IC Markets

IC Markets is a forex and CFD broker on a mission to create the best and most transparent trading experience for retail and institutional traders. It boasts of raw spreads, low commissions, latest technology and multiple trading platforms. The brokerage was founded in 2007 by Andrew Budzinski in Australia. Today, it has grown to become a global brand that has over 180,000 active clients from all over the world and processes over 500,000 trades per day. Its head office is in Sydney, Australia but it has other offices in Limassol, New Providence and Mahé in Seychelles.

IC Markets asserts that it offers its clients raw spreads starting from 0.0 pips with no requotes. The prices are obtained from its liquidity providers. Its trading hub is located at Equinix NY4 data centre which is located in New York. The low latency server executes client trades with a speed of about 40milli seconds.

Security and Regulation

IC Markets and its subsidiaries are regulated as follows:

• International Capital Markets Pty Ltd is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) with AFSL License No. 335692.
• IC Markets (EU) Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) with License No. 362/18.
• Raw Trading Ltd is registered in Seychelles with the registration number: 8419879-2. It is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles with License number: SD018.
• IC Markets Ltd is registered in The Bahamas with registration number 76823 C. It is regulated by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas with License No. SIA-F214

In strict compliance to the regulatory directives, all clients’ deposits are kept in segregated bank accounts opened with the tier 1 international banks. The financial records are regularly audited to ensure compliancy with the stipulated rules.

International clients within the area serviced by Raw Trading Ltd are protected through an insurance policy bought from Lloyd’s of London. All clients’ deposits and open positions are protected to the tune of $1,000,000 if for any reason the broker becomes insolvent.

Clients from the EU; that is, the CySEC regulated jurisdiction are insured through the Investor Compensation Funds (ICF) scheme. So, if IC Markets goes bankrupt, ICF will compensate its clients up to €20,000.  

Trading instruments

IC Markets gives its clients access to trade CFDs in the following markets:

• 61 forex pairs
• Over 1600 stocks CFDs from ASX, NYSE and NASDAQ exchange
• 23 indices
• 11 Bonds
• 13 cryptocurrencies
• 22 commodities

Account opening

IC Markets states that account opening and funding is instant and you can start trading in minutes. Click on ‘start trading’ to display the account opening form; then, enter your personal details, choose platform, account type, account currency, etc and submit the form.

Immediately, you will be logged into the clients’ area and prompted to provide additional information. Answer questions about your trading experience, income range, etc. Next, you are required to upload your ID card and a recent utility bill to verify your account. You can make deposits, download your platform of choice and start opening trade positions. 

IC Markets platforms and services are not for clients in U.S.A, Canada, Israel, New Zealand, Japan and Iran.

 Deposits and Withdrawals

 IC Markets asserts that more than 15 methods can be used to fund its trading accounts and clients can maintain accounts in over 10 base currencies. The broker does not charge deposit or withdrawal commissions. Withdrawal requests received before 12:00 pm AEST are treated on the same day.

Below are the payment options:

Credit/Debit card: This is the most popular option among IC Markets clients. Card payments instantly reflect in the trading account and trading can begin immediately. Funds are accepted in 8 currencies: AUD, JPY, EUR, USD, NZD, GBP, CAD and  SGD.  Card withdrawals usually take 3-5 days but sometimes may take up to 10 business days. It is not available in some countries. 

Bank Wire transfers: Transactions in up to 9 currencies are accepted. International wire transfer withdrawals are charged $20 being processing fee charged by IC Markets bank. Sometimes the transaction may take as much as 14 days but typically, it takes 2-5 business days.

Internet banking:

Thai and Vietnamese internet banking funds are accepted in USD. The transaction is usually completed in a few minutes but maximum of 30 minutes.

Online Payments: PayPal, Neteller, Neteller VIP, Skrill, BPay, FasaPay, POLi, RapidPay and Klarna are the options acceptable. All online payments are instantly processed except BPay which takes 12-48 hours and it is accepted only in AUD.

Broker to Broker: IC Markets accepts payments from supported brokers. Payments are accepted in AUD, JPY, USD, EUR, NZD, SGD, GBP, CAD, CHF and HKD. It takes 2-5 business days to complete the payment process.

Fees and account types

$200 is the minimum amount required to open any IC Markets account. The maximum leverage is 1:500. Generally IC Markets has two account types; Raw spread and the Standard account.

Raw Spread account

This account is separately available for each platform. It features raw spreads from 0.0 pips on the major currency pairs. For the benchmark EURUSD, it averages 0.02 pips. Commission of $7 is charged per round lot on the MetaTrader platforms while a commission of $3 per $100,000 per side is charged on the cTrader platform.  

Standard account

This account is only available on the MetaTrader platforms. No commissions are charged because the trading fees are incorporated into the spreads. The minimum spread for the major currency pairs is 0.6 pips but averages 0.62 for the EURUSD, 0.77 for the AUDUSD and 0.83 for the GBPUSD.

Islamic account

Swap free Islamic accounts are available for standard are Raw spread accounts on all platforms.

Demo account

Demo accounts are available on all platforms. It comes with virtual funds for trading practicing.

IC Markets Trading platforms

IC Markets offers 3 trading platforms. Some assets are only tradable on specific platforms so, it is important to know the available platform for the assets you wish to trade. Below are the available platforms:

MetaTrader platforms (MT4 and MT5)

The MT4 was released in 2005 while MT5 was launched in 2010 by MetaQuotes Software Corporation; a leading software company that develops software for the financial markets. Both platforms interface brokers and traders while providing powerful features for order management, technical analysis, risk management, etc. The MT4 and MT5 look very much alike in application interface and functions except that the MT5 has more features. Here are some features of the MetaTrader platforms:

• User friendly and fully customizable interface.
• Features and functions can be expanded through plugin apps built with MQL4 for MT4 and MQL5 for MT5 platforms.
• Charting package with 9 timeframes for MT4 and 21 for MT5.
• Comes preloaded with technical indicators; 30 for MT4 and 38 for MT5. More indicators can be added via plugin apps.
• Order management tools which include 4 pending orders for MT4 and 6 for MT5.
• AutoTrade function; supports expert advisors (EAs) which are trading robots that automate strategies.  In fact both platforms have hundreds of already built EAs available for sale; some are free.
• Mobile friendly; each platform has its own android and iOS apps.

Though very similar, both platforms are not compatible; this is why IC Markets offer both of them to its clients. EAs and other apps built for the MT5 cannot run on the MT4 and vice versa.

CFDs on over 1,600 big cap stocks are available exclusively on the IC Markets MT5 trading platform. The platform also comes with an inbuilt economic calendar.

IC provides the MetaTrader platforms as WebTrader, windows desktop application, MT for Mac, android and iOS apps. 

cTrader

This is a sophisticated CFD trading platform that was launched by Spotware systems Ltd; a fintech firm established in Limassol, Cyprus by Andrey Pavlov. Below are some of its features:

• Intuitive and attractive interface with detachable charts.
• Level II pricing dept functionality which helps a trader to make precise market entries.
• Charts can be viewed on 26 timeframes.
• It comes with over 70 technical indicators but more can be added.  
• cAlgos: which helps traders to develop and deploy trading robots. IC Markets provides cAlgos for download and integration with cTrader.
• Multiple order types.
• One-click trading.
• Social trading is available through ‘cTrader copy’.

It is available as cTrader web, cTrader desktop application, android and iOS apps. CFDs on bonds, futures and stocks are not available on the IC Markets cTrader platform.

Trading Tools

AutoTrade

This is a social trading platform owned and operated by Myfxbook; a popular online website that enables traders to analyze, share and compare trading strategies and account performance. AutoTrade enables investors or newbies to copy the trades of expert traders in order to make profits. IC Markets clients can register to connect to AutoTrade through the clients’ area.

ZuluTrade

This is a renowned social trading platform that allows traders from all over the world to connect and copy trades of other experienced and successful traders. It has tools that rank expert traders according to their performance. Copiers can find and connect to the account of a signal provider and automatically replicate his strategies.

MAM/PAMM

IC Markets has a Multi account manager (MAM) software that enables account managers to open multiple trades in different trading accounts with just one click. This is achieved through the MT4 Multi terminal software available on the clients’ area. The software provides every tool required by a Master account to on-board accounts, assign trading parameters and trade multiple accounts.

Trading Central analysis

From the clients’ area, traders can subscribe to daily market analysis powered by ‘Trading Central’ which is a leading technical analysis provider. It can be accessed from the clients’ area.

Autochartist

This is a powerful tool that scans the markets and provides the trader with trading alerts when it identifies trading opportunities. It is available on the web and also as MT4/MT5 plugin apps. You can also subscribe to daily market forecasts from the clients’ area.

MT4 advanced trading tools

IC Markets has bundled together 20 tools to give its MT4 traders a greater trading experience. Some of the tools are:

• Stealth orders
• Tick chart trader
• Alarm Manager
• Correlation trader
• Market Manager
• Session map

The installer can be downloaded from the clients’ area and installed as a plugin app on the MT4 platform.

Forex Calculators

Click on the drop down arrow to select and use any of the available calculators:

• Pip calculator
• Currency converter
• cTrader commission
• Margin calculator
• Swaps calculator
• Profit calculator

Virtual Private Server (VPS)

VPS is very important to expert traders who deploy complex strategies, expert advisors and other trading systems that need uninterrupted connection to the servers.  IC Markets provides free VPS to traders whose volume is more than 15 lots per month. The VPS is provided in partnership with the following premium VPS providers:

• Forex VPS
• Beeks FX VPS
• New York City Servers.

Research and Education

 Market Analysis Blog

IC Markets refers to this blog as ‘information hub for serious traders’. It is updated frequently and has the following sections:

• Company news: important IC Markets news are posted here.
• Fundamental analysis
• Technical analyses
• Education: has several trading articles targeted at beginners. The articles are grouped into; Trading plan 101, fundamental analysis 101, forex trading 101, risk management 101 and technical analysis 101.
• Trading data: info on swaps, earning reports, etc.

Video tutorials

There are 17 video tutorials on how to use the various features of the MT4 platform.

Getting started articles

This is made up of articles which introduce a novice to forex trading. The article starts from the definition of forex, history and basics of forex trading including terminologies, their meanings and applications.

Customer Support

The client support desk works round the clock; on a 24/7 basis. There is a help centre that features about 200 questions and answers about trading with IC Markets, forex market, CFDs, trading platforms, opening accounts, etc. If your questions are still not answered, you can reach the support team by email, live chat or by filling the ‘call back’ request form. You may also call them on phone; there are toll free numbers for clients from Brazil, Thailand, Indonesia, Colombia and Vietnam. 

On social media, IC Markets is on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Summary

IC Markets is a broker founded and run by experienced traders. Regulated across 4 jurisdictions, traders’ funds are safe in segregated accounts. The broker has also bought an insurance policy to further protect deposited funds.

IC Markets’ choice of platforms is excellent; all trading styles and levels are accommodated. Spreads are low courtesy of ECN pricing. Trade execution is swift owing to modern technology. Multiple payment options are available and thousands of CFDs assets can be traded on the platforms. Apart from its internal blog and analysis, IC Markets has partnered with Trading Central and Autochartist to provide their traders with in-depth market analysis.

But, the minimum deposit of $200 is high when compared with other brokers. Though training resources are available, there is no comprehensive trading academy that is well structured and organized into courses and tutorials.

In conclusion, IC Markets is a regulated and reliable broker that is growing and expanding daily.