AvaTrade Review 2024

Key Takeaways

• The AvaTrade Group, founded in 2006, is headquartered in Ireland.
• AvaTrade is licensed by the Central Bank of Ireland (Reference No.: C53877).
• The company’s European affiliate is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) (No.347/17). 
• In Australia, the broker is licensed by Australian Securities and Investments Corporation (ASIC) (No 406684). 
• The company has affiliates that are licensed to operate in Japan, South Africa, Israel, and Poland, but to mention a few.
• AvaTrade’s European clients are covered by the Investor Compensation Company DAC (ICCL) up to €20,000 per affected trader.
• AvaTrade offers extensive market access, with over 1,200 trading Instruments, featuring $70+ billion traded volume per month, and 24 million trades executed per year.
• The broker provides Contract for Difference (CFD) access to markets in asset classes such as FOREX, indices, commodities and stocks.
• AvaTrade offers commission-free trading across its account types, which are complemented by market-related spreads.
• The broker does not charge withdrawal or deposit fees, merely passing on third-party fees as they apply.
• The broker provides clients with platform access to MetaTrader4 (MT4), MetaTrader5 (MT5), as well as its own proprietary trading platform, AvaTradeGO, that comes with a WebTrader version and a social copy trading module.
• AvaTrade has a powerful research and education module, known as SharpTrader, that provides invaluable direction to new traders.

Overall Summary

AvaTrade was founded in 2006 and offers a broad range of financial assets, with a special focus on FOREX trading. Its early entry into the market makes it an industry pioneer, something the Ireland-headquartered company is proud to share with traders, frequently telling them it was one of the first companies to offer a trading platform to retail traders.

The broker was founded as a joint effort of financial professionals and Web-commerce experts who shared the objective of creating the perfect online experience for retail traders. Over time, the broker has built a solid industry reputation. As a highly regulated broker, it feels it has ticked all the right boxes to earn the confidence and trust of its client base. 

The company is known to have an excellent choice of trading platforms and a vast array of assets. The broker allows clients to invest in the world’s most thriving online markets, where they can trade CFDs in FOREX, commodities, indices and stocks. It provides fast execution and always works on improving its spreads, which are not the lowest, by virtue of the fact the broker does not charge commission per trade. AvaTrade has a very strong education product, known as SharpTrader, which has attracted a loyal following and created many devoted customers. 

When the company was first established, it had the vision of bringing the trading world to all types of clients who did not have access to the trading world before. Today, it has a truly global footprint, with tens of thousands of clients in some 150 countries. It also employs over 400 staff to service these customers. The company offers solid customer service backed by responsive and well-trained teams in key markets.  

At the most recent count, the company serves over 300,000 clients who place over two million trades every month. AvaTrade boasts monthly trading volumes of more than $70 billion. While not the biggest broker out there, the company is proud of its client-centric approach and sound management.

The company has won many awards that recognize its excellence. In 2019, AvaTrade received the Daytrading award for the best and most reliable broker, as well as the International Business Magazine award for the best educational broker. In 2020, AvaTrade received the European global banking and finance award for the best FOREX broker. Continuing this trend, it received the FOREX brokers award for No.1 innovation and the CEO Reviews award for the top 10 brands of 2021.

For Whom Is AvaTrade Good?

Is AvaTrade Safe?

AvaTrade has a good safety stance. The company is heavily regulated in all the right areas. Having gone to the trouble of attaining these licenses is to be commended and shows evidence that it is a serious player. The company is incorporated in Ireland and is compliant with Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). 

The company is also regulated by the CySEC (No.347/17). In Australia; the broker is licensed by the ASIC (No 406684). The company also has a significant presence in Japan, where it is regulated by the Financial Futures Association of Japan (FFAJ) (No 1574). It also has a presence in the Middle East, being regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM) Financial Regulatory Services Authority (FRSA) (No 190018).

AvaTrade does not provide any compensation through regulators, but does arrange for private compensation through The Investor Compensation Company DAC (ICCL), which is an independent body that covers losses up to a maximum of €20,000 per customer.

Offering of Investments

AvaTrade grants clients access to over 1,200 financial instruments across a wide range of different asset classes. It is important to note that the number of assets to which you have access differs per jurisdiction. EU traders tend to have the most amount of assets open to them, as AvaTrade has been concentrating on this market since its inception. The broker offers access to the following instruments:

• FOREX. 

• Indices.

• Commodities.

• Stocks.

• Bonds.

• Exchange Traded Funds (ETF).

• Options.

• Cryptocurrencies (CFD).

You should note that trading cryptos is available at AvaTrade, but only through CFDs. This means you are not buying the underlying asset. Also regarding crypto CFDs, these are not available to retail traders from the UK due to strict legislation problems there. The rest of AvaTrade’s book is made up of some 50 currency pairs, as well as major stock indices, individual shares, ETFs, bonds, and such commodities as gold, silver, sugar and coffee.

Do note that the majority of these stocks can only be traded on the MT5 platform and not on the MT4 (which is a FOREX-only platform) or WebTrader platforms. You can, however, find a good number of FOREX options through the AvaOptions platform.

Account Types

The following types of accounts are available at AvaTrade:

Standard Account: This is the most popular account that is used by the majority of traders. It is a multi-functional account catering to entry-level traders and advanced traders alike. The account is linked to all the brokers platforms.

Islamic Account: To apply for an Islamic account that is compliant with Sharia Law, you must first open a standard account, before requesting access to a swap-free Islamic account.

Demo Account: The AvaTrade demo account is active for 30 days after you open it. However, you don’t have to wait that long to open a real account, as you can switch to a live account at any time. It is always good advice for you to use the demo account for as long as you can to get a feel for the platform and hone your skills to find out ideal instruments and trading styles. The good thing about the demo account is that it mirrors real-time market prices and conditions. This ensures that your strategies are working as they would in the real world. 

If you are a high-volume trader with good experience who wants to get ahead in your career, you can request AvaTrade to open a Professional Trading Account in your name. The first thing you will notice is that the leverage is far higher than in the Standard Account. With the Standard Account, your approved leverage is 30:1, whereas with the Professional Account, you can get as much as 400:1.

To get a professional account, you will be required to show that you have enough trading experience and exposure to the financial sector, and your trading activity for the prior 12 months will need to demonstrate a regular trading pattern with good liquidity amounting to at least €500k portfolio value.

All accounts are available in AUD, JPY, GBP, USD, EUR and ZAR. The minimum deposit to start trading is $100, €100, or £100. If you live in Europe, the maximum leverage you will be allowed to use is 30:1. However, as mentioned, professional traders get up to 400:1, but they forfeit their access to the company’s compensation benefit.

Account Opening

Opening an account with AvaTrade is easy. Simply visit the company’s official Website, click on register now or sign up. Thereafter, you will need to fill in your personal details. To verify your account, you need to fulfill the standard Know Your Customer (KYC) process by delivering the necessary documents. Once you have made your first deposit, you can start trading.

Bonuses and Promotions

At AvaTrade, select affiliates are allowed to offer bonuses and promotions. This depends on where the affiliate is located, as many regulators ban the offering of bonuses. In countries other than Europe, AvaTrade gives traders the chance to win a deposit bonus and gain some extra cash through the refer-a-friend program. 

Deposits and Withdrawals

• Credit Card/Debit Card.         
• Bank Wire.  
• PayPal.
• Skrill. 
• Neteller. 
• P24.                               
• Klarna/Sofort.                           
• Rapid Transfer.                         
• Ideal.             
• Boleto.         
• Perfect M. 
• Giropay.
• Multibanco.                
• NetbankingUPI. 
• OnlineBankLatam.   
• Qrpay.          
• Ozow.           
• UPI.               
• M-PESA.      
• PayRetailers.

Customer Service

Commissions and Fees

Leverage

Platforms and Tools

Mobile Trading

AvaTrade has spent a lot of time and effort developing its own suite of trading tools, which it combines with third-party platforms such as MetaTrader. For traders who do a lot of mobile trading, AvaTradeGo is a modern, easy-to-use app with an adequate slate of features, such as the AvaProtect insurance scheme. The app is only available in English, which excludes many traders. 

In our review, we found that safety on the app can be improved as there is no two-step verification method available. Overall, while AvaTradeGo has the same functionalities as the browser version, it can sometimes feel clunky, and the look can be cluttered. If you are accustomed to mobile trading using MT4, this is also available to you as an AvaTrade client.

Research and Development

Like many modern brokers, AvaTrade understands the importance of offering strong research products and features to ever more intelligent and demanding clients. AvaTrade partners with Trading Central, a third-party research company with a powerful market presence and reputation. It makes sense for brokers like AvaTrade to outsource what can be a resource-heavy function like research. The AvaTrade blog is run internally and features light market commentary. However, this is nothing compared to the depth of analysis offered by Trading Central.

Education
The education section is also vast and detailed, and underpinned by its flagship resource SharpTrader. Each resource is comprehensively structured and expertly crafted. SharpTrader is known by many to be filled with well-organized tutorials that are broken down into beginner, intermediate and advanced sections. The pathway to deep trading knowledge is laid out right there for you in a logical and well-constructed manner. There are many general articles covering a range of market topics, in addition to tutorials on the various trading platforms the broker deploys. 

In total, SharpTrader delivers over 40 courses and 200 videos. As a new trader, you cannot afford to ignore this level of information that has been crafted by experts. We would encourage you to spend meaningful amounts of time building your skills on this site. However, watch out for the lagging search feature that detracts from an otherwise excellent resource.

If that is not enough, you can consult AvaTrade’s “Key Information Document” (KID). Here you will find further detail on every instrument the broker offers, as well as helpful explainers on the risks associated with trading each asset. Curiously, this document forms part of an additional education section not related to the helpful SharpTrader site.

Final Thoughts

Conclusion

AvaTrade in Brief

Review Methodology

The team at Arincen collected more than 120 pieces of data covering in excess of 100 licensed FOREX companies. Data collection was done in three ways:

1. Companies’ Websites.

2. Other Websites that have ranked FOREX companies.

3. A survey questionnaire (referred to here as Survey “1”) we had sent to the companies invited to participate in the exercise. 

We have identified 12 criteria for our assessment, each containing several aspects and carrying its own relative weight. These include licensing, deposits and withdrawals, number of assets etc.  
Afterward we validated the data by:

1. Registering with FOREX companies as a secret shopper and/or as Arincen.

2. Survey number “2,” in which we asked these companies’ customers for important feedback and past experience. 

The next step saw us evaluate and rank each company, relying on the hard work of 15 Arincen employees. We were very careful in ensuring the most accurate assessment possible, including taking into account different languages, as well as the various mobile-app operating systems, e.g., Apple, Samsung etc.

To add credibility to our research project, we sent a final and third survey (referred to here as Survey “3”) to enable participating FOREX companies evaluate our own research and whether it accurately reflects the realities on the ground. We were fortunate enough to receive a mark of 9.9 out of 10! We have kept to a minimum the margin of error, which stood at a measly 1%. To learn more on how we came up with the evaluation, please click here.