CMC Markets broker review

Since its launch in 1990, CMC Markets has become a leading provider of Contracts for Difference (CFDs) with over 33 million trades completed each year, in close to 75 countries.

CMC Markets' success is based on its ability to provide traders with access to a wide range of trading products that were previously only available to professionals. Products ranging from equity and index CFDs, through currencies and commodities.

Some background info...

The first part of this CMC review focuses on the company's global success. The company was founded in 1990 by Peter Crudas. At that time, it was a currency market maker, under the name Currency Management Corporation.

In 1996, the company launched a real-time forex trading platform and claimed to have performed the first-ever online forex transaction, using its MarketMaker software.

The year 1999 saw the introduction of CFD trading. The following year, spread betting on the financial markets was available. These two financial products would form the core of CMC's future business.

In 2000, CMC Markets embarked on an ambitious global expansion. The broker started by opening offices in Sydney, Australia. Offices were soon opened in New York and in Toronto. In 2007, Goldman Sachs bought a 10% stake in the business for £135 million.

The 2008 financial crisis led to a significant decline in the company's profits. As a result, Peter Crudas closed a few offices, drastically reduced the number of employees and changed his management team.

In 2010, CMC launched its new trading platform - "Next Generation". This introduced new features, such as the ability to quote markets with prices to additional decimal places and to provide trade execution without re-quotes.

In 2015, CMC entered the binary options market. In 2016, CMC introduced a line of binary products specifically designed for phones, tablets, and desktops. This product has now been discontinued.

In 2016, the broker went public at its IPO price with a market capitalisation of around £690 million ($1 billion).

In 2017, following the implementation of the Sapin 2 law in France, CMC Markets introduced the limited risk account which allows clients not to lose more than the initial investment. To ensure this, a Guaranteed Stop Loss Order (GSLO) is automatically linked to every position taken in the market.

Recent years have seen the online broker expand its customer base and increase its range of products and tools, some of which will be discussed below.

Initial deposit minimum

CMC Markets doesn't require a minimum deposit. A trader will obviously need the required margin in their account in order to open a trade, but an account can be opened with any initial deposit.

Spreads and commissions

CMC offers attractive spreads for the most popular assets. For example, 0.7 pips for EUR/USD and USD/JPY, plus 1 pip for the FTSE 100 in the UK and for Germany's Dax 40. Overall, trading fees are very competitive when comparing with other brokers.

CMC doesn't impose additional fees on traders. In fact, its fee structure is relatively transparent.

That being said, above certain position thresholds, which vary depending on what you're trading, CMC offers guaranteed stop-loss orders (GSLO). However, the use of this service costs a premium, which is not charged if the GSLO isn't triggered.

CMC Markets: regulation and licence

In today's world of online trading, it is important to be mindful of broker regulation. This ensures that companies will have to adhere to certain rules and protect your capital in a number of scenarios.

CMC now has over 350,000 active clients worldwide, 14 international offices and is regulated in the UK, Germany, Canada and Australia. CMC also has a derivatives issuer license in New Zealand.

Deposits eligible with CMC Markets UK are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), the UK's deposit guarantee scheme.

Deposits eligible with CMC Markets Germany are protected up to a total of €20,000 by the Securities Trading Companies Compensation Scheme, BaFin's deposit guarantee scheme in Germany.

The Next Generation trading platform

With the CMC Markets trading platform, you can trade over 12,000 trading instruments:

• 300+ currencies
• 1000+ ETFs
• 90+ stock indices
• 120+ commodities
• 10,000+ stocks from 24 countries (CFDs)
• 50+ bonds and treasury bills
• 19 cryptocurrencies
• Baskets of shares

The CMC Markets Next Generation platform is an ideal trading platform for stock market trading. It has been designed to provide you with innovative tools and trading features that allow you to make quick and accurate decisions.

Available in three versions (web, mobile devices and download), Next Generation allows you to stay connected and place your trades from home, from the office or from anywhere that you have an internet connection.

The platform provides 24/7 access to the financial markets, customisable charts, limit orders and guaranteed stops to manage your risk levels and master your trades.

Free demo accounts: Explore the Next Generation platform by opening a free demo account. You'll have access to real-time prices, a professional chart analysis module and many tools designed to help you with your trades.

77% of retail trading accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

The MetaTrader 4 trading platform

CMC Markets also offers MetaTrader 4 (MT4), which is the most popular forex trading platform. The platform's popularity is based on its automated trading feature, which uses Expert Advisors (EA), and advanced order types, technical analysis and user-friendly interface.

MT4 also has advanced features for trading strategies, ranging from pattern recognition to an economic calendar. It has advanced chart types and drawing tools that offer additional market insights like customer sentiment.

The online trading platform has a demo account feature allowing users to test out trading in a simulated environment.

Although CMC offers MetaTrader 4, only a limited number of trading instruments are offered on the MT4 platform. In fact, it is recommended that you use the Next Generation account if you want to trade with CMC.

Contact and client support

CMC user reviews show a high level of satisfaction with customer support. You can access the live chat from both the company's platform and website. You can also contact CMC by phone. Their website claims that 98% of calls are answered in less than 20 seconds. User reviews show that the staff are both courteous and helpful.

It's also possible to send an email to customer service. Additionally, you can find help in the form of quick start guides, platform tours, and even live events for traders.

CMC Markets' commitment to international trading is further demonstrated by the fact that it offers support in all of the following languages:

• English
• German
• French
• Spanish
• Italian
• Polish
• Swedish
• Norwegian

Overall, CMC Markets has achieved excellent results in terms of customer contact and support, as evidenced by its 4-star rating on Trustpilot.