Trading in financial assets involves an element of risk. As a result, there are various factors that the traders look for while going for a broker. Commissions and fees, trading platforms and tools, safety and security aspects are a few among the list. 

AvaTrade is one such leading global forex broker. This AvaTrade review article will help you understand its features and services and assist you in choosing the best forex broker for yourself.

Avatrade, founded in 2006, is part of the AVA Group Companies and is one of the oldest online brokerage firms. It has grown to be a leading international forex and CFD broker. It has got four offices in Australia, Japan, Ireland, and the British Virgin Islands. 

Avatrade has its headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and provides various financial instruments and a wide range of trading platforms for manual and automated trading. It is registered globally with multiple jurisdictions but does not accept U.S. traders. 

So let's proceed to see some of its pros and cons.

Pros 

• It provides manual trading platforms like MT4/MT5 and automated trading platforms like the AvaSocial app, Zulu Trade, and Dupli Trade.
• It offers trading in different asset classes such as forex, CFD, cryptocurrencies, etc.
• It provides excellent educational assistance through Sharp Trader via exclusive videos, articles, ebooks, and daily market analysis.
• It offers negative balance protection.
• AvaTrade bonus, as high as 20% of the deposit, is provided to the new traders.

 Cons 

• It does not have a guaranteed stop-loss facility.
• It charges high inactivity fees, which is $50 per quarter after three consecutive months of inactivity. Besides that, non-use of the account is subject to a $100 annual administration fee.
• It is not regulated by FCA., which is known for its strict regulations for ensuring fair market practices.
• It does not accept U.S. traders due to regulatory restrictions.

Avatrade is registered with various countries' authorities like the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA), Central Bank of Ireland, etc.  

It is a non-bank and is not a publicly listed entity. It segregates the clients' money from AvaTrade assets as per the Client Asset Regulations. Further, it protects the customers in the event of insolvency under Investor Compensation Scheme, with eligible claimants covered up to the loss of €20,000. 

The broking firm provides negative balance protection and AvaProtect for losing trades when the market turns opposite. However, the FCA does not regulate it, which is known for its strict market regulations. It does not provide 2FA (two-factor authentication) to log in to its trading platforms.

Avatrade provides a wide range of services, from user-friendly trading platforms to great educational content. 

Trading platforms

The broker provides different trading platforms such as WebTrader, Meta Trader 4(MT 4) / Meta Trader 5 (MT 5), AvaOptions, etc. WebTrader and Avaoptions are its trading platforms, whereas MT 4/MT 5 are third-party platforms. To trade CFD options, you need to use AvaOptions. You can trade most ETF and individual stock CFDs only on the MT 5 platform.

Reports 

You can access in-depth portfolio and fee reports under the "History" section. To see swap charges, you need to click the positions.

Alerts & Notifications

You cannot set price alerts and notifications on the Avatrade WebTrader Platform.

Order Types  

The order types such as market, limit, and stop are available. It also provides time-limit orders like Good-Till-Canceled (GTC) and Good-Till-Triggered (GTT) on the MT 4 platform. However, order types like Guaranteed stop loss (GSLO) and 'One cancels the other' are not available.

Mobile Trading App - AvaTrade

It provides its own mobile trading platform AvaTradeGO, available for Android and iOS. It also provides AvaProtect feature in the AvaTrade mobile app, just like its web platform.

Social Trading 

It offers social trading through third parties DupliTrade and ZuluTrade, allowing to copy other traders' activities. It also provides AvaSocial service in partnership with Pelican Trading, an FCA-regulated platform.

Avatrade fees for each asset class include spreads, financing rates, and commission. For example, the average spread cost of EURUSD is 0.9 pips, and it reduces to 0.6 pips if you qualify as a professional trader. Similarly, the fee for S&P 500 CFD is 0.5 points, and Europe 50 CFD is 2 points.

Forex - The F.X. trading is based on standard spread under Normal market conditions. Thus, the spread cost= Spread*Trade Size, where the spread charge is in the second currency.

For a 2,000 EUR/USD trade with three pips spread, the spread cost= 0.0003*2000=$0.60.

Further, overnight interest rates are charged daily for an open hold position. For example, for the above 2,000 EUR/USD trade, with a Daily Overnight Interest Buy(or Sell) rate of -0.0055%, the charge for one day would be 2,000*-0.000055= -€0.11(quoted in primary currency). 

The average spread cost for GBP/USD and USD/JPY is 1.6 & 1.1 pips, respectively.

Stock Indices - The stock indices are subject to 'Spread Over Market,' which is the Mark-up AvaTrade adds to the Current Market Spread. The spread costs for US_500 & US_30 are0.25 over market and 3.00 over market, respectively.

Bonds & ETFs - The trading of bonds & ETFs in AvaTrade is also based on 'Spread Over Market.' The spread cost for EURO-BUND is 0.03 over market.

AVAOPTIONS -  The typical Bid-Ask Spread (Pips) for instruments and Option Spread is displayed for AvaOptions Trading. Those are Standard Spreads under normal market conditions. The Options Spreads are based on one-month at-the-money (ATM) options.

Equities - Individual equities trading is subject to 'Spread Over Market,' unless stated otherwise, i.e., there is a mark up added to the current market spread. For example, the spread cost for Apple and Amazon stocks is 0.13%.

Commodities - The commodities trading is subject to Standard Spread or 'Spread Over Market.' For example, the spread cost for Gold is 0.34, whereas, for Platinum, it is $1.10 over market.

Cryptocurrencies - The spread cost for BTCUSD is 0.25% over market, whereas, for Etherum, it is 0.35% over market

Avatrade provides access to over more than 1250 financial instruments across different asset classes such as:-

• Forex- AvaTrade provides trading in more than 50 currency pairs, including the majors, minors, and exotics. It offers competitive spreads and leverage even up to 30:1.
• Cryptocurrency-  It provides trading in various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ripple, Etherum, etc. The leverage in cryptocurrency is 2:1.
• Bonds, Indices, Stocks, ETFs & Commodities- The broker offers low spreads and some of the highest leverages on various asset classes. For example, the leverage for stocks like Apple or Amazon is up to 5:1, whereas in commodities, the highest leverage offered is for Gold with 20:1. 
• Similarly, the highest leverage for indices like US_30 is 20:1. The maximum leverage for bonds & ETFs is 20:1.
• Options- AvaTrade provides a wide range of opportunities for options trading with the highest leverage, and the lowest margin offered for EUR/USD options is 30:1 and 1%, respectively.

AvaTrade has been operating in most countries except the USA, Iran, and Belgium. It provides different types of accounts such as Retail accounts & Standard accounts for individuals. 

You can open options account for trading F.X. options. Besides that, it offers a Spread betting account in the U.K. and Ireland and a Corporate account for the legal entity.

The broker also offers an AvaTrade demo account for the new traders to help them learn trading before investing their real money. Further, one can open a Professional Trading account if he has relevant experience in the financial sector, has extensive trading activity in the past 12 months, and has a minimum portfolio value of €500k. 

You can open an account with AvaTrade by following the steps below:

• Click on Register Now and enter the basic personal details. You can also use your social media accounts like Facebook or Google.
• Answer a couple of questions to determine your trading knowledge.
• Verify your identity and residency address by uploading a copy of your I.D. card. You will also need to upload a recent copy of the utility bill and bank statement.

AvaTrade does not charge deposit fees. You can make deposits via bank transfers, credit/debit cards, and e-wallets such as Neteller, Skrill, Klarna, Webmoney, etc. The current minimum deposit is 100 units, no matter the currency. The withdrawals can also be made to the same options as deposits and do not include any fee and may take up to 3 business days.

AvaTrade provides trading in various financial instruments such as forex, stocks, indices, etc. Let's see how you can trade forex in AvaTrade.

• Login to your account. Use the search function to select from different asset categories.
• You can open a position on your desired instrument, say forex. First, you must look at the spread and then decide how many units you want to trade based on the leverage provided. The leverage and spread are different for various currency pairs. Hence, you should initiate a trade after considering the same.
• You can use different order types to trade, and you must consider using stop-loss orders when opening a trade position.
• Then you must monitor your trade and close it when your target is achieved or the stop loss is hit to reduce the loss.

You can contact AvaTrade through email, phone, and live chat. The customer support team gives detailed and relevant answers through the live chat function. The email response time is pretty fast, and the reply is within a day. However, AvaTrade customer support is available only five days a week.

AvaTrade is known for its various trading platforms, both manual and automated, and its educational content. It offers trading in different financial assets from ETFs and forex to commodities and cryptocurrencies. It even provides negative balance proctection and Avaprotect feature for protection against the losing trades. However, it would be best if you chose the broker for trading which best suits your needs. So, you can choose to compare the services offered by different brokers. 

AvaTrade vs eToro

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.

71% 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.