Fortrade Review – How Does This Forex Broker Compare?

Online trading can be a profitable venture if you have access to the right information and trading tools. For this, picking the right broker is crucial – especially if you have yet to polish your strategy and must become familiar with the online trading world.

To help you find the right broker for your needs, we did the research on your behalf and put together this Fortrade review, covering its main features, trading conditions, costs, and who would benefit from its services the most. Keep reading to find out if this is the right broker for you.

About Fortrade

Fortrade operates in a strictly regulated environment. It takes pride in its ability to facilitate access to more than 50 currencies and over 300 stock CFDs via its retail investor accounts.

Unlike many other online brokers, such as Turnkey Forex or Eagle FX, Fortrade is regulated by multiple authorities, including:

• The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom
• Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC)
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
• The National Bank of the Republic of Belarus

The regulated status comes with many benefits for traders and extra protection, such as the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (which covers damages of up to £50,000 per person in case of bankruptcy) and negative balance protection. Finally, Fortrade is also listed on the Canadian Investor Protection Fund.

Check out the following sections of our Fortrade review to learn more.

Fortrade Features

At a first sight, Fortrade stands out from the crowd thanks to its regulated activities and multiple assets. In this Fortrade review, we will have a closer look at some of its most important features, benefits, but also drawbacks.

Trading Platforms

Perhaps the most important feature of any online broker is the trading platform. This is where you will manage your trading account, so access to a user-friendly but customizable platform is key to successfully implementing your CFD trading strategy.

Fortunately, Fortrade is one of the few brokers that offer a proprietary trading platform, known as Web Fortrader.

The platform is accessible from any computer, Mac, or mobile device. Retail investor accounts via Fortrader have access to:

• You can track, analyze, and trade derivatives (CFDs)
• Low latency, provides real-time data
• All client transactions are protected by advanced encryption technologies
• Multiple order types, such as take profit or stop loss
• A demo account is available with €10,000 in virtual currency

A broker’s proprietary platform, such as Fortrader, comes with many benefits. However, some traders may not want to learn how to use a new platform if they decide to opt for another broker.

In this case, Fortrade allows you to use the most popular forex trading platform in the world, MetaTrader 4. One of the main benefits of this platform, apart from its plethora of features and tools, is that most brokers provide access to it, so you will not have to go through the learning process again if you decide to switch to another service provider.

MetaTrader 4 is an all-in-one solution for currency, commodities, and crypto trading. Retail investor accounts have access to customizable trading conditions:

• Advanced analysis tools for technical traders
• Multiple chart timeframes
• Advanced order types
• Automated trading available
• Multi-currency strategy tester

It should be noted, however, that MT4 is particularly developed for forex trading, so it’s a popular choice for nearly any forex broker. Thus, if you have a multi-asset strategy or you prefer to trade other asset types, Fortrader is a better choice. MetaTrader 5 is the equivalent trading platform for stocks and other assets, but Fortrade does not provide access to it (for MT5, you may want to check out Ospreyfx instead).

Overall, both MT4 and Fortrade’s proprietary platform are user-friendly, modern, and customizable. You can conduct market analysis, manage your trades, and access them via your mobile device, too. While MT4 is downloadable, you may also access it via your browser (Web Trader).

Trading Instruments

Another area in which Fortrade excels compared to other brokers is the choice of trading instruments. However, keep in mind that this is a CFD broker, so only trading CFDs is possible (not real assets).

Retail investor accounts can trade more than 50 currency pairs (including major currency pairs), hundreds of stocks, commodities (including energy, precious metals, and agriculture products), indices, cryptocurrencies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and US Treasuries (bonds and notes).

The ability to trade US Treasuries is a great competitive feature, as many well-established brokers do not offer access to bonds. Another option would be FP Markets for bond trading, precious metals trading, and other assets.

Education and Research

One of the best highlights of Fortrade is definitely its education section. While many online brokers, such as Hankotrade, do not provide any guidance, Fortrade has one of the most expansive educational and market analysis sections.

This is extremely important as CFDs are riskier than real assets because they are complex instruments (especially when using leverage, as you may get a margin call if the market goes against you).

Some of the main sections in Fortrade’s online academy include:

• Trading webinars with real-time market analysis, explanation of forex terminology, recent trading events, and trading strategies
• Trading from A to Z
• Beginner and advanced trading courses
• Forex and CFDs eBooks
• Top day trading strategies

If you are a beginner or you prefer a broker that helps you with research and analysis, you may also want to have a closer look at OspreyFX.

Other Trading Tools and Features

Fortrade provides an all-in-one solution for traders of all skill levels and facilitates the execution of nearly any type of strategy. Some of the other features and tools provided to retail investor accounts are:

• Trading Central access, where you have free access to a package of technical analysis tools for forex and CFD trading, how to read charts and graphs, and how to identify market trends, among others

• Daily market review and analysis, weekly analysis ideal for technical analysis

• Market opportunities
• Economic calendar per day, week, or month

• Forex tools, such as calculators for currency pairs, pips, margin, and swap fees
• Demo account to test trading platforms available

These features are a great benefit because they allow traders to mitigate the high risk of losing money rapidly. Nonetheless, it’s important to notice that the research provided does not constitute investment advice – rather, traders must do their due diligence before placing trades in the financial markets.

Fortrade Fees

Fortrade has only one trading account type with a minimum deposit of 250 base currency units, although they recommend a minimum deposit of 500 base currency units. The main deposit methods and payment solutions to withdraw funds include credit and debit cards, bank transfers, Skrill, and Neteller, which means that the withdrawing process (money) is easy and quick.

However, if you prefer instant deposits, it’s best to avoid wire transfers because they need seven business days to process money.

The account is available for both individual and institutional clients, but you need to fulfill many requirements for the professional trader account.

One advantage is that Fortrade does not charge a commission when trading CFDs, regardless of what asset you choose. The only trading cost incurred is the spread and the mark-up on the spread (which depends on what asset you trade).

There is also an inactivity fee of 10 base currency units if your trading account is inactive for 6 months, with the fee charged for every month of inactivity. It’s important to mention that you are not required to pay the dormancy fee if your balance is zero.

Another fee to be covered when trading in your Fortrade account is the swap, which is a fee charged for overnight open positions. This charge is common to all other brokers that provide CFD trading. To avoid this charge, you need to open and close all of your positions during the same trading day, so there are no open positions overnight.

Fortrade Support

Customer support provided on the Fortrade website is very extensive and readily available to all Fortrade traders and prospective clients. The support team can be contacted via a telephone number, live chat, and an online form. This is an excellent feature, as many brokers, such as Kot4x, do not provide phone support (or you need to request a callback, such as EagleFX)

Who Is Fortrade Best For?

Overall, Fortrade is a well-rounded CFD broker. It has many tools and features that would benefit all types of traders, ranging from first-time traders looking for education and support, to advanced traders who want to find a low-priced broker that provides access to powerful trading platforms.

One aspect that could perhaps be improved is the fact that the broker has only one trading account type, so you will be charged the same regardless of your strategy. Some advanced traders may want to obtain extra benefits or lower their costs. One broker that may fulfill this requirement is FP Markets, which has three types of accounts that cater to traders with higher capital, too.

Nonetheless, the lack of a commission fee on trades may sound attractive to many traders, but the minimum deposit of 250 base currency units may be quite high for a beginner. The only trading cost to be covered with the spread with the mark-up included, which lacks transparency as there is no indication of how much the mark-up is, and the spread also varies.

If unsure, traders may always opt for a demo account first, then switch to real trading mode once they are ready and know how to mitigate the high risk associated with trading forex and other assets.

How Does Fortrade Compare?

Based on our Fortrade review above, it excels in many categories. First, many discount brokers with low costs do not provide an education or research section, such as EagleFX. However, there are a few forex brokers like TIOMarkets that do have extensive research available via Trading Central, just like Fortrade, and it is also regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom.

In terms of trading platforms, Fortrade provides access to the most popular forex trading platform, MetaTrader 4, and its proprietary trading platform, which is a benefit as many brokers like TioMarkets, EagleFX, OspreyFX, and others do not have proprietary platforms. As a result, both forex and multi-asset traders will find the appropriate support to execute their strategies.

FAQ: Fortrade Review

Is Fortrade just a registered company or is it regulated as well?

Fortrade is registered in Cyprus and regulated by multiple authorities around the world, including in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and Canada, which indicates it is a reliable company. However, keep in mind that trading CFDs is still risky and may lead to losing money rapidly if you don’t practice good risk management.

How can you avoid losing money rapidly when trading CFDs and forex?

Trading CFDs comes with higher risks than trading the actual assets, so retail investor accounts lose money easily. However, there are many strategies to avoid losing money rapidly, such as hedging your positions and using order types like stop-loss. Fortrade has an extensive education section that introduces you to the basics of trading and how to implement your strategy successfully while controlling your risk.

Do retail investor accounts have any hidden fees on Fortrade?

The Fortrade website does not have a dedicated fee section, but the FAQ section provides some insight into its only types of fees, which are the dormancy fee in case of inactivity, the spread and the mark-up on it, and the swaps. There are no fees to withdraw funds or make deposits.

Can you open an Islamic account?

Yes, Fortrade supports Islamic trading accounts. These are the same as the regular account, but swap (interest rate) is not charged. However, the broker charges 4 pips more on specific instruments. To open an Islamic account, you need to open a regular one, then contact customer service and request an Islamic one.

Final Verdict: Is Fortrade Worth Using?

In this Fortrade review, we have revealed some of the main features of this broker, including its trading platforms, asset classes, and pricing structure. Overall, the availability of market research, analysis tools, and education are strong advantages compared to other brokers, especially because beginners may lose money when trading CFDs.

This multi-asset broker does not charge a commission per trade, there are no other trading costs apart from the spread (and the mark-up on it), which prevents you from capital erosion due to high costs. This may be advantageous since there is a high risk of losing money when trading CFDs.

Fortrade operates in a strictly regulated environment, which provides much-needed negative balance protection for all traders, and has an extensive product list that includes stocks, forex, and even bonds, among others.  Nonetheless, CFDs trading and trading on the forex market are high-risk activities, so you should polish your risk and money management skills to be successful in the financial markets.