Introduction

Operating since 2001, Admiral Markets is a trusted forex broker now being used on a global scale. Its level of client support is enhanced through the company’s global presence. As an ASIC, CySEC, and FCA regulated broker, Admiral Markets presents many strengths and weaknesses for traders and investors seeking to use their services.

Known for its reliability and simplicity, Admiral Markets is gaining a larger client base and is continuing to provide quality service and competitive spreads for global markets trading on the MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader platforms. Admiral Markets offer traders both a demo account option as well as a live account.

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Strength 1: Choice Of Accounts With Competitive Spreads

Admiral Markets offers 3 types account types, a Trade Account which a standard account, A Zero Account which is commission based and an Invest Account for Admiral Markets clients in the UK and Europe who wish to trade equities and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).

Basic Account Offerings

All Admiral Market accounts offer the same basic features

  • Minimum lot trading size of 0.01 (micro lots)
  • Hedging
  • Scalping
  • Automated trading with Expert Advisors
  • Market Execution (as opposed to instant execution) with Straight Through Processing (STP)
  • Negative Balance Protection

Admiral Markets clients in Australia will need 100 (AUD, EUR, GBP, USD, SGD) in their account to start trading. Clients of Admiral Markets in the UK and Europe will need 100 (EUR, GBP, USD, CHF) or 200 (BGN), 1000 (CZK), 750 (HRK), 25,000 (HUF), 250 (PLN) or 250 (RON).  These currencies are also available as your base currencies.

MT4 vs MT5 Account Differences

Admiral Markets offers 2 have two options for each of their CFD trading accounts. These are .MT4 and .MT5 which defines the trading platform available for each account. MT4 is MetaTrader 4 and MT5 is MetaTrader 5 and certain financial instruments are not available with each platform. This is because MetaTrader 4 does not handle derivatives that need to go through an exchange as well as MetaTrader 5. As a result, MetaTrader 5 can offer more CFD choices and a larger range for each choice.

Other differences to note include

  • The maximum number of pending orders and open positions with MT4 is 200 and MT5 is 500
  • Maximum Forex Lot Size for MT4 100 (or Standard) which means your contract cannot be more than 100 (100 barrels, 100 troy oz, 100,000 forexes). Zero Account allows 200.
  • No Depth of Market (Level II pricing) with MT4

Admiral Markets Trade Account

Admiral Markets Trade Accounts

Admiral Markets calls their Standard Account, Trade.MT4 and Trade.MT5. Standard accounts have no commissions which mean spreads are widened in place of commission, Admiral Markets adds at least 0.5 pips to these spreads.

A spread-only account is popular with beginner traders as no commissions simplify costs when trading. Long-term traders also may prefer this account as the cost savings compared to STP and ECN style accounts may not be significant enough to concern them.

When choosing a Trade account there are some details to keep in mind. These include

  • The Trade Account  offers a more product compared to the other accounts, including currencies, cryptocurrencies, commodity futures, energy CFDs, index CFDs
  • Maximum Forex Lot Size is 100 (or Standard) which means your contract cannot be more than 100 (100 barrels, 100 troy oz, 100,000 forexes). Zero Account allows 200.

 

Admiral Markets Zero AccountAdmiral Markets Zero Accounts

Admiral Markets is a no dealing desk broker (sometimes called b-book broker) which means they connect their clients with liquidity providers who provide quotes as the counterparty to each trade.

Admiral Markets uses an STP execution model when connecting you to liquidity providers such as big banks and hedge funds rather than an Electronic Data Communication Model (ECN), Direct Market Access Model (DMA) or dealing desk model by acting as a market maker.

Admiral Markets Zero Account is available for traders seeking the lowest trading costs. Spread costs with Zero account start from 0  pips. Low spreads are great for active traders and scalper as costs add up through commission with each time a trade is made.

In place of wider spread, the Zero Account utilizes a tiered commission structure for fees whereby they depend on the volume being traded. The commission is calculated using the following formula:

COMMISSION = CONTRACT SIZE X COMMISSION RATE X 2

Following this tiered commission structure, trading less than $10,000 a month will charge a minimum of $6 and as such, may be better suited for a Trade Account. Trading $10,000 to $50,000 a month will charge $4.80, meaning a Trade Account may again be more useful. However, if more than $50,000 is being traded in a month the commission will be around $3.60 and the Zero Account may be more suitable.

  Commission Side Ways Per 1K lot Round-Turn per 1k lot
$3.00 $6.00
$10,000 to $50,000 per month $2.40 $4.80
> $50,000 per month $1.80 $3.60

Other feature of the Zero Account to note include

  • Maximum Forex Lot Size is 200 which means your contract cannot be more than 200 (200 barrels, 200 troy oz, 200,000 forexes).
  • Availability of Islamic Account with MT5 platform – swap-free trading conditions making it suitable Islamic traders. No interest fees (Swap fee, overnight costs) means the account may be suitable for clients that follow sharia law.

 

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Comparing the Spreads

Trade Account

Spreads for the Trade accounts (regardless if you have MT4 or MT5) generally fare well when compared to other brokers. Spreads for EUR/USD appear to be the best of all brokers compared, while other spreads measure up well with their competitors. Australian traders should find these standard account spreads to be very good value as this broker include negative balance protection.

Admiral Markets No Commission Account Spreads
0.60 1.00 2.20 0.90 1.00
0.86 1.07 2.02 0.97 1.83
0.70 1.90 4.30 1.10 1.30
0.80 0.90 2.80 0.80 1.70
1.70 1.10 1.90 0.80 1.10
1.40 1.60 3.60 1.30 1.70
1.20 1.30 1.60 1.20 1.50
1.16 1.27 1.50 1.16 1.35
2.00 2.00 3.20 2.10 2.40

Data taken from broker website. Accurate as at 01/09/2020

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Zero Account

Admiral Markets average or typical spreads are generally competitive with other brokers such as Pepperstone. Spreads for EUR/USD is as good as any broker on the market, spreads for other currency pair would be best described as mid-tier. While spreads are slightly higher then what the spreads from the cheapest brokers, its possible you can still save as Admiral Markets commissions are lower than many other brokers. This especially true if you trade greater than 10k each month.

Admiral Markets Commission Account Spreads
0.10 0.50 1.10 0.60 0.80
0.16 0.27 0.50 0.35 0.34
0.10 0.20 0.40 0.40 0.30
0.12 0.22 0.48 0.62 0.76
0.10 0.20 0.50 0.40 0.30
0.20 0.20 0.50 0.40 0.50
0.30 0.50 0.60 0.50 0.50
0.40 0.70 1.10 0.60 0.60
0.10 0.40 0.12 0.30 0.40

Data taken from broker website. Accurate as at 01/09/2020

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Admiral Markets Leverage

The available leverage when trading Forex varies depending on which entity of Admiral Markets you are trading with as compliance law that needs to be followed set by the regulator.

Retail Traders with Admiral Markets in the UK and Europe can trade with 1:30 for major currency pair and 1:20 for minor currency pairs. If you qualify for a professional account which essentially means you work in the finance industry, you manage an account of over 500k or you consistently traded large volumes over the past 12 months then you can trade with 500:1.

All Traders with Admiral Markets in Australia can trade any forex currency pair with 1:500 leverage.


Our Rating

The overall rating is based on review by our experts

7.83
Spreads
7 / 10
Leverage
10 / 10
Trading Platform
7 / 10
Risk Management
10 / 10
Range of Markets
6 / 10
Customer Service
7 / 10

Strength 2: Advanced Risk Protection Tools

Negative Balance Protection Policy

An important feature of Admiral Markets is their attention to risk protection. Admiral Markets entities operating with ASIC, CySEC, and FCA regulation employ a Negative Balance Protection Policy, which enables traders to ensure their account balance does not slide into a negative amount.

For CySEC and FCA regulation, the Negative Balance Protection is offered for professional accounts (most brokers typically offer this feature only for retail accounts due to the higher leverage associated with professional accounts). ASIC does not require brokers to have Negative Balance Protection, however, Admiral Markets offer this as a feature.

As an additional layer of protection, Admiral Markets apply a margin call system, meaning they will exit your trades as a conservative measure as negative balance protection should be a last resort.

In Australia, Admiral Markets set the stop-out level at 30% for the Trade Account and 50% for the Zero Account.

ASIC Stop Out Levels Admiral Markets

In the UK and Europe, stop out level is 50% for retail traders and 30% for professional traders. Stop out means all positions will be closed when the ratio of equity to margin reaches the respective levels for each account.

Stop Out Levels FCA CySEC

By default, a call margin is enabled and set to 130%. If or when the account equity reaches 130% of the required margin then a margin call will enact and a notification will be sent via SMS or E-mail. This feature can be disabled, however, it is helpful to improve the trading experience by avoiding excessive slippage.

Volatility Protection

The brokers unique feature of volatility protection allows traders to utilise a greater range of order types and settings. The risk management features reduce the unpredictability that’s experienced when trading in volatile markets by using sophisticated and advanced order settings such as setting maximum limits for price slippage, partial fills and protection against price gapping.

Admiral Markets Volatility Protection

Examples of Admiral Markets volatility protection settings and features include:

  • Stop orders and market orders are executed as limit orders with a set maximum negative slippage from 1-1000 points and unlimited positive slippage.
  • If price gaps pending orders are automatically cancelled protecting traders from instant losses.
  • Stop orders are cancelled when the preset maximum slippage is exceeded.
  • To avoid limit orders not being filled when prices spike (due to lack of liquidity), limit orders are executed with market execution.
  • If liquidity is absent from markets, limit orders will be partially executed with the unfilled remainder of the order staying open until it is filled or cancelled.

Guaranteed Stop Loss Orders (France Only)

Furthermore, to combat losses during rapidly moving and high-risk market conditions, Admiral Markets provide a range of advanced trading settings such as automated stop mechanisms to ensure trades are closed when the market is not moving in the trader’s favour, minimizing potential further loss. This form of volatility protection is useful for traders who want to avoid exposure to extreme market volatility. For traders in France, a Guaranteed Stop Loss feature is available under Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) regulation only (the relevant finance regulator in France).

Regulators

Admiral Markets is regulated by the following authorities, FCA, CySEC and EFSA all fall under European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) meaning these regulators must comply with ESMA requirements set out by MiFID directives. Being part of the ESMA umbrella means regulations throughout Europe will be much the same. ASIC manages regulation for Australia and therefore is independent of ESMA meaning ASIC regulation will differ.

If you join ESMA from outside Australia then Admiral Markets will default to FCA regulation page however you can choose which website you wish to enter.

  • Admiral Markets Pty Ltd (ABN 63 151 613 839)(Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) for Australia (AFSL no. 41068)
  • Admiral Markets Cyprus Ltd (reg. number 310328) Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) for Cyrpus license no. 201/13.
  • Admiral Markets UK Ltd (reg. number 08171762): Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for the United Kingdom (reg. number 595450)
  • Admiral Markets AS: Estonian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) for Estonia (license № 4.1-1/46)

 

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Strength 3: Enhancement Tools For MetaTrader Platforms

Arguably the most popular trading platform in the world for retail investors and considered by many to be the best in class, MetaTrader is an electronic trading platform designed for CFD speculation trading. MetaQuotes have developed two versions of the software, MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5), each with their own features and strengths.

Either MetaTrader forex trading platform is reliable choices for a trading platform.  With each platform, traders get a comprehensive range of technical and graphical tools and timeframes which allow you to perform all the critical analysis needed to make trading decisions.

In addition to trading tools, automation is possible through expert advisors (EAs) and social trading through the large MetaTrader community. Traders can also create their own signals and advisors with MQL4 and MQL5 programming.

MetaTrader 4 is more popular as it has been around longer and is offered by more brokers, it is a true specialist forex platform. MetaTrader 5 is an upgrade on MT4 with more analysis tools, faster processor, better backtesting and access to a greater range of CFDs.

Depending on your trading platform preference, Admiral Markets offers an MT4 and MT5 account type (Admiral MT4 and Admiral MT5).

MT4 and MT5 are available for mobile trading with iOS and Android trading apps, a webtrader option online, as well as desktop versions for PC and Mac computers. MetaTrader For Admiral Markets

MetaTrader Supreme Edition

In addition to the stop-loss feature as a form of risk protection, Admiral Markets offer the Supreme Edition as an extension of the MetaTrader platform for free.

The add-on tools include features such as a mini terminal for additional options when setting a stop loss,  a built-in economic calendar, market analysis tools, advanced order types, trade alerts, a market sessions map plus many more features to help traders reduce their risk when trading.

MetaTrader Supreme

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Strength 4: Free Comprehensive Education And Market Analysis

As well as standard customer support, Admiral Markets offer a range of resources and services to help traders develop their forex trading knowledge.

Educational Resources

Education packages are available for all users across Basic, Pro, and Advanced levels. These include courses, classes, advanced tools, and master strategies. However, the extent of available resources depends on the minimum deposit you have made.

Additionally, Admiral Markets offers Forex 101 – a free forex and CFD trading course that allows traders to learn the basics before getting started with trading.

Zero to Hero

As part of their education, Admiral Markets offer a 20-day forex training course for free. The Zero to Hero program is free to register and covers a range of skills for traders to learn. Developed by professional trading coaches, the program allows users to learn steps of forex trading within a relatively short time frame.

Zero to Hero encompasses the basic technical and fundamental analysis and teaches factors such as psychology and understanding of market conditions, all within 20 video sessions, Q&A, one live session, and a trading strategy video.

Zero To Hero

Webinars and Seminars

A range of free live forex and CFD webinars are available for traders through Admiral Markets. Led by professional financial traders, these webinars are run frequently and are intended to provide insight into improving traders’ skills from novice to expert levels.

Forex and CFD seminars are also included through the broker to provide traders with the knowledge of the basics, progressing to more complex factors of trading such as indicators and expert strategies.

Analytics

Admiral Markets provide traders with a range of practical and insightful resources. Analytical features include technical analysis articles through trading central, forex market calendar, comprehensive and detailed quotes, trader blogs and posts, a market heat map, market sentiment data as well as a weekly trading podcast. Premium Analytics is freely available to traders who register, providing access to a portal for news, analysis, economic calendars, and indicators.

Analytic tools are provided to help traders advance their skills through educational resources and ensure they have a good experience trading with the broker.

Customer Support

As well as educational resources, Admiral Markets customers can get in touch with the broker’s customer support team with queries relating to account management, trading platforms and forex trading in general.

Customer service representatives can be contacted by phone, email or live chat. While email and phone contact methods are only 24/5, live chat is available 24/7.

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Weakness 1: Restricted CFD Options for Each Account Type

Retail investors looking to start trading forex may look to Admiral Markets as their preferred online broker due to the range of trading options. Having a wider variety of financial instruments may improve the trading conditions and overall trading experience, although for novice traders this would not be so vital. For investors with more experience trading forex, Admiral Markets may not be the best forex broker due to the limited range in comparison to other online brokers. The following lists provide a summary of the financial instruments available through the Admiral Markets Group.

Trade Account

The Trade Accounts allows trading of the following instruments.

Admiral Markets CFDs Trade Account

It is worth noting that MetaTrader 5 Forex Trading platform offers the following instruments which are no available on MetaTrader 4

  • Agriculture CFDs
  • Commodity futures CFDs
  • ETF CFDs

This wide variety of instruments is beneficial for traders wanting exposure to several types of global markets.

Zero Account

The Zero Account also offers a range of instruments on both the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms, however, these are limited to:

Admiral Markets Zero Accounts CFDs

This range of available instruments limits flexibility for traders and places more importance in selecting the most suitable account.

Range and features of CFDs

Admiral Markets offer a wide range of other CFD in addition to forex, including cryptocurrency CFDs, index CFDs, share CFDs, bond CFDs, and commodity CFDs. TO start trading, clients need a minimum of 100 (for most major base currencies) deposited in their trading account. Some CFDs have 0% commission making the opportunity to diversify their investments relatively simple. The leverage available for CFD is as follows:

 

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Weakness 2: Limited Range of Currency Pairs

The range of currency pairs offered by Admiral Markets is less than 50, which is relatively low. However, given that the most commonly traded major, minor, and exotics are available, the majority of retail traders would not feel restricted. This is still something to be aware of before joining as it may affect particular traders wanting to trade certain pairs.

Comparison of brokers and their available currency pairs

Currency pair options may vary between entities and even between accounts. The following table summarizes the brokers who offer more or less than 60 currency pairs.

More than 60 currency pairs 40 to 59 currency pairs Less than 40 currency pairs
Pepperstone Admiral Markets FXCM
IC Markets XM ThinkMarkets
City Index XTB HANTEC
easyForex eToro Traders' Way
Forex.com FP Markets
FxPro Hugo's Way
HYCM
Fusion Markets
IG
Oanda
Saxo
CMC Markets
Interactive Brokers
Plus500

Note: More currency pairs do not necessarily mean the broker is better. The range of currency pairs simply indicates the availability for traders. The most commonly traded pairs are available through all forex brokers.

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Weakness 3: Lack of Free Social and Charting Tools

Social trading

Social trading platforms and similar add-on tools are becoming increasingly popular among traders. Admiral Markets allow, but do not necessarily support, social trading through the MetaTrader platforms – signals by MetaQuotes and Expert Advisors through MQL5. In terms of automated or copy trading, there is no mention of add-ons such as Mirror Trader, DupliTrade, or MyFxBook. Such integration social tools are available for traders to find themselves, however, Admiral Markets do not provide them.

Under their Education section, Admiral Markets offer a detailed summary of the concept of forex trading signals, copy trading features, and more educational resources. They appear to place more emphasis on their educational resources and training programs rather than advertising common copy trading platforms.

Charting tools

Charting tools such as Autochartist and Trading Central are made available through Admiral Markets. These features are beneficial add-ons that allow traders to utilize fundamental and technical analysis, market sentiment, and insight, as well as signal ideas. These charting tools are presented on the MetaTrader Supreme Edition.

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Weakness 4: Customer Support Hours are Europe-Centric

The customer support feature, although helpful and informative, is Europe-centric. This means that traders outside the Eurozone may struggle using the online live chat feature, as there may be a delay in response time due to offline support personnel. In addition to the live chat feature, they also offer general communication through Twitter, Facebook, and Telegram. The site also contains multiple language options to cater to their global customer support.

Funding

Admiral Markets offer a range of free options for deposit and withdrawal methods including Skrill, Neteller, Bitcoin, Credit Card, Bank Transfer, Wire Transfer, Visa and more. Deposits are free for all methods and withdrawals are also free, limited to two requests each month. The following table summarizes deposit methods, broker costs, and deposit amounts.

Deposit method Broker costs Deposit amount
Bank transfer Free Any
Visa and MasterCard Free 75 - 7500 AUD
iBank and BankLink Free 100 - 200000 CNY
Skrill Free 75 - 15000 AUD
Neteller Free 75 - 15000 AUD
SafetyPay Free 1 - 5000 USD
AstroPay Free 50 - 5000 USD
Trustly Free 75 - 7500 AUD
Bitcoin Free 50 - 3000 USD
Rapid Transfer Free 75 - 7500 AUD
POLi Free 75 - 7500 AUD

The Trade Account (spread-only account) incurs fees through the wider spreads, as it is the broker’s standard account. For the Zero Account (commission account), commissions are formed as the fees instead. Furthermore, Admiral Markets charges no additional fee for opening a trading account and only charge an inactivity fee of 10 EUR per month. Internal transfers between the same base currencies are also free, however, with different base currencies, this process incurs a fee of 1% of the transfer amount after ten free transfers.

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Conclusion

As a reputable forex broker for 19 years, Admiral Markets remain a reliable server for traders by offering tight spreads and low commission rates. Their range of educational resources is a stand-out feature for them. A comparative alternative we recommend is IC Markets which has lower spreads.

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About the author: Justin Grossbard

Justin Grossbard has been investing for the past 20 years and writing for the past 10. He co-founded Compare Forex Brokers in 2014 after working with the foreign exchange trading industry for several years. He also founded a number of FinTech and digital startups including Innovate Online and SMS Comparison. Justin holds a Masters Degree and an Honours in Commerce from Monash University. He and his wife Paula live in Melbourne, Australia with his son and Siberian cat. In his spare time, he watches Australian Rules Football and invests on global markets.