an edge.
From live educational offerings to webinars to education videos and seminars, XM ensures their customers have an edge with access to quality educational resources. Also, XM has well-organized tutorials, videos, and other great tools designed to take your trading skills to the next level.
Safety
XM is currently regulated by three top-tier financial authorities, including ASIC and CySEC. That said, XM isn’t yet listed on any exchange. Also, they don’t disclose financial information. Regarding customer safety, XM deploys sophisticated infrastructure to keep its platform safe.
Let us also quickly add that XM provides negative balance protection.
Conclusion
To wrap up, XM is a brilliant and well-regulated broker. This broker is regulated by top-tier financial regulators, including ASIC and CySEC. With XM, there are no re-quotes, hidden fees, or commissions to be worried about. And good enough, XM offers negative balance protection.
Additionally, they support multiple financial assets you can start trading right away. While they aren’t perfect, you can always trust XM to live up to the hype.
