Vantage FX Review:
The multi-regulated CFD broker with 180+ products

BRIEF INTRODUCTION

The Vantage Group of Companies was incorporated in 2009 by a team of financial market professionals with experience in forex, finance, and technology. The focus of the organization is to create a transparent market environment for retail clients to trade forex, CFD products from cutting-edge trading platforms with extraordinary trade execution, and outstanding customer support.

The Vantage Group is authorized and regulated in multiple jurisdictions. Here are the names of the  subsidiaries of the top forex and the corresponding regulations and licenses

  • Vantage International Group Limited- Trading name: Vantage FX-, is authorized and regulated by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA). The Securities Investment Business Law (SIBL) number: 1383491
  • Vantage Global Prime Pty Ltd- Trading name: Vantage FX, is authorized and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). AFSL number: 428901
  • Vantage Global Prime LLP- Authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. License number: FRN: 590299.

Vantage FX is an STP/ECN retail FX and CFD broker offering about 200 products across all the major asset classes from the broker agnostic MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms. Clients registering with the CFD broker have the opportunity to trade on all the major asset classes comprising forex, precious metals, energy, soft commodities, indices, besides shares of publicly-listed companies on the US and Hong Kong exchanges. The product offerings of the top CFD broker are accessible from the Standard STP, Raw ECN, and the Pro ECN account types, with Muslims having the choice of signing up for the Islamic Account as well.  The other features include spreads from as low as zero pips, minimum initial account deposits starting from $200, leverage up to 500:1, zero fees to deposit funds, and 24/5 customer support.

Besides governed by tier-I agencies in multiple dominions, Vantage FX, regarded as one of the best ASIC-regulated CFD brokers, has enhanced the security of client funds by choosing National Australia Bank as its custodian bank. Also, all client funds are in segregated trust accounts and come under negative balance protection. Besides, Vantage FX has an indemnity cover to safeguard clients if it fails.

In our extensive top forex broker review, we analyzed the range of markets, trading platforms, trading conditions, education/support, and what makes Vantage FX a good CFD broker.

RANGE OF MARKETS

Vantage FX offers more than 180 CFD products across all the major asset classes. These include forex, commodities, indices, and shares. In our review of the best Australian CFD broker, let’s take a quick look at the product offering under each of the asset classes individually.

Beginning with forex, clients can access close to 50 products comprising all the major pairs, cross, and exotic currencies from the top CFD broker’s deep liquidity pool. With spreads starting from zero pips on the Raw ECN account, max leverage of 500:1, and commission of $3 per standard lot per side, clients can benefit from one of the lowest forex trading costs in the industry.

Commodities- The CFD product mix includes copper, precious metals, energy, and soft commodities. The market segments include cash and futures, with leverage starting from 20:1 and going up to 500:1 in gold. The top CFD broker also allows clients to bet in gold, silver against the US dollar, and the Aussie.

Indices- Clients signing-up with Vantage FX can trade in 14 major stock indices from around the world plus the volatility index. The index CFDs comprise a combination of spot and futures and are accessible from the cutting edge MT4 and MT5 trading terminals. Besides scalping, hedging, automated trading, and max leverage of 200:1, the top CFD broker provides a fibre optic network with the oneZero MT4 bridge for high-speed order execution.

Stocks- Vantage FX offers clients the advantage of CFD trading on stocks listed on the US and Hong Kong exchanges. The stock selection broadly comprises of the largest blue-chip companies on the two exchanges with margins as low as 5% and commissions at $6 per trade. You can go long or short, and hold on to your positions as long as you like without the hassles of closing out your open positions before the expiry date or rolling over to the next contract.

Tabled below are the range of products across the various assets

Description No. of products
Forex 49
Precious metals 04
Copper Futures 01
Energy- Spot 02
Energy- Futures 04
Soft commodities- Futures 05
Indices- Spot 12
Cryptocurrencies 06
Indices- Futures 03
Shares- US 50
Shares- Hong Kong 50

Summarizing the product offerings, Vantage FX offers the right mix of all the asset classes. However, traders looking for a broader range of stock CFDs would be disappointed as the top CFD broker has only a limited number of listed-companies in its product list.

TRADING PLATFORMS

Vantage FX provides the most widely used retail forex and CFD trading platforms- MetaTrader 4 & 5. If you prefer the MetaTrader 4, you can download the platform from the website and start trading immediately. But, if you are keen on the MT5, download the platform and request the broker for a USER ID/PW to access the trading terminal. While the MetaQuotes software comes loaded with several features and trading signals, Vantage FX has included its own set of cutting edge tools to enhance the trading efficiency of clients. Some of the exclusive trading tools are freely accessible by all clients, while some are only for Pro clients, or clients who bring in a specific minimum initial deposit. 

In our review of Australia’s best CFD broker, we analyzed all the primary features of the MetaTrader 4 demo platforms along with the additional tools offered by Vantage FX.

The MetaTrader 4 Desktop Platform supports manual, auto, and copy trading, a range of analytical tools, a library of indicators, trading robots, and provides clients the choice to hedge, scalp, and trade on the news. Here are some of the crucial features of the world’s top trading platform-

  • The desktop application is compatible with Windows, Linux, and macOS.
  • Accessible in 39 languages.
  • It supports all order types- Instant, market, pending, and trailing. 
  • Clients can place trades from multiple windows within the workspace.
  • The quick order entry allows clients to place one-click orders from the chart and market-depth panels.
  • The watchlist allows you to add, remove, or view symbol specification, including the swap rates. 
  • Drag symbols from the watchlist and drop them in the chart panel to activate charts.
  • Clients can monitor three chart types in nine-time frames, starting from one minute up to one month.
  • The technical tools comprise 30 in-built indicators plus 24 graphic objects.
  • One of the primary features of the MT4 is the automated trading option.
  • All MT4 users have access to download technical indicators and trading robots from the codebase.
  • You can also rent, purchase, or order EAs from professional freelance developers.
  • You can directly sign-up to rent a forex VPS from MT4.

Illustration of the Vantage FX MetaTrader 4 desktop platform

When it comes to the Vantage FX Web Platform, the web platform comes in 39 languages, supports all the order types, including one-click order placements from multiple windows in the workspace. Also, as in the desktop terminal, clients can monitor three chart types in nine-time frames, and the technical tools comprise 30 in-built indicators, 24 graphic objects. The web terminal has reliable data protection, and clients can trade on all the browsers without the need to download the application.

The Vantage FX MT4 web terminal

The Vantage MT4 Mobile Application gives you complete control over your trading account, and you can log

from anywhere, anytime. The mobile app supports all the order types and MetaTrader 4 execution modes, including three chart types in nine-time frames- M1, M5, M15, M30, H1, H4, D1, W1, and MN. Besides, the 30 technical indicators, and 24 analytical objects, you can monitor live financial market news, real-time global economic data from 30 countries, place trading alerts, and communicate with other traders from the MetaTrader community using the free live chat.

The Vantage FX demo MT4 mobile trading app

Exclusive offering from Vantage FX-

  • The top CFD broker offers a range of SmartTrader tools comprising correlation matrix, Excel RTD link, correlation trader, and the alarm manager.
  • In the Vantage FX Trading Signals offering, demo and live account holders can monitor and copy trading signals, strategies of successful traders.
  • Clients can opt for a free 24/5 Forex VPS by maintaining a minimum balance of $1000 in their trading account (we have illustrated the top CFD broker’s choice of VPS providers below).
  • Access the real-time multi time frame global macro-economic calendar from MetaTrader.
  • Receive an enormous choice of information such as market buzz, featured ideas, live macro-economic data from the CFD broker’s ProTrader tools.
  • Professional clients can access AI market news, actionable trade setups, the buzz meter, and price events across 35,000 plus tradable assets.
  • The top CFD broker provides ZuluTrade and the MyFXBook Autotrade features for clients looking at social trading opportunities.
  • Monitor the sentiment indicators that give you a real-time analysis of the long, short positions of traders at Vantage FX.

TRADING CONDITIONS - Spreads, margins, and orders -

In our forex broker review of the trading conditions at Vantage FX, we analyzed the lowest spread offered by the forex broker, in addition to the margins, and order execution.

The forex broker offers the lowest spread to clients signing up for the Raw ECN and the Pro ECN account types. While the bid-ask range starts from zero pips, clients also pay a commission of $3 and $2 per standard lot per side on the Raw and Pro ECN account types correspondingly. The lowest spread for the Standard STP Account starts at 1.4 pips in FX, although clients do not have to pay a commission, and are also eligible for promotional bonus credits.

The margins generally depend on the Vantage subsidiary with whom you open your account. Clients of Vantage International Group Limited coming under Vantage FX are eligible for the least margins, starting at 0.2% for FX instruments. Likewise, professional clients registering with Vantage Global Prime LLP, regulated by the FCA, are also allowed identical margins. On the contrary, retail clients coming under the Financial Conduct Authority are only eligible for margins as low as 3.33% in the major FX pairs. In volatile products like cryptocurrencies, the margins can rise as high as 50%.

Coming to the order execution policy laid out by the Vantage International Group, the top CFD broker assures clients that the firm aims to provide the ‘best execution’ through its various liquidity providers. According to the order execution factors, the price and the cost of execution receive top priority, while the speed of order execution, size, nature, and the characteristics of the order are some of the other vital elements that sum up the execution policies of one of the best CFD brokers in Australia.

Vantage FX provides all its clients the choice of the MT4 and MT5 platforms across all devices. The best in class platforms support all order types, right from the instant, market orders to the pending, trailing orders.

EDUCATION

Vantage FX offers several resources to educate all categories of retail traders about the markets. These include ‘Learn forex, MT4, MT5 manuals, MT4, and SmartTrader tools videos.’ In our review of one of the best CFD brokers in Australia, we analyzed all the educational material provided by the ASIC-regulated forex broker and how they can benefit traders. Here they are-

  • Learn Forex- This is a comprehensive online training course about the forex markets that begins with the overview of FX, takes you through the analytics, before culminating with trading psychology, and how to manage greed.

The online module is handy for beginners trying to get hands-on the basics of the forex markets.

  • MT4, MT5 manuals- The Vantage FX MetaTrader manuals run you through the tips and tricks of the world’s most widely used trading platform on computers and mobile devices. The guidebook starts with how you go about installing the platform, risk, R-multiples, how you go about stop-hunting, custom indicators, EAs, learning how to code in MQL4/MQL5, and many more features.

The manual is particularly useful for traders new to the MetaTrader client trading terminals.

  • MT4 videos- The video series has several audio-visual tutorials on installing all the main features of the Vantage FX MetaTrader 4 like the SmartTrader tools, custom indicators, EA’s, and the process to enable the Raw ECN pairs.

If you’re not familiar with MT4 or unsure how to install some of the features, the videos could be your quick guide to set up and run the platform.

  • SmartTrader tools videos- Vantage FX offers free SmartTrader tools, including the correlation matrix, sentiment trader, session map, mini terminal, market & alarm manager, and the excel RTD link. The offer is for Pro clients and those who maintain a deposit of at least $1000 in their trading account. The videos run you through the features of the tools and how best to use them in your analysis.

The SmartTrader is useful for both beginners and experienced traders to monitor and execute trading decisions based on the vital market-moving tools, including the market sentiment indicator.

CLIENT SUPPORT

When it comes to the client helpdesk, Vantage FX provides 24/5 assistance via live chat, phone, and email. Here are some of the support options to get in touch with the ASIC regulated forex broker.

Description Contact info
Phone 1300 945 517
Phone-International +61 2 8999 2044
Phone- Australia +61 28999 2046
Phone- UK +44 207 100 8625
Phone- China 400 120 9301
Phone- Canada 1 888 442 4106
Email [email protected]

SUMMARY

Bottom line – VANTAGE FX is one of the BEST cfd broker

As we wind up our review of Vantage FX, one of the best Australian CFD brokers operating since 2009, here is a summary of our study.

Beginning with the positives, the top CFD broker is one of the safest in the industry, authorized and regulated by multiple tier-I watchdogs. Clients registering with the forex broker have the choice of 180+ products comprising spot and derivatives, all accessible on the MT4 & MT5 platforms. Besides, investors interested in social trading can access the broker’s ZuluTrade and MyFXBook auto-trading features to copy the strategies of successful traders.

Clients signing-up with Vantage FX have the choice of three account types, including two ECN and one STP, with the forex broker’s lowest spread starting from zero pips. Besides, the commission at $3 per standard lot per side is among the lowest in the industry. On the security of funds, the top FX broker’s regulations call for stringent capital requirements, is a member of the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF) in Europe, and also has an indemnity insurance cover for the other clients.

On the negatives, the customer support is not up to the mark, individuals cannot access the demo, live MT5 platforms directly from the site, and the broker could have included a few more stocks from Europe and Australia.

If you ignore the few negatives which are way lower than even some of the highly reputed forex brokers, Vantage FX is one of the best Australian CFD brokers for retail clients.

Visit Vantage FX Website