Plus500-review – getforexbroker.com

Plus500 review

☆☆☆☆☆ 4.9/5

^{82% of retail CFD accounts lose money}

Plus500, a trademark of Plus500 Ltd, is a company who’s principal activity is offering online trading in contracts for difference, known as (CFDs), delivered through a proprietary trading platform via the web and other electronic channels.

Founded in 2008, the Israel-based company operates via several subsidiaries throughout Europe and the Asia-Pacific region and is registered with the relevant regulatory authorities. Like many CFD brokers, Plus500 does not accept U.S. traders who are looking to participate in these contracts. The company does offer a new platform, TradeSniper, for trading futures. This platform is available to U.S. traders.

Plus500 Ltd (PLUS.L) is a publicly traded company that has been listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and is a member of the FTSE 250. Plus500UK Ltd., a U.K.-based company with its offices located in the City of London, is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA #509909). Plus500 Ltd., the parent company, is headquartered in Haifa, Israel.

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Who Plus500 Is For

Plus500 is for the individual that seeks access to a wide range of financial markets with low trading costs and a simple, functional platform on which to place their trades. Plus500 offers over 2,800+ CFDs on its trading platform with competitive spreads and no commissions. This should entice the experienced trader who prefers to transact manually and finds the lower cost worth the lack of added functionality that some competitors offer.

Pros

Cons

Costs

As is the norm in the brokerage industry, Plus500 generates its revenues principally from customer trades that “cross” the bid/ask spread, which are competitive within the industry. The company does not charge commissions on any client transactions. The spread is stable with trade size, but obviously is paid on each unit.

Additionally, the broker also generates revenues by charging premiums, effectively a financing charge, on positions held overnight by clients, which may be subject to currency conversion charges if they trade in a currency other than the account’s base currency. Furthermore, there are fees for “guaranteed stop loss orders” (GSLO), and inactivity fees kick in after an account has no login activity for three months.

Traders can qualify for a “professional” account, which offers higher leverage, but the costs are the same. Investors with a professional account may increase their maximum leverage to as high as 1:300 for some instruments.

One of Plus500’s selling points is that it does not subject client accounts to ancillary fees. There are no charges for normal withdrawals or terminating an account. The minimum amount of money need to trade varies with the underlying instrument. Funding options include Visa or MasterCard debit/credit cards, e-wallets (PayPal or Skrill), and bank funds transfers.

Trade Experience

WebTrader, Plus500’s proprietary platform, offers a streamlined trading experience that is stable and easy to access from multiple devices and systems (Windows PCs, web browsers, smartphones, and tablets).

WebTrader has a simple and easy-to-use interface that lets you create watchlists, analyze charts, as well as place and monitor trades. The technical analysis charts offer many technical indicators that you can apply to many different time frames, from tick charts to weekly charts. However, unlike many of its competitors, Plus500 does not offer the immensely popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform, a platform alternative that would provide more functionality and customization options for clients.

The most appealing feature of Plus500’s WebTrader and other versions of their platform is that it’s easy to use with layouts that will feel familiar to experienced traders. Clients can choose from more than 2,000 instruments, analyze their selection on a customizable technical analysis chart, and place their trade in just a few clicks, all within the same window. Unfortunately, Plus500 is a closed system. Advanced traders who rely on incorporating third-party analytical and automation tools in their trading process will be disappointed as none of these tools can be integrated directly.

Plus500 doesn’t offer any of the special features that are typically available at other online CFD brokers. It doesn’t allow for automated trading via expert advisors or other trading algorithms, it doesn’t provide back-testing functionality, nor does it allow clients to manage third-party funds via PAMM or MAM trading platforms. The company simply provides a streamlined WebTrader platform along with similar mobile trading apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices where clients can place and monitor trades.

Guaranteed stops are available with some markets; however, they come with an increased spread and cannot be added to previously opened trades.

Plus500 has three basic order types with the option of attaching “take profit” and/or “stop loss” orders to them. Additionally, the trader can choose both guaranteed and/or trailing stop options when filling out the order ticket prior to execution.

Market – The simplest order where a trader signals that their trade request should be executed at the prevailing market rate.
Limit – A pending order where the entry is at a predetermined point below or above the prevailing market rate depending on whether it’s a buy or sell. The trader also has the option of selecting the expiration time of this order.
Stop – A pending order where the entry is at a predetermined point above or below the prevailing market rate depending on whether it’s a buy or sell. The trader also has the option of selecting the expiration time of this order.

Markets and products

Plus500 provides access to 2800+ CFDs across a wide range of different asset classes, including:

Indices
Forex
Commodities
Shares
ETFs
Options
Cryptocurrencies (availability subject to regulation)

The call and put options CFDs that Plus500 offers work similar to the exchange-traded standard options, but the main difference is that they are cash settled. You don’t have the right to exercise the trade on the underlying asset.

Customer service

Plus500 has great customer support, available 24/7. Both the live chat and email support are quick and reliable.

You can contact customer service via live chat, WhatsApp and email.There is no phone support, but there is an integrated ‘Contact Us’ page for inquiries. We tested the Plus500 live chat several times. It was always quick and reliable. For example, when we asked about fees they provided all relevant fees, including financing rates. After the conversation, you can rate your customer agent instantly, which is a good way to provide feedback. The email customer support was also great. They replied within one hour, which is extremely fast compared to other brokers. The answers we got were all relevant.
In addition to the good quality of customer service, it is also available 24/7, which is not the case at most other brokers.

Education

Plus500 provides a demo account, and videos and articles about trading. Webinars are only available to Premium clients, however the webinars get uploaded to Youtube afterwards. There are only a few platform tutorial videos.

At Plus500 you can learn through the following ways:

Demo account
Platform tutorial videos
General educational videos
Webinars
Quality educational articles

You can find the educational tools on the Plus500 website, under ‘Trading’ if you click on ‘Risk management’ or ‘Trading Academy’. In addition, if you browse their FAQ, you will find a few more videos detailing, for example, the process of payment verification. These can be of great use, as there’s a high risk of losing money when trading CFDs with this – or any – provider.
To practice, it’s best to try out the demo platform, as with this you are trading from a virtual account and thus your potential losses remain virtual as well. It is recommended that you practice trading with the same amount of virtual currency as you would in real trading. At Plus500 you can self-adjust your demo account balance.
You can also find educational materials on Plus500’s Trading Academy that can be accessed on the Plus500 website under ‘Trading’ and ‘Trading Academy’. Here you can read eBooks, watch videos or explore FAQs.

Safety

The company acts as principal and hedges its exposure with its parent company to eliminate market risk and to ensure it is not exposed to material losses. While Plus500 does not provide additional deposit insurance, it is registered with the relevant regulatory authorities throughout Europe and the Asia-Pacific region:

Plus500UK Ltd authorised & regulated by the FCA (#509909)
Plus500CY Ltd authorized & regulated by CySEC (#250/14)
Plus500SG Pte Ltd, licensed by the MAS (#CMS100648-1)
Plus500AU Pty Ltd (ACN 153301681), licensed by:
ASIC in Australia, AFSL #417727, FMA in New Zealand, FSP #486026; Authorised Financial Services Provider in South Africa, FSP #47546.
Plus500SEY Ltd authorized & regulated by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (#SD039)
Plus500EE AS is authorized and regulated by the Estonian Financial Supervision and Resolution Authority (Licence no. 4.1-1/18)
Plus500AE Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (F005651)

Research

Plus500 has very little to offer when it comes to research, analysis, tools and commentary. The company provides little in-house research articles or videos. The broker does, however, provide economic and earnings calendars, which are useful. Also provided is a news and market insights section.

Plus500 also provides customizable charts where traders can conduct technical analysis on any of the instruments under trading consideration. Additionally, it provides a “Traders’ Sentiment” indicator that shows traders what percentage of Plus500 clients are buying and selling an instrument, and a “Live Statistics” indicator that shows the instrument’s performance for 5-minute, 60-minute, and 1-day time frames.

Final Thoughts

Plus500 is a good CFD broker. It is recommended for traders who are aware of the risks of CFD trading. The broker is regulated by several financial authorities globally, including the UK’s FCA, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. If you are not from the UK, you will most likely be served by regulators from other countries where different investor protection rules may apply.

The Plus500 platform is easy to use, providing a great user experience even for first-timers. The account opening process and customer support are great.
On the other hand, the brokers’ research tools are limited, CFD fees are average and its educational site has room for improvement.
As there is a low minimum deposit required, no withdrawal fee and the inactivity fee only kicks in after three months. Just be sure not to use all of your capital, as it is really easy to lose money when trading CFDs with this – or any – provider. There’s always a high risk of losing your capital when trading with CFDs, be careful!