FX Open

FXOpen is a financial services company specialized in providing traders with high quality online trading services. Before the brokerage was even contemplated, FXOpen was founded as an educational centre for technical analysis, meeting the demand for specialist knowledge that ensured efficient trading. The brokerage service was launched in 2005 in order to satisfy the need for fair and transparent trading conditions with excellent customer support.

In 2009, having already provided a platform for retail forex traders, FXOpen were the first to launch its MetaTrader 4 ECN platform which provided traders with access to the ECN market. They went on to announce their PAMM system which, essentially, harnesses the knowledge of the top traders enabling those less experienced to benefit from their knowledge through a ‘fund-type’ structure.

The website is easy on the eye and the platform as a whole is very accessible and intuitive while still offering a product that would suit experienced forex traders and benefit inexperienced traders.

Trading Platform

As mentioned the platform provided by FXOpen, for both live and demo accounts, is the industry leading MetaTrader4 platform so those who have traded before will be familiar with the product and those who haven’t can be sure that they are using the best available.

FXOpen were also the first to offer a true MT4 ECN trading platform which brings together the World’s top liquidity providers on to one platform, so traders benefit not only from live price feeds but also from straight through processing (STP) execution and fills. This is an ideal feature for experienced traders, it provides anonymity, market depth data and guarantees that your market orders will be filled at the best price possible – no re-quotes.

 A mobile version of their platform is also available for FXOpen clients enabling them to access the world’s currency markets and carry out trades as if they were sitting at their desk. Mobile trading is fairly essential for those who are constantly on the move and/or have day jobs.

The mobile platform comes fully equipped with embedded symbol charts and technical indicators and financial news which will help traders with their decision making. The charting package is comprehensive; all that is available on the main site is available via the mobile platform which, when combined with the full range of risk management orders and alerts about changes in the markets, makes for an impressive mobile trading package. 

Features

Previously, the MetaTrader 4 platform was not designed to be used by ECN brokers and it was not possible to connect it to the interbank market which is what provides the increased liquidity and means your orders will be filled almost instantly and without slippage. After several years and plenty of investment, FXOpen bridged this gap and provided the first MT4 ECN trading platform. ECN is the next step in bring the forex market closer to the stock market model and will, some say, be how all brokers conduct their dealings in the future and so FXOpen stole a march on their competitors with this innovation. If you’re still unsure of the potential benefits of this type of platform you can trial the ECN service in the demo account.

 FXOpen also introduced their PAMM (Percentage Allocation Management Model) services in 2009 which is a top service that, simply put, combines multiple accounts into one account for the convenience of money managers. It is a technical solution that allows money managers to creater an unlimited number of ‘investor’ accounts all under one ‘master’ account. The funds from all the investor accounts are then able to be traded as one unit making conditions easier for money management. The trading on a PAMM account can only be performed by an Account Manager (a professional trader), so you would be sure that your investment is in safe hands. Investors would receive any profits as a percentage of their initial investment. For example, if an investor put forward 50% of the initial PAMM investment, he would be entitled to 50% of the profits, minus the performance fee of the Account Manager.

 Combing the ECN platform with the PAMM account really does provide an illustration of the quality provided by FXOpen. Traders using these services will get quick, reliable and transparent trading conditions and, for a small fee, access to expert opinion, technical analysis, video tutorials and more.

 In terms of customer support, FXOpen offers 24/7 support via email, phone of live chat for issues that need immediate resolution.

Accounts

There are a number of different accounts that you can hold with FXOpen, here is a brief introduction into what they consist of:

 Standard Account:

• The minimum initial deposit is $25 and carries a $100 bonus once you have traded 10 aggregated lots.
• Spread from 2 pips
• Leverage from 1:1 to 1:500, for accounts up to $25,000
• No maximum balance limit

 Micro Account:

• The minimum initial deposit is $1, upon which, traders will be provided with a further $1 as a bonus.
• Spread from 2 pips
• Leverage from 1:1 to 1:500
• Maximum account balance is $3,000. Once this level is reached, leverage max. will be reduced to 1:5
• Trading volume from 0.1 micro lot, where 1 micro lot equals 1000 points of the base currency

 ECN Account:

• The minimum initial deposit is $1,000 with leverage from 1:1 to 1:500 for accounts from $1,000 to $25,000
• 5^th Decimal pricing and interbank liquidity
• Spread from 0 pips
• No maximum balance limit and no restrictions on stop and freeze levels
• Commission per 1 million starting from $18 per side
• All limit orders (Bid and Offer) go directly to orders book

 *Other than the micro account, all accounts: Trading volume from 0.1 standard lot, where 1 standard lot equals 100,000 points of the base currency.

 There are FASS (FXOpen Automated System Selector) versions of the standard and ECN accounts, in which the above stipulations apply but the account type enables clients to manage their portfolio by selecting strategies from a very large and tested list.