Vantage FX Review
Vantage FX Review
Vantage FX International is a forex company that specializes in foreign exchange, with roots dating back to 1999. They offer services for institutional clients and are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and ASIC. Vantage Global Prime Pty Ltd also holds an Australian business license under AFSL 440836 as well as regulatory status with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA). There’s also a branch of Vantage located in Vanuatu which has been authorized by the Financial Services Commission of Vanuatu (VFSC).
Pros
- Vantage is a safe broker (average risk) for forex and CFDs, with regulatory status in two tier-1 jurisdictions and one tier-3 jurisdiction.
- It also holds indemnity insurance coverage that exceeds any regulatory requirements.
- Vantage has done an excellent job of fully integrating TradingView into their MetaTrader suite, as well as providing add-ons to the platform called Smart Trader that allows customers to copy other traders while trading on multiple social networks not available in Australia such as Boss Capital or eToro.
- This makes Vantage rank among the Best MetaTrader Brokers and Best Copy Trading Brokers for 2022.
Cons
- The Pro ECN account requires a $20,000 deposit to start trading, which makes it unsuitable for budget investors.
- Access to Trading Central’s Pro Trader Tools is available starting with a $1,000 deposit into the Standard account.
- Spread on the Standard account are not impressive unless you have at least $10 000 in your portfolio and become eligible for active trader rebates.
Is Vantage safe?
Overall, Vantage is rated as an average-risk company with a Trust Score of 79 out of 99. They are not publicly traded and do not operate a bank. Furthermore, they are authorized by two tier-1 regulators (high trust) and one tier -3 regulator (low trust). Additionally, Vantage is authorized by the following tier-1 regulators: ASIC from Australia and FCA from the UK.
Offering of investments
Vantage offers different investment products to clients depending on the country that regulates their accounts. For example, in Australia 257 instruments are available while 201 are offered if you have an account in the Cayman Islands. The following table summarizes the different investments available for Vantage customers:
Vantage offering of investments:
| Feature | Vantage |
|---|---|
|
Forex Trading
|
- |
|
CFD Trading |
- |
|
Tradeable Symbols (Total) |
257 |
|
Forex Pairs (Total) |
44 |
|
US Stock Trading (Non-CFD) |
- |
|
Int'l Stock Trading (Non-CFD) |
- |
|
Social Trading / Copy-Trading |
- |
|
Cryptocurrency (Physical) |
- |
|
Cryptocurrency (CFD) |
- |
|
Crypto Disclaimer (UK) |
Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients).
|
Commissions and fees
Vantage’s trading costs depend on what account you open and which specific Vantage entity it is. There are three different types of accounts: the spread-only Standard STP, a commission-based RAW ECN, or a PRO ECN option with lower commissions. Overall, Vantage falls mostly in line with the industry pricing average but can’t compete with leaders Saxo Bank, IG, and CMC Markets when it comes to price per trade.
Vantage FX Account Types
Vantage lists a typical spread of 1.22 pips on the EUR/USD for its Standard account from August 2021, and an average of 0.75 with commission added per round turn for its Raw account during the same time period.
PRO account:
Vantage’s PRO account offers competitive pricing, with its per-side commission amounting to just $2 (or $4 per round turn). Requirements for opening a PRO ECN account at Vantage vary depending on the regulating entity.
For Australian traders, they have to qualify as wholesale clients in order to open such an account. If you open your ECN Pro Exchange Trade Account under Vantage’s Cayman Islands entity, you must fund your account with at least £20k ($27k) cash or equivalents. The good news is that if you can meet these various requirements, then this is the cheapest option and it matches what FP Markets and Tickmill offer!
Active traders:
Vantage offers rebates, starting at $2 and ranging as high as $8 a standard lot. The smallest tier starts at $10,000 and the highest tier requires equity of around 300k. However, it’s only available on the Standard account which has higher spreads than any other account options offered by Vantage.
Vantage pricing summary:
| Feature | Vantage |
|---|---|
|
Minimum Deposit |
$200
|
|
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard
|
1.22 (August 2021)
|
|
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active |
0.75 (August 2021)
|
|
Active Trader or VIP Discounts |
- |
|
Execution: Agency Broker |
- |
|
Execution: Market Maker |
- |
|
Vantage fx Minimum Deposit
|
$200 |
Mobile trading apps
Fx vantage has its own proprietary trading app, alongside the standard MetaTrader suite of mobile apps. Vantage FX International may have built a decent foundation for its new trading application with the Vantage FX App. It is still too far from being able to compete with all three companies-IG, FOREX.com, Saxo Bank’s-mobile apps that are offered in today’s market place.
- Apps overview: Vantage fx broker offers two mobile apps- the Vantage App and MetaTrader. You can download vantage fx mt4, MT5 and their proprietary Vantage app on iOS at Apple’s App Store or Android by downloading it from Google Play.
- Ease of use: There are many good features that integrated research, with newsletters and multiple Trading Central-powered videos per day.
Other trading platforms
Charting at Vantage fx broker is limited to five-time frames, one chart type, and a handful of indicators. The downside is that when you tap on the chart it only displays in landscape mode which can be awkward. Plus500 doesn’t have these limitations, as they offer over 100 different types of indicators with the ability to use two or more at any given time.
- Platforms overview: Vantage is a MetaTrader broker, offering both desktop and web trading platforms. The full suite includes Vintage MT4 and MT5.
- Charting: Besides the standard charts on MetaTrader 4 and 5, Vantage fx broker also offers CHARTS from TradingView – a fully-integrated platform that allows you to log in with your MetaTrader account.
- Trading tools: Vantage offers a suite of add-ons for FX Blue LLP’s platform. It also provides access to the Forex News Headlines from FxWire Pro and FxStreet. With this, Vantage’s MetaTrader experience is complete!
- Copy-trading: Vantage offers three platforms for social copy trading in addition to the Signals market on MetaTrader. These include ZuluTrade, DupliTrade, and Myfxbook’s Auto trade (although these are not available in Australia).
Market research
Vantage’s research is sourced primarily from third-party content providers such as Trading Central and lacks substantial in-house research. Considering the quality and depth of best forex broker research, forex Vantage has a long way to go when compared to IG, Saxo Bank, or CMC Markets.
- Research overview: Vantage has a daily market update on YouTube that is powered by Trading Central. I found this content to be just OK as they are highly-templated and feature pre-recorded pieces of content repeating across every video. What’s more, nestled away in the trading tools section of Vantage’s client portal are engaging videos (also from Trading Central) that make up for their lack of liveliness with relevant commentary and analysis about the markets.
- Market News and analysis: In addition, the Pro Trader Tools product is available to all clients with at least $1.000 on deposit and can be integrated directly within the client portal. Other useful features include its Featured Ideas tool, which is useful for traders looking for trading signals and actionable ideas; while the Analyst Views feature delivers automated analysis automatically each day via a news feed of analyst views from major banks such as Goldman Sachs or Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
- Future enhancements: Vantage is expanding its research resources. In-house content, in particular webinars and written materials, are desired to be increased.
Education
Vantage fx broker does not offer a wide range of educational resources for traders, which puts it at a disadvantage against brokers that prioritize education, such as CMC Markets or City Index.
- Learning center: Vantage’s Learn online Forex Trading section features 37 expandable educational points, though I found them to be unsophisticated. In addition to platform tutorials, Vantage provides a library of over 130 videos developed by Trading Central as part of its Pro Trader series. Content ranges from short introductory clips for beginners to longer videos featuring advanced forex and CFD concepts across various markets – including cryptocurrencies. The trading central videos are useful in many ways and I recommend combining the information with your own research before making any trades yourself!
- Room for improvement: Vantage could benefit from an expansion of archived content (e.g., webinars) on its YouTube channel, as well as a more comprehensive selection of written articles.
Final Thoughts - Vantage FX Review
One of the things that set Vantage apart from other MetaTrader brokers is its competitive pricing on Raw ECN accounts and its support for integration with platforms such as Zulutrade and DupliTrade. The broker also offers a proprietary app – despite the in-app ads that may distract users at times, it shows real promise as a trading platform.
While continuing to expand its research and educational offerings, Vantage still has some work to do if they want to compete with top brokers in these categories.
