Retail brokers are becoming more and more relevant nowadays, and traders from all over the world are booming and merging together in enormous groups in order to share info and trade as one.
This resurging interest towards Forex trading and (especially) stock trading touched Australians too. But while in the meantime there’s also some noise regarding the topic, this trend doesn’t seem to stop at all.
That’s why this guide will give you all the instruments to choose wisely who’s going to be your future broker, how to achieve that in order to start trading in the aforementioned markets and, last but not least, give you a list of the best stock & Forex brokers in Australia for 2021.
Before You Start
To trade in stocks or in a Forex market by opening a trading account is quite simple in Australia, only thing you need to do is to open this kind of account with a broker.
In order to do that, you’ll have to:
- Give a proof of identity: in the form of a passport for example (preferred), or any other recognized ID (e.g. driving license)
- Give a proof of residence: in the form of a bank statement for example, or any other official document with your current address on it
Once finished this procedure, your personal data will be quickly processed and verified.
Regulation In Australia
Trading in a financial market with a trading account is perfectly legal in Australia, you’ll just have to open a trading account with a verified and well-regulated broker.
In Australia, the main regulatory body for financial services is the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). It was established on 1 July 1998 and its authority and scope are both determined by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001. It is the evolution of the former Australian Securities Commission (ASC).
To verify if the broker you selected is ASIC regulated, you can go on the regulatory body website and search the ASIC’S registers.
Trading Platform Implemented
When you open a trading account, depending on which broker you choose, you’ll automatically have access to a series of different trading platforms.
Trading platforms may differ very much between them, but they can be easily divided in two main categories. Those are:
- Broker’s proprietary trading platform: the trading platforms is owned and developed by the same broker
- Mainstream trading platforms: broker’s trading account give access to one or more mainstream trading platforms, such as MT4 or MT5
Trading Techniques Available
As well as for the trading platforms, there are many kinds of traders and techniques involved during financial trading.
Before you choose a broker, hence the access to a platform, you’ll have to be sure that you’re going to be able to perform efficiently according to your trading level, experience and techniques.
Not all brokers, platforms or even countries allow every technique normally implemented by traders around the world. For example, it Is not globally accepted by brokers to allow their traders to use a scalping strategy, which consists in profiting from minor price changes in stock prices. On the contrary, it may be allowed, but it’s not performant to employ such a strategy with a selected broker because their rates are not good enough.
Top 6 Stock/Forex Brokers In Australia
Basing our researches on the aforementioned concepts, we decide to show your our personal top 6 brokers authorized in Australia to start trading in stocks and in the Forex market
- Pepperstone
Founded in 2010 and with an astonishing series of awards won during its +10 years of activity, Pepperstone is on the top of our favourite brokers to trade in Australia.
Papperstone is based in both Australia and the UK, therefore is an ASIC and FCA regulated broker. They’re also regulated by other major regulatory bodies around the world, and have a significant presence as a stock and Forex broker in many English-speaking countries.
For their brokers, they implemented the usage of segregated client bank accounts in top tier regulated banks, distributed across those and assessed against Pepperstone’s risk criteria. It means that your money will never be merged with the broker’s own money.
In the same way, all of their client money and assets will be protected from creditors in the unlikely event Pepperstone goes into liquidation. In that case, traders will just have their segregated money returned.
To start trading with Pepperstone you’ll have to deposit at least 200 AUD for their basic services. The offer in terms of accounts is divided in:
- Pepperstone Standard Account: this trading account offers average spreads and do not requires to pay any trading commission
- Pepperstone ECN Razor: this trading account offers extraordinary low spreads but requires to pay trading commission
One of those two may be used on one of the major trading platforms included with the account’s subscription such as the famous ZuluTrade or bot MT4 and MT5. As of today, Pepperston didn’t invest in creating a proprietary trading platform, and it looks like they’re going to continue using top-tier trading platforms.
Finally, you can also use a leverage, which is available up to 500:1 and 0 pips spreads with Pepperstone, depending on your account type.
BASIC INFO
- Regulated by: ASIC, FCA, MIFID-ESMA, DFSA, CYSEC, Offshore
- Trading Platforms Available: cTrader desktop, cTrader web, ZuluTrade, MT4 Desktop, MT4 Web, MT5 Desktop, MT5 Web, MAC Platforms
- Leverage: yes
- Minimum Deposit Required: 200 AUD
- AvaTrade
The internationally renowned Irish broker is one of the most important brokerage services in Australia, and has offices in both Dublin and Sydney. Plus, they are also famous in the football world to be the official sponsor for Manchester City FC.
Specialized as a retail broker, AvaTrade provides a high level of services to major traders too and complies with many financial regulatory bodies in order to make available the broker’s offer across five different continents. That includes of course ASIC too.
They offer consist of many financial instruments and markets available to trade with, which includes:
- Shares
- FX Pairs
- Indices
- ETFs
- Bonds
Cryptocurrencies are also one of their many trading subjects, and it’s extremely complete and profitable. While doing cryptocurrency trading with AvaTrade you’ll have many more advantages if compared with crypto exchanges.
First of all, crypto exchanges are not subject to regulatory authorities, which is a huge disadvantage in terms of security if equated to the 5 continent regulations which is subject to AvaTrade. Additionally, exchanges have mandatory commissions and low liquidity, contrary to the no trading commissions provided by AvaTrade and their high liquidity.
Cryptos traded within the AvaTrade service are:
- Bitcoin
- Bitcoin Cash
- Bitcoin Gold
- Ethereum
- Ripple
- Litecoin
- Eos
Furthermore, they also have an high focus on their trader’s safety and protection. For instance, they also decided to implement a negative balance protection for their trader accounts, plus an innovative tool called AvaProtect. This is a broker project implemented to protect up to one million dollar over a chosen time frame, in exchange for an hedging cost to pay.
Still on the side of their traders, AvaTrade dedicated an important part of their services to the enormous broker’s community base and their formation, with plenty of free education tools for both new and professional traders. Thanks to it, you’ll be able to find plenty of educational tools such as trading videos, strategies, economic indicators and much more.
BASIC INFO
- Regulated by: ASIC, IIROC, FSA, MIFID-ESMA, FSCA, Offshore, FSC (British)
- Trading Platforms Available: Mirror Trader, ZuluTrade, MT4 Web, MT5 Web, Proprietary Web Platform, MAC Platforms
- Leverage: yes
- Minimum Deposit Required: 100 AUD
- IC Markets
IC Markets is a major Australian-based online broker with a major focus on stock and Forex trading.
Their financial services started in 2007, and since 14 years they’re doing whatever it takes to stay relevant in the broker’s market, with a huge focus on their motherland, Australia, and many other markets around the world. Those include:
- Australia
- Asia
- Latin America
- Middle East
- Europe
They are an ECN brokerage service regulated by ASIC in Australia and will serve clients exclusively in those countries where their services are considered legal.
IC Makets offer the chance to open a trading starting from a minimum deposit of 200 AUD. This will open the doors to a variety of financial assets and markets especially intriguing even to new trader, which include:
- Shares
- FX Pairs
- Commodities
- Indices
- Bonds
- Cryptocurrencies
- Futures
Every trading account offered by IC Markets has its specifics which make it suitable for a specific trading style, and can be sum-up by its unique features and attitude towards those styles. Most popular accounts are:
- cTrader Account: it gives you access to cTrader, the IC Markets proprietary platform, and presents 0.0 pips and a leverage up to 30:1. It needs a minimum deposit of 200 AUD, its programming language is C# and it’s perfect for Day Traders & Scalpers.
- Raw Spread Account: it gives you access to MetaTrader platforms, present 0.0 pips and a leverage up to 30:1. It needs a minimum deposit of 200 AUD, its programming language is MQL4 and it’s perfect for EAs & Scalpers.
- Standard Account: it gives you access to MetaTrader platforms, present 1.0 pips and a leverage up to 30:1. it needs a minimum deposit of 200 AUD, its programming language is MQL and it’s perfect for Discretionary Traders.
The flexibility and the lighting speed of order execution made this broker one of most utilized brokerage services not only by Australian traders: it has become a major star on the international panorama.
BASIC INFO:
- Regulated by: ASIC, CySEC, Offshore
- Trading Platforms Available: cTrader desktop, cTrader web, Mirror Trader, ZuluTrade, MT4 Desktop, MT4 Web, MT5 Desktop, MT5 Web
- Leverage: yes
- Minimum Deposit Required: 200 AUD
- VantageFX
VantageFX is another Australian based broker became famous worldwide in this industry thanks to professionality and all the efforts put in more than 10 years of honourable brokerage services.
This broker was founded in 2009 and is well regulated by top tier independent regulatory bodies such as FCA, CIMA and our ASIC.
To start trading with VantageFX you’ll have to do a minimum deposit of 200 AUD,, which will give you access to one of the most popular accounts, such as:
- RAW ECN Account: no spread markup, small commissions per trade, minimum deposit of at least 500 AUD.
Standard STP Account: low spreads, no commissions per trader, minimum deposit of at least 200 AUD.
- PRO ECN Account: extreme fast speed of execution, extra-tight spreads, small commissions per trade, minimum deposit of at least 200 AUD.
Islamic Account: Shariah compliance obtained by Sheikh Hasan Qamra (the Cairman of the Sharian Supervisory Board), no swaps or interest charges, minimum deposit of at least 200 AUD.
- Unlimited Demo Account: a MetaTrader 4 Unlimited Demo Accounts for Live Account Holders, useful to test trading strategies, no need of a minimum deposit.
If you decide to open one of the accounts listed here, you’ll have the possibility of trading in hundreds of financial assets and markets. As a matter of fact, VantageFX presents a variety of financial markets which puts the broker’s service on another level if compared to the average competition. Those include:
- US Share CFDs
- UK & EU Share CFDs
- AU Share CFDs
- FX Pairs
- Indices
- Energy
- Soft Commodities
- Precious Metals
On top of that, VantageFX also gives us many insights and interesting formation tools regarding the Forex market and the correct use of trading platforms, such as MT4 and MT5 manuals, some videos on the topic and much more intriguing learning tools.
BASIC INFO:
- Regulated by: ASIC, FCA, MIFID-ESMA, Offshore
- Trading Platforms Available: ZuluTrade, MT4 Desktop, MT4 Web, MT5 Desktop, MT5 Web, MAC Platforms
- Leverage: yes
- Minimum Deposit Required: 200 AUD
- ThinkMarkets
ThinkMarkets is one of the newest names on our list, and is a local Australian broker well regulated by ASIC.
Outside of Australia, they also became internationally famous and now have a huge trader fanbase in Asia.
You’ll have access to a ThinkMarket trading account by doing at least a minimum deposit of 250 AUD, which include one of the lowest spreads on the market and the possibility of using a high leverage.
Once you open a trading account with them, you’ll have access too a variety of assets and financial markets, including:
- FX pairs
- Share CFDs
- Indices
- CFDs
- Precious Metals
- Commodities
- Cryptocurrency
- Contract Specifications
Those markets are opened to all ThinkMarkets traders, which may also start from a free demo account if they don’t want to overcommit with this broker and start using their trading techniques on it without encountering too many risks.
BASIC INFO:
- Regulated by: ASIC, FCA, MIFID-ESMA
- Trading Platforms Available: Trader, MT4 Desktop, MT4 Web, Proprietary Desktop Platform, Proprietary Web Platform, MAC Platforms
- Leverage: yes
- Minimum Deposit Required: 250 AUD