Exness Review:
The MetaTrader CFD broker offering 170+ products with excellent trading conditions

BRIEF INTRODUCTION

The Exness Group was founded in 2008 by professionals from the financial and information technology industry and has expanded swiftly over the past decade. As of December 2018, the top CFD broker had more than 50,000 active clients generating monthly trading volumes of close to $350 billion, a significant number when you compare them with the other forex brokers.

The top forex broker offers a wide range of CFD products across five asset classes- Forex, commodities, including precious metals and energy, cryptocurrencies, shares, and stock indices. International clients can access the various financial instruments offered by Exness from two distinct account types- Standard and Professional.

The two categories of Standard accounts comprise of the Standard and Standard Cent, while the Pro account includes Raw Spread, Zero, and the ECN. The CFD broker also offers the globally-recognized CFD trading platforms-MetaTrader 4 or 5, across all devices. Irrespective of the account type, client trading costs are low to moderate, while the trading conditions at the CFD broker have both positives and negatives.

When it comes to investor protection and regulation, Exness is currently regulated by the-

  • Exness UK- Authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.

Website-  www.exness.uk.

  • Exness Cy- Authorized by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) in the EU. Website- www.exness.eu.
  • Nymstar Limited- Authorized by the Financial Services Authority in Seychelles (FSA). Website- www.exness.com.

Besides, the top CFD broker is a member of the Investor Protection Fund (IPF) in the EU and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK. However, this is likely to change shortly, with the forex broker on the verge of winding down its UK and European operations and looking to refocus on global operations under Nymstar Limited. The CFD broker is not accepting new clients under Exness UK and Cyprus and is moving its existing clients under the banner of its international Nymstar Limited entity.

 

Exness provides multi-language client support in 13 languages, including a 24/5 helpdesk in 11 languages, and 24/7 in English and Chinese. Besides, the official website is accessible in 15 language options, and individuals looking for quick answers and troubleshooting options should be able to find them on the Exness Help Center.

 

In our review of the top forex broker, we cover the range of products, the web, desktop, and mobile trading terminals, trading conditions, educational resources, and client support at Nymstar Limited, the CFD broker’s subsidiary for global clients. Also, as part of our review, we compare Exness with the other forex brokers wherever necessary and underline some of the significant points that set one of the best CFD brokers apart from the rest of the competition.

RANGE OF MARKETS

Exness offers an assortment of 174 products in forex and CFDs in precious metals, energy, cryptocurrencies, stock indices, and shares. However, if you log in to the trading terminal and view the symbol list, you will notice 449 products. That’s because, in addition to the tradable instruments, Exness has also included forex indicators, non-tradable metal-currency baskets (MBC) that track the currency value of your metals portfolio, and a few more non-tradable instruments.

 

Following are the product offerings by Exness, segregated into asset classes

Asset class Number of products
Forex 127

Precious metals- Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium. 

Gold- Traded against the GBP and the AUD.

Silver- Pitted against the GBP, AUD, and JPY.

04
Energy  01
Cryptocurrencies- BTC is also pitted against the JPY and KRW 05
Stock Indices 07
Shares 30

 

TRADING PLATFORMS

Exness is a MetaTrader broker, offering the MT4 and MT5 platforms for all their clients across the web, desktop, and mobile applications. While the forex broker provides the MT4 for all account holders, the MT5 is not available for traders who sign-up for the Standard Cent account. Both the platforms support Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, and Android, offer an impressive array of features, enhanced user interface, and advanced trading options for individuals looking to explore new trading horizons.

The platforms come loaded with tools that support manual and automated trading, multiple order types, a range of financial instruments, and all forms of analysis.

As part of our review of the trading platforms offered by one of the best CFD brokers, we tested the MT5 across computer and mobile devices, and have highlighted our findings below.

 

Exness MT5 desktop platform-

The MetaTrader 5 terminal is accessible by clients registering for the Standard, Raw spread, Pro, and Zero accounts. The MT5  trading app by the CFD broker is superior to the previous MT4 offering, with several limitations of the MQL4 eliminated, besides the inclusion of new functions and graphical objects.

You can trade in 174 financial instruments from Exness on the MetaTrader 5, a small number of products when compared with the other major forex brokers. Besides, Exness does not offer anything much in terms of custom tools other than the ones already available on the platform.

Here are some of the features of the Exness MT5 trading terminal-

  • The platform is accessible in 52 languages.
  • Order types include the instant order, market, pending along with the SL/TP function.
  • Fill or kill execution (FOK) with the option to hedge your trades. 
  • You can access three types of charts with 21-time frames.
  • The platform includes the market-depth panel with price quotes from nine best buyers/sellers.
  • Access a range of 60 in-built technical indicators and analytical tools, besides the 46 graphical objects.
  • You can set up up to 100 charts at the same time.
  • Live news from multiple sources.
  • The exclusive offering includes free VPS hosting, currency converter, and the trading calculator.
  • The market analysis features consist of Web TV from Trading Central and the live economic calendar.
  • The historical stats contain tick history on FX and other financial instruments, which can be loaded on the MT terminal to test strategies and perform technical analysis.
  • Download free technical indicators or subscribe to them from the codebase.
  • The platform includes strategy tester and EAs for clients automating trading strategies.

Exness MT5 web platform-

The MT5 web trading platform is based on the HTML5 web application and is directly available on the Exness website. If you are familiar with the desktop version of the MT5, the transition should be effortless. While the web platform is fast, reliable, and user-friendly, with secure encrypted data, it has fewer features when compared to the desktop platform. However, you can trade on all the product offerings of the CFD broker, carry out the same order execution styles, customize charts, and directly connect to the forex broker’s website or the helpdesk at the click of a button.

Drawbacks-

  • It comes with basic analytical tools.
  • The platform does not feature live news that is available on the desktop platform.
  • The terminal supports only manual order entries, inappropriate for Algo/automated traders.

If you are a trader choosing between the MT5 desktop and the web terminal, the former is a much better option, any day.

Mobile application-

The MT5 mobile app from MetaQuotes is available for Android and iOS users and accessible from the Google PlayStore or the Apple Appstore. The appearance of the mobile app is very similar to the MT4 and is not very different from its desktop or web version. The app supports all the primary functions except for the EA’s. Besides, all the order types, trading features, and the technical analysis tools found on the web terminal are also present in the handheld application.

When compared to the other top forex brokers, the Exness MT5 mobile application has a couple of drawbacks. 

  • The app does not support live news.
  • There was a drag in the order placements, although it could be due to a temporary glitch.

 

TRADING CONDITIONS - Spreads, margins, and orders -

The trading conditions at Exness forex are among the best in the industry. While the broker does not insist on a minimum deposit for the Standard Account, all the Professional Accounts come with a minimum deposit of $500. The other key differences between the account types include the range of tradable instruments, leverage, margin call, and stop-outs. Besides that, everything else such as the minimum lot size, the maximum number of positions, hedged margins, swap-free accounts, and order execution more or less remain the same. In our review of the trading conditions at Exness CFD broker, we cover the spread, margins, the order types, and the speed of order execution.

 

Beginning with the spread, the top forex broker provides variable spreads across all the account types. Irrespective of the region or the regulator you come under, the spreads are among the best by forex brokers worldwide. While Exness is one of the lowest spread CFD brokers in the industry, offering clients the zero pip spread on some account types, the broker charges a small commission to account for it. 

 

When it comes to margins, they again vary on the individual’s location and the client category. The broker’s regulations in the UK and Europe come under stringent guidelines with the watchdog specifying the minimum margin requirements for retail clients to open positions at 3.33% in particular FX pairs. On the contrary, if you sign-up as a professional client, you do not come under the EEA Regulations, which makes you eligible for lower margins- to the extent of 0.5%. Besides, International clients are also allowed lower margins due to the non-interference by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA), the regulator for global clients. However, the margins are directly proportional to the invested capital- higher the equity, higher the margins.

Illustrated below is the relationship between margins, leverage, and equity

Exness provides speedy order execution from the globally renowned MetaTrader platforms, and we experienced this first-hand from the demo account.  On the website, the top CFD broker claims to fill client orders in 0.1 seconds flat, although our experience on the Exness MT5 mobile application was somewhat different. Also, since all the trading accounts are on MetaTrader platforms, the order execution comprises the market, instant, and pending orders.

 

The following table illustrates the contract specification by Exness forex broker for international clients

Description Standard Standard Cent Raw Spread Pro Zero
Minimum deposit $1 $1 $500 $500 $500
Trading platforms MT4, MT5 MT4 MT4, MT5 MT4, MT5 MT4, MT5
Max leverage

For MT5-2000:1

For MT4- Unlimited

Unlimited

For MT5-2000:1

For MT4- Unlimited

For MT5-2000:1

For MT4- Unlimited

For MT5-2000:1

For MT4- Unlimited

Commissions/lot/side NIL NIL From $3.5 NIL
Spread from 0.3 pips 0.3 pips 0.0 0.1 0.0
0.0Min lot size 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01
Max lot size Varies from 20-200 100 Varies from 20-200 Varies from 20-200 Varies from 20-200
Margin call 60% 60% 30% 30% 30%
Stop out 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Order execution Market Market Market Instant, market Market

 

EDUCATION

Exness does not offer much in terms of educational resources to beginners. However, the forex broker provides a range of tools that are accessible from the website or the client area. Some of them include-

  • Economic calendar of up to 20 countries- from one day to one week. 
  • The multi-lingual Web TV  from Trading Central, which comprises a wide array of daily technical analysis videos, viewable from the client area.
  • Trader’s calculator/currency converter.
  • Tick history of FX pairs and other financial instruments, downloaded and exported to your MetaTrader terminal.

CLIENT SUPPORT

When it comes to customer support, the top CFD broker offers to assist clients in 14 languages, including English. Besides, the multi-lingual website is available in 16 different tongues, mostly comprising of  European and Asian vernaculars like Chinese, Indonesian, Hindi, Korean, Urdu, and Thai, an indication that the top forex broker intends to focus on Asia, the Middle East, and the African continent. Besides the website, you can also connect with the CFD broker through its social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, and Instagram.

As part of our CFD broker review, we interacted with the client support team via the live chat. While the initial response time was <10 seconds, we were not very happy with the crew handling the live chat. Not only were we unhappy with the answers to the questions we posed, but we also found the executives alter during the chat process. Well, this is one of the areas where the forex broker needs to show some improvement.

 

Following are the various country-wise support options via phone and e-mail along with the timings 

Language GMT Local time
English, Chinese 24/7 24/7
Thai Sun 23:00-Fri 23:00 Mon 06:00-Sat 06:00 ICT
Malay and Indonesian Sun 23:00-Fri 23:00 Mon 07:00-Sat 07:00 MYT
Farsi Mon-Fri, 04:00-20:00 Mon-Fri, 07:30-23:30 IRST
Hindi and Urdu Sun 23:00-Fri 23:00 Mon 04:30-Sat 04:30 IST
Sat/Sun 04:00-20:00 Sat/Sun 09:30-01:30 (next day) IST
Russian Mon-Fri, 05:00- 21:00 Mon-Fri, 08:00-00:00 MSK
Arabic Sun 23:00-Fri 23:00 Mon 01:00-Sat 01:00 EET
Vietnamese Mon-Fri, 01:00-17:00 Mon-Fri, 08:00-00:00 ICT
Spanish Sun 23:00-Fri 23:00 Mon 00:00-Sat 00:00 CET
Korean Mon-Fri, 07:00-15:00 Mon-Fri, 16:00-00:00 KS
Phone  800 100 4378 
Email  [email protected]

 

SUMMARY

Exness forex is famed for providing low-cost trading conditions with quick order execution to retail clients across the MetaTrader platforms. Since its incorporation in 2008, Exness has come a long way in delivering client-centric products that have helped the forex broker catapult to the league of the best CFD brokers globally. All this in spite of offering less than 200 financial instruments, a relatively small number in comparison with the other top FX brokers. Besides, the CFD broker has maintained a clean reputation over the years, offers multiple fund deposit/withdrawal methods, including instant deposits without charges or fees, and rewarding partnership programs.

On the flip side, the broker offers unlimited leverage and, in some cases, leverage of up to 2000:1 with fixed margin requirements of 0.05 percent, which can be very dangerous for clients trading the volatile FX markets. However, if you can efficiently manage your margins based on your risk parameters, then there shouldn’t be any issues.

We also learnt from the forex broker that the firm would be discontinuing operations in the UK and Europe and focusing entirely on the global services under the Nymstar entity. The news is certainly a drawback for clients looking for a low-cost tier-I regulated forex broker to park their funds. However, if you are not overly concerned about the regulation part, then, Exness is one of the best retail CFD brokers in the industry for both beginners and expert traders

Visit Exness Website