The possibility for amateur investors to participate in financial markets has been made far more easier than before thanks to the rise of a multitude of trading platforms, with plenty of online brokers offering their services. And that’s also the case for New Zealand.
With that being said, new traders and online investors must expect volatility while trading in these financial markets, meaning also that they shouldn’t invest more than what they are willing to lose.
Before You Start
To trade in financial markets like the stock market or Forex, you will have to open a trading account with a broker.
Opening a trading account is quite a simple process in New Zealand, and it’s also similar for the rest of the world.
To open this kind of account, you will have to show:
- A proof of identity: it can be show in form of passport (preferred) or any other recognized ID (e.g. driving license)
- A proof of residence: it can show if form of a bank statement, or any other official document which includes your current address
Finish this procedure and you’ll be ready to trade worldwide.
Regulation In New Zealand
The main regulatory body is the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), which is the New Zealand government agency responsible for financial regulation.
It is responsible for regulating all financial market participants, exchanges and the setting and enforcing of financial regulations. It’s also responsible for regulating all financial market participants, exchanges and the setting and enforcing of financial regulations.
Trading Platform Implemented
Once obtained a trading account, depending on your choice, you’ll automatically have access to a vast variety of trading platforms.
While being very extremely different between them, we may divide them in two main categories. Those are:
- Broker’s proprietary trading platform: a trading platforms owned and developed by the same broker which is offering to you the service
- Mainstream trading platforms: broker’s trading account give access to many more mainstream trading platforms, such as in the case of MT4 or MT5
Trading Techniques Available
As many as the trading platforms actually included in the service, there are also a variety of traders and techniques being involved while you’re doing financial trading.
Before you choose a broker, be sure that their brokerage services will give you the chance of implementing all the trading techniques that you know and you’re willing to exchange.
Not all brokers, platforms or even countries allow every technique normally implemented by traders around the world. There’s not a global consensus by brokers around the world for example regarding the possibility to allow their students to do things such as the scalping strategy. This strategy consists for example in making profit exclusively from minor price changes in stock prices.
Top X Stock/Forex Brokers In New Zealand
By following the aforementioned criteria, we decide to make our personal list regarding the best 5 stock and Forex brokers actually available in New Zealand.
- IG Group
Established in 1974 in England as a pioneer brokerage service specialized in financial spread betting, as of today they became the main online broker for retail traders based in New Zealand.
While having most of their company’s activities based on the UK soil, they have expanded on an international level. With many offices around the world and widely regulated around the world by many independent regulator bodies, which also includes FMA.
There are many types of trading accounts which differ between themselves, but in NZ they are reduced to two main types:
- IG Trading Account: a standard choice for low and medium trading level, which requires a minimum deposit of $250. Despite the fact of being a basic account, it still gives you the chance of trading in more than 17,000 markets. Negative balance protection is not provided for New Zealand citizens but only for EU and UK traders.
- IG Limited Risk Account: quite similar to the standard account version, it adds stop losses and a range of low-risk markets. Negative balance protection is provided for New Zealand based traders and all traders outside of the EU and UK.
Other trading accounts such as the IG Spread Betting Account, the IG Options Trading Account or the IG Turbo24 Trading Account are not available for traders based in New Zealand.
There are plenty of markets available for New Zealanders traders thanks to one of the aforementioned trading accounts given by IG, and thank to them you can trade in many financial assets such as:
- Shares
- FX pairs
- Commodities
- Indices
- Cryptocurrencies
- Bonds
- Interest Rates
- ETFs
- Sectors
In addition to their competitive spreads with 0.8 starting pips, IG offer also the chance of employing a further protection for your funds with stop losses, trailing stops and take profits.
BASIC INFO
- Regulated by: FMA, ASIC, FCA, FSCA, NFA, MAS, DFSA, JFSA, FINMA, BMA
- Trading Platforms Available: cTrader desktop, cTrader web, ZuluTrade, MT4 Desktop, MT4 Web, MT5 Desktop, MT5 Web, MAC Platforms
- Leverage: yes
- Minimum Deposit Required: $250
- BlackBull Markets
BlackBull Markets was founded in 2014 and is an award-winning New Zealand Brokerage service.
They provide a level of institutional-grade trading to all of their clients with exceptional customer service and support, especially for their New Zealand based traders.
Their trading accounts start from a minimum deposit of just $200 and can be selected from the list below. Every accounts will give you access to:
- Standard Account: no commission per trade, leverage up to 1:500, Micro Lots available and access to all tradable instruments. It requires a minimum deposit of $200.
- Prime Account: $6 per lot, leverage up to 1:500, Micro Lots available and access to all tradable instruments. It requires a minimum deposit of $200.
- Islamic Account: available in both Standard and Prime version, Swap free, leverage up to 1:500, Micro Lots available, access to all tradable instruments
- Institutional Account: complementary VPS access, customisable commission structures, White Label branding (optional), 24/6 Dedicated technical support, customised MAM/PAMM Platform available. It requires a minimum deposit of $20,000.
Once you’ve made your decision and choose an account, you will have access to many financial markets where you can put your funds. Remember though to not exaggerate and to be careful if you never invested before, because financial markets tend to be extremely volatile. That’s particularly true when dealing with currency pairs and cryptocurrencies.
Once you start trading, you will have access to 80+ trading instruments, including:
- Shares
- FX Pairs
- Indices
- Commodities
- Precious Metals
- Energy
All trading styles are welcome to BlackBull markets, including scalping, EAs and hedging.
BASIC INFO
- Regulated by: FMA, ASIC, FCA, MIFID-ESMA, DFSA, CYSEC, Offshore
- Trading Platforms Available: MT4 Desktop, MT4 Web, MT5 Desktop, MT5 Web, MAC Platforms
- Leverage: yes
- Minimum Deposit Required: $200
- Pepperstone
Pepperstone was founded in 2010 and since then this brokerage service won an incredible series of awards during its +10 years of activity.
This broker is based in many English-speaking countries and is subject to FMA regulation, while complying at the same time with many regulatory bodies around the globe.
Pepperstone is considered an extremely safe broker because they have implemented the usage of segregated client bank accounts for their customers, which means that their money will never mix with the broker’s own money. That’s a guarantee in the unfortunate (and unlikely) case of Pepperstone going into liquidation.
In such a scenario, traders will have their money back without any further disturbance by liquidators, creditors or whoever linked with them.
If you want to start trading with a Pepperstone trading account, you’ll need to do a minimum deposit of at least $200. Their accounts are divided in:
- Pepperstone Standard Account: a trading account which offers average spreads and without trading commissions to pay
- Pepperstone ECN Razor: a trading account which offers low spreads but includes trading commissions to pay
These trading accounts are useful if you want to connect with one of their major trading platforms. Whit Pepperstone’s account subscription allows you to access many famous platforms such as ZuluTrade, MT4 and MT5.
If you want to maximize your investments (and your risks), you may also use a leverage up to 500:1 and 0 pips spreads with Pepperstone.
BASIC INFO
- Regulated by: FMA, 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
- AvaTrade
An internationally renowned broker based in Ireland and now became one of the most recognizable brokerage services in all Australasia, with a significant presence across all the continent.
Despite the fact of being a well-rounded regulated broker, AvaTrade isn’t regulated by FMA.
This broker is specialized as a retail broker for stock and Forex trading, providing many useful features for all those traders interested in these markets. As of today, the financial markets available with AvaTrade are different:
- Shares
- FX Pairs
- Indices
- ETFs
- Bonds
Cryptocurrency trading is one of their stronger points and with them you’ll have various advantages while doing trades, especially in comparison with mainstream crypto-exchanges.
If you are interested in this form of trading, you’ll have a vast variety of cryptos to exchange within them, including the three incarnations of Bitcoin. Cryptocurrencies exchanged here are:
- Bitcoin
- Bitcoin Cash
- Bitcoin Gold
- Ethereum
- Ripple
- Litecoin
- Eos
Remember that crypto exchanges are not regulated, while AvaTrade is regulated across 5 different continents. Which means that you’ll be way more protected while trading in crypto-assets if you do that with this broker.
Plus, they decided to implement a negative balance protection for the customers, in conjunction with an pioneering tool called AvaProtect. This feature will protect and refund up to one million dollar over a chosen time frame, in exchange for a hedging price to pay, of course.
Last but not least, this broker gives us also the possibility of using various features which implements automated trading on the platform , such as for example mirror trading or copy trading. IIt also includes the change of using many of the free EA robots used for MT5.
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: $200
- Plus500
Plus500 was founded in London, UK, in 2009 as one of the first PC-based online trading platforms. This brokerage service quickly evolved into a publicly traded company which is now present in the LSE as a part of the FTSE250.
Well-regulated across many continents which comprehend a regulation from FMA, one of their main objectives is to keep their customers safe. One of their main projects is the Client Money Protection program, which consists in a series of measures taken in order to protect their client’s money.
The Client Money Protection program consist in:
- Segregated bank accounts: in case of bankruptcy or insolvency by the broker, your money will not be touched.
- Negative balance protection: you can’t lose more money than the funds deposited.
Once you decide to open a trading account with them, you’ll be put in front of distinct yet similar kinds of trading accounts. They consist in:
- Demo account: an unlimited free demo that doesn’t expire, especially useful for beginners and traders which are not satisfied with their actual broker.
- Standard Account: a basic account which requires a minimum deposit of $100.
- Professional Account: as of today, it is not intended for New Zealand residents.
Once picked one kind of account, you’ll be able to put your funds in any of these financial markets, which include many different assets such as:
- Shares
- FX Pairs
- Commodities
- Indices
- ETFs
- Options
- Cryptocurrencies
While being a top tier broker, Plus500 do have some problems to keep up with the competition, especially for their costs. Plus, they present slightly higher average spreads when trading in the Forex market, with 0.6 pips as the lowest indicator.
BASIC INFO:
- Regulated by: AvaTradeGO, MetaTrader5
- Trading Platforms Available: MT4 Web, MT5 Web, Proprietary Web Platform, MAC Platforms
- Leverage: yes
- Minimum Deposit Required: $200