AvaTrade has been one of the leading online trading companies in the past decade. It was established in 2016 and its headquarters is in Dublin, although they have offices in Paris, Milan, Tokyo and Sidney. AvaTrade was previously known as Ava FX. The trading volume is over $60 billion per month. They are specialised in trading Forex, stocks, indices and commodities. People who are new to online trading as well as experienced traders are welcomed, since AvaTrade offer a vast range of opportunities. In this review we give you the most important information concerning AvaTrade, and in the end we summarise the positive and the negative characteristics of this website.
UK Regulation and Reputation
AvaTrade is regulated and licenced in Ireland and it is regulated by the Central Back of Ireland. Since Ireland and UK are both part of the EU, this means that the company can operate in the UK, as well as in the other EU member countries. AvaTrade is one FCA UK registered brokers. In addition, AvaTrade is also registered in Australia and Japan. It can be said that this operator is quite reliable and has a prominent history. AvaTrade has received numerous awards throughout the years of its existence, including the Best Affiliate Program Award for 2015 and 2014 and Most Innovative Forex Broker Europe 2013.
Trading Offer
The list of trading instruments which are available at AvaTrade is really extensive. At AvaTrade you can trade Forex, CFD, bonds and indices, which are quite common, but you can also try to earn money with several less common instruments, such as: Bitcoins, Litecoins, agriculturals, treasuries, exchange traded funds (EFT), oil and energies, as well as gold and metals. When it comes to markets, you are able to trade as much as 60 currency pairs in Forex trading, which includes all major currency pairs, some minor currencies, and as well as a few exotics. When it comes to CFD, you can trade indices, commodities, ETFs, stocks and bonds. If you like to trade stocks you can choose from all major exchanges, such as FTSE, NYSE, NASDAQ and more. When it comes to Bitcoins, you can buy (long) or sell (short) and same goes for Litecoins. If you’re more interested in indices you can choose from the leading European, American and Asian stock indices and you can go long or short. As for treasuries and bonds, you will be allowed to trade US, Japanese and European government bonds. You can also trade a range of energies, from crude oil, to gasoline. Spread betting is also an option for residents of the UK and Ireland.
Leverage and Lot Sizes
The leverage in Forex trading can reach up to 1:400, which means that the margin is 0.25%, although for some pairs the leverage is significantly smaller, like 1:20 for the EUR/RUB pair and the USD/ILS for which it is 1:100. The lot size for Forex currency trading is set at 1,000. If you are trading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoins and Litecoins, the leverage rates are much smaller as well as the lot sizes. It should be noted that the leverages that are set at 400 with MetaTrader are set at 200 with AvaTrader, which makes the margins 0.50%. Pairs with leverage smaller than 400 have the same leverage in both AvaTrader and Metatrader.
Spreads
The spreads vary significantly depending on the currency pair in question. The fixed spread for GBP/USD is 4, whereas the minimum floating spread is 1.8 and the typical is 2.9. The fixed spread if you’re trading USD/CAD is also 4, whereas the floating ones are 1.8 and 2.8 respectively. The fixed spread for GBP/HUF is 85 and the minimum floating spread is 60, while the typical is 77. The spread for all European and American bonds is 0.03 Over Market; whereas Japanese Government bonds it is 0.06 over market. The spread for commodities varies and it is generally quite low for the energies ($0.0015 over market for petrol) and higher for other products ($8.00 over market for cocoa).
Trading Platforms
When it comes to the different types of platforms that are available at AvaTrade, we have to say that there are more than several different trading platforms. Each of them is designed to suit the needs of a different category of players. First there is the AvaTrader which allows you to trade Forex and CFD on your tablet, mobile device or computer. It allows you to trade over 200+ financial instruments at low fixed spreads and make larger trades with 200:1 leverages. The AvaTrader also features live support in multiple languages. With the AvaTrade you can customise your trading terminal and even auto-trade Forex and CFD. The Meta Trader 4 is also a Forex and CFD trading platform. It offers transparent low pricing from 0.8 pips, rapid execution, free auto trading, flexible lot sizes as low as 0.01. The Meta Trader 4 is fully customisable. With the Meta Trader 4 you can also open a Floating Spreads which is practically a different platform. If you prefer automated trading there are 5 different automated trading platforms, such as: Mirror Trader, MQL5 Signals Device, Signal Trader, Zulu Trade and API Trading. The Mobile Trading app supports Android smartphones and you can choose between the MetaTrader 4 and the AvaTrader.
Banking
Once you open your account at AvaTrade you are allowed to deposit your money via your credit card, a wire transfer or via third parties. If you are unsure whether the respective type of deposits is accepted you should contact customer support. Additionally, you can register for AvaDebit Mastercard, a special card issued by Payoneer. The minimum deposit amount if you’re depositing via credit card is £100 and the minimum amount via wire transfer is £500. You can deposit and withdraw GBP only if you live in the UK. When it comes to withdraws it usually takes up to 5 business days before you receive your money.
Welcome Offer for new Traders
Each new trader who opens an account at AvaTrade is entitled to a Welcome Bonus. The bonus amount is 25% of the deposited amount. So, if you deposit £200, you will receive £40, if you deposit £1,000, the bonus would be £200, etc. You are eligible for a bonus only during the promotional period and if you open a floating spread account or an auto trading account you won’t be eligible for a bonus. A bonus can be paid only after your documents are verified and the bonus cannot be used in conjunction with other promotive offers at AvaTrade. You must execute a trading sum of at least 10,000 base instruments for each £1 bonus you have received.
Support
If you need help with anything or have any issues concerning trading at AvaTrade you can contact them via live chat (you’ll see a button in the bottom right corner of the screen) or via an online form which has three categories depending on what you need (Account Opening, Customer Support or Introducing Brokers). Alternatively, you can call them over the phone. They have an international phone and fax line, as well as separate for all major European countries, as well as many overseas countries. Their customer support is available in multiple languages and they respond practically instantly.
Training Materials
Online trading may seem extremely difficult to beginners and that’s why education is vital for everyone who wants to gain a better understanding and ultimately earn more money trading. AvaTrade provide a vast range of different training materials and useful information regarding trading. They provide webinars, training video tutorials, a free Forex Trading Strategies e-book and a large glossary with all the useful definitions. Also, you can read economic indicators that will help you understand each market better. You can watch the video tutorials even if you don’t have an account at AvaTrade. In addition, the website features a resource section which contains many Forex & CFD resources and tools.
Conclusion
In summary, it can be said that AvaTrade has a user-friendly website, which is carefully categorised and simply said is very easy to find stuff. The website features a lot of useful information and a lot of learning materials. AvaTrade offers a large number of trading instruments and a great number of markets. Basically, there is hardly anything that’s traded online which can’t be found at AvaTrade and this certainly is one of the more positive aspects of this website. One may argue that some of the spreads could be higher and that the withdrawal period could be shorter, but all in all, AvaTrade is quite alright.