HYCM Review 2024

Key Takeaways

• HYCM is a mid-sized broker with a 40-year trading history.
• HYCM has won several awards for its services, recently winning “Best FOREX broker UAE” at the 2020 Global Banking and Finance Review, and “Best FOREX Trading platform in the Middle East” at the 2019 Global FOREX Awards.
• HYCM executes fast trades with an average execution time of 12 milliseconds.
• HYCM provides good access to financial markets, with over 300 tradable assets in six classes.
• With access to 70 currency pairs and over 300 Contract for Differences (CFD) on indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies and stocks, HYCM customers have many investment options from which to choose.
• Henyep Capital Markets (UK) Limited is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA); HYCM (Europe) Ltd. is regulated under the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC); HYCM Ltd is regulated by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA); and Henyep Capital Markets Limited is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
• HYCM offers competitive spreads and commissions across most account types, with spreads as low as 0.2 pips.
• HYCM prides itself on providing a secure trading environment with extensive investment in cybersecurity.
• Traders can access a powerful base of quality research and education tools on the broker’s Website, supplemented by market news from third parties like Trading Central.
• HYCM uses the well-known third-party trading platforms MetaTrader4 (MT4) and MetaTrader5 (MT5).
• HYCM offers traders a choice of three different account types.
• HYCM supplies quality multilingual 24/5 customer support.

Overall Summary

HYCM, part of the Henyep Group, has been an active trader since 1977. Founded in Hong Kong, it gained its UK trading license in 1998, which was the start of a long trading history under top-tier regulation. 

While it remains a relatively small broker, with a daily order book of 25,000 orders, it has competitive fees, with some fees as low as 0.2 pips. It executes fast trades with an average execution time of 12 milliseconds. 

This broker offers good access to financial markets with over 300 assets across six classes. Customers can trade CFDs on FOREX, indices, commodities, stocks, and cryptocurrencies. HYCM recently included exchange-traded funds (ETF) into its product basket. 

The group is active globally, with a focus on Asia, Europe and the Middle East. It welcomes clients from 140 countries. Its Website is available in 14 languages, including Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese. This shows its global emphasis. It does not, however, work with clients from the US or Canada. 

Who Is HYCM Good For?

The broker offers a no-frills service that is equally good for new traders and intermediate traders alike. Other segments of traders who will find this broker attractive are customers of the greater Henyep group who are familiar with the group’s services. 

The broker places emphasis on its performance in the MENA region, and its awards catalog confirms this. It has recently received awards such as “Best FOREX broker UAE” at the 2020 Global Banking and Finance Review, and “Best FOREX Trading platform in the Middle East” at the 2019 Global FOREX Awards. Traders in this area may find the broker an attractive proposition.

HYCM does not offer a good deal for high-volume or advanced traders. Elite traders will find that the broker’s list of tradable instruments is good, but by no means market leading. The broker also does not offer any compelling incentives for high-volume traders. HYCM offers VIP Accounts with dedicated account managers for top traders, but it does not offer meaningfully tight spreads for high volumes, and it also does not offer VIP treatment in the same way as some of its bigger rivals.

The company itself promotes its heritage as a big reason for new customers to join, claiming that its 40-year group history, “Has positioned us as one of the most trusted and transparent brokers in the FOREX industry.” However, there is more to choosing a broker than the length of its operations, and traders would be advised to look deeply for benefits in other areas. That said, here are some of the key aspects to take into account when considering this broker:

Is HYCM Safe?

Offering of Investments

HYCM offers traders good-but-unspectacular access to the market. It has 70 currency pairs in its FOREX basket, and 17 commodities, including gold, platinum and silver, in its commodities basket. Equity traders can choose from up to 61 quality stocks. Cryptocurrency CFD traders can trade on the performance of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.  These assets represent good value for beginner and intermediate traders, but will probably leave elite traders unsatisfied.

Account Types

HYCM uses five simple guiding questions to help you choose which account is best for you. The broker offers three account types: The Fixed, the Classic and the Raw accounts. All three account types have an Islamic trading option.

Leverage can go up to a maximum of 1:500, depending on where the account is domiciled. There are also VIP and Corporate accounts for high-frequency traders and asset managers.

Fixed Account: Traders can take advantage of fixed spreads from 1.8 pips. In our view, these spreads are rather high. Automated trading is disabled. There are no commissions, and the minimum deposit is a low $100. This account does not offer Electronic Advisor (EA) help. The minimum trading volume is 0.01. 

Classic Account: This account comes with variable spreads from 1.2pips, also considered high. Automated trading is allowed on this account, which also comes with no commission and a minimum deposit of $100. Users of this account will get EA help.

Raw Account: This account offers spreads from as low as 0.2 pips. Commissions come at $4 per round. The minimum deposit is higher than the other accounts at $200. There is an EA service available on this account. The minimum trade volume is 0.01.

Account Opening

HYCM enables a standard account-opening process. Clicking the “Open Live Account” button on the Website takes users through the usual Know Your Customer (KYC) processes. The Website will ask traders to confirm their country of origin and other biographical information and address details. 

After answering a few questions about their background and financial knowledge, the user’s account will be verified when traders submit acceptable government-issued identification. Once the account is approved, users can deposit funds into the account.

Deposits and Withdrawals

Demo Account

Customer Service

Commissions and Fees

Platforms and Tools

HYCM does not have its own proprietary trading platform. Instead, traders have the choice between MT4 and MT5. While these two platforms represent the market standard, the bespoke MT4 and MT5 versions accessible to HYCM traders are underpowered. 

The broker offers a basic version of these well-known platforms that are not optimized through third-party plugins. Other brokers have integrated progressive add-ons like advanced analytics into their platforms, but not this broker. Although traders can install Trading Central indicators, these are still light when compared to other integrated platforms. 

Both platforms come with EA services. Traders can take advantage of 24/5 automated trading without third-party bridging software. Here are some of the key features of these downloadable platforms:

MT4

• Clickable charts for direct trading.

• 30 technical indicators and nine timeframes.

• Three execution modes. 

• Two market order types. 

• Four pending orders.

• Open positions trackable in the interface.

MT5

• Two order account modes.

• Three chart types for advanced analysis.

• Six pending orders and 21 timeframes.

• More than 80 technical indicators.

Mobile Trading

Research and Development

• Trading Tools.
• Tutorials.
• Trading Strategies.
• eBooks.
• Beginners Course.

Final Thoughts

Conclusion

HYCM 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. 
Afterwards 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.