Hugosway is an STP & ECN style unregulated forex broker that offers 56 currency pair, 16 Cryptocurrency and 37 crosses through the MetaTrader 4 forex trading platform and Payments with Bitcoin. See our experts verdict in our Hugo’s way review.
Updated: 27/01/2021
What Changed?
Fact Checked
Our Hugosway review looks at the strengths and weaknesses of this broker
Key Strengths
Key Weaknesses
The overall rating is based on review by our experts
Hugo’s way is a no dealing desk broker that only offers one trading account type. This account provides STP/ECN execution to connect you with liquidity providers compiled from over 50 banks to deliver you tight spreads.
This account has a USD$5.00 commission fee ($10.00 round-turn) to keep the spread at the raw prices set by the liquidity providers. This means there is no manipulation of your spread costs done with Standard accounts and by market makers.
Spreads offered by Hugo’s Way for the EUR/USD currency start from 0.0 and were generally reasonable for all the 55 major and minor currency pairs. The following spread ranges were observed:
When trading with this account, the following features are available:
The main features to note include:
Overall, Hugo’s Way has low spreads but not the lowest as you can see in the ‘head to head’ IC Markets comparison. Hugosway doesn’t publish their average spreads but to compare those that do and try the forex calculator go to the lowest spreads page.
Hugo’s Way only offers one forex trading platform option, this being MetaTrader 4 (MT4). At Compare Forex Brokers team are fans of MT4, so consider this as a strength.
First released by MetaQuotes in 2005, MT4 has become the most popular forex trading platform worldwide. With this platform, you get access to all the essential tools beginners will need for successful trading and enough sophisticated features that will keep you using the platform as your trading skill advanced.
Below looks at some of the most important features that you will find most useful.
Essential and key tools and features that make the platform popular and one of the best include
As your trading skills develop, you will appreciate some more advanced features MT4 offers, including:
When trading with MT4 using Hugo’s Way, you can choose from the desktop platform if using Windows, Linux or Mac, a web browser (Web Trader) or mobile and tablet apps compatible with Android and iOS. With such a range of choices, you can trade from just about anywhere.
Hugo’s Way is an MT4 specialist. They only offer one platform. Nothing wrong with this, as most traders only need one platform. Other brokers give you choices of platforms, and some brokers have their own proprietary platforms. Hugo’s Way does not offer any other tools that can integrate with MT4 such as social trading or charting tools. While other brokers will typically give you some options.
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Hugos Way offers a solid range of markets for trading, allowing you to diversify your Contracts For Difference (CFDs) which can be a risk management smart strategy when building your trading portfolio as your risks are spread out.
With this broker, you will be able to choose from
A commission of USD $5.00 per lot is charged for all of these CFDs. Leverage is maximum 1:500 for metals and fixed at 1:200 for energies and indices. Shares are fixed at 1:20.
Perhaps Hugo’s Way biggest strength is their range of 15 Cryptocurrencies and 31 cryptocurrency crosses. Cryptocurrencies include:
Cryptocurrency prices are sourced from the BitFinex exchange and leverage is fixed at 1:100. Commissions like with other CFDs is $5.00.
Crypto trading is growing fast as this instrument more than other CFD offers a greater chance to make large profits due to its highly volatile nature. If you do trade cryptocurrency, like any other CFD, trade responsibly as trading leveraged instruments carries high risk.
Hugosway offers a number of features to show they take the security of your accounts seriously. These features provide a level of peace of mind that your funds are safe with the broker and become more relevant given Hugo’s Way is not a regulated broker.
The first measure Hugo’s Way has for security is Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). This is an additional layer of security included as part of your login process.
2FA is a dual-authentication process where you are required to verify your identity when you log in to your trading account, thus making it difficult for unauthorised people to access the account.
Hugo’s Way requires all clients to activate 2FA however they allow you to disable in future should you wish to do so. 2FA can be done in 2 different ways. The first was is through their Authenticator app and the second way via SMS.
Hugo’s Way has a strong Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process. KYC is an internationally recognised due diligence process for the finance industry to help brokers identify who their clients are and the sources of the client’s funds. This process means Hugo’s Way clients have to provide anti-money laundering (AML) details about themselves.
Use of KYC by Hugo’s Way should be viewed in a positive light. It adds a measure of integrity to the way Hugo’s Way conducts their business and helps prevent their business from being used as a conduit for money laundering. Sound KYC means Hugo’s Way can offer better service, avoid liabilities with poor business practices and maintain their reputation, which is important for trust.
Hugo’s Way keep your funds in segregated accounts using Tier-1 banking institutions such as Barclays and HSBC. The broker will keep your funds in your name (and in some cases Hugo’s Way name for the client) in an independent bank account. This means Hugo’s Way should never be able to access your funds.
The broker also keeps segregated bookkeeping records so that the client’s funds are tracked and never mixed with the broker’s own funds and assets.
Hugo’s Way allows you to commence trading with deposits as little $10. While trading with larger amounts is necessary to earn decent profits, there are some reasons why you may prefer to open an account with low amounts. These include:
Many brokers will require a minimum deposit of $200. If you are serious about trading, then you will likely open your account with more than $200, however, it is nice to know the option to open with small amounts is there. Regardless, even when opening with a small deposit, you will still need to meet margin requirements to open your positions when you commence trading.
Hugo’s Way provides a unique range of funding options compared to other brokers. Payment with Bitcoin is just starting to become available with some brokers, while Vload and Ole platform are 3rd party providers only available with a select few brokers.
With what started as a small hobbyist, digital currency has become a global commodity powerhouse. Many traders, once reluctant, have begun to adopt the technology behind Cryptocurrency and use it as a medium for funding and payments. Hugosway is one of the early adopters of Bitcoin cryptocurrency as a medium for depositing and withdrawals in the online forex broking industry and remains one of the few brokers that offer this method at this point in time.
The real value behind Cryptocurrency is that it is an open-source, decentralized digital token, which allows for transactions without the use of an intermediary bank as the crypto economy is self-regulating. With the more recent establishment of the Bitcoin Lightning Network, a micro-payment protocol designed to facilitate crypto transactions between two parties, bitcoin funding offers benefits which will appeal traders. These include:
When using Bitcoin, there is a minimum $50 deposit and no maximum. Hugo’s Way does not charge for funding with this method.
Vload is a voucher system that can be used to fund your Hugo’s Way account. With Vload, you purchase vouchers using your chosen payment method and then use these vouchers to deposits funds into your Hugo’s Way account.
The advantage of using Vload is that it allows you to fund your account using funding methods that Hugo’s Way does not allow or save on costs where direct deposits to Hugo’s Way might be more costly.
When using Vload, there is a minimum deposit of $10 however this can vary depending on the amount you deposit.
Hugo’s Way allows deposit and withdrawals using the Ole platform. The Ole platform is designed to simplify the KYC process and allow funding to your Hugo’s Way using prepaid debit cards, credit cards and reward systems using multiple global currencies.
When using Ole Platform, there is a minimum $50 deposit required. There are no costs to use Ole.
Of the deposit methods available, Bank transfer is the least preferable option. This is because you will incur a $25 fee to deposit and withdraw funds from your Hugo’s Way trading account. If you wish you wish to use wire transfer, it’s recommended to use a 3rd party such as Vload, Ole Platform and even BitCoin as a go-between. When using Bank Wire, there is a minimum $100 deposit requirement.
Hugo’s Way allows funding via Credit and Debit Cards (Visa and MasterCard). Hugo’s Way does not charge using this method.
When using a Credit or Debit card you can only withdraw to the card as much as you deposited using the cards. Other profits must use other withdraw methods.
Hugosway is not a regulated brokerage trading firm. While it perfectly possible the broker is operating with best or acceptable business practices, lack of regulation does mean they are not being held accountable by a financial authority with necessary powers to influence the broker’s operations. That means that you do not have the peace of mind that your account and investments are safe and the business financial operations are secure.
Hugo’s Way is an offshore broker and is not overseen by Tier-1 regulators such as ASIC, FCA, CySEC or even lower-level regulators some brokers use such as those in some Caribbean, Seychelles, Pacific or African islands. Instead, they use their own practices to give you some mention of security when trading with them. Some of these are touched on in Strength 4 such as 2FA, KYC and segregated tier-1 bank accounts.
We notice that the broker states they sometimes keep funds deposited in the name of Hugo’s Way in an independent bank account. While it is hard to know what this exactly means, it does seem to be a bad business practice to keep your funds in any other name but your own.
In addition to questionable segregated account practices, they state they have segregated accounting records and that a trader’s funds will not be used to pay creditors should Hugo’s Way cease operating. With no external regulatory authority monitoring their books, you cannot be sure the broker is managing these books with the utmost integrity, and you can’t report suspicious activities and other common scams.
Hugo’s Way promise they evaluate and regularly review all business risks related to day-to-day operations. This is standard practice any business should do and it may well be Hugo’s Way do an excellent job at this however this is also dependent on the quality of their financial team and the business always operating with integrity. The type of things a regulator would hold brokers accountable for. Unlike a regulated broker which must keep minimum capital in reserve to ensure the operating funds do not come under stress, no one knows how much capital Hugo’s Way has at any time.
Hugosway is located at the Beachmont Business Centre, in St Vincent and the Grenadines. There is no listed phone number for the online broker. This may mean that other than storing funds with an unregulated broker, there may be no way to find direct contact if there are any issues.
Tight spreads are one important element that will save you on your trading costs, commission costs are another.
Commission costs with Hugo’s Way are fairly high. Hugosway charge $5USD per lot equating to $10 round turn. If you are trading with high volumes or robot trading, this can really add up over time. A trade of 100 lots will cost you $300 USD.
The table below shows commission costs from other brokers. Brokers generally charge around $3.00 to $3.50 per lot ($6.00 to $7.00 round-turn). If you trade 100 standard lots, this is around $600 or $700, which is $300-400 less than Hugosway.
Compare All Spreads >>
Unlike top forex brokers such as Pepperstone and IC Markets, Hugo’s Way provides limited complimentary features that traders can utilise to develop trading strategies and manage risk.
Hugo’s Way does not offer advanced risk management tools such as guaranteed stop-loss and guaranteed negative balance protection. Traders (especially beginner traders) benefit from these as they help protect you from slippage and most importantly significant losses in extreme trading conditions.
Hugo’s Way doesn’t offer additional tools to enhance your trading experience. Tools many other brokers offer include:
Hugo’s Way allows you to provide these tools yourself, however won’t provide support for use of these tools should you need it.
Hugo’s Way provides minimal education and analysis. Where other brokers such as Pepperstone or IC Markets offer education and analysis to ensure best practices are followed when trading with risky leveraged instruments, Hugosway does not.
Brokers operating with integrity acknowledge the risks of the financial markets and will commonly provide free or paid education features so you have the know-how to trade forex responsibly. Education tools include:
Without providing these tools and knowledge to inexperienced traders, brokers which do not offer these tools are subtlely encouraging you to be exposed to what can be an unnecessary level of exposure.
The forex market is changing fast and it can be hard to keep up with all the latest market news and event. Market conditions play a large role when currency prices so it helps if the broker provides market sources to help with your trading. These typically include:
Even though Hugosway is a fairly new broker after opening in 2017, it has already begun to amass a number of reviews on Trustpilot with traders showing some distrust with the unregulated broker. Trustpilot gives Hugo’s Way a score of 2 out of 5 from 21 reviews, which would be considered poor.
While every broker has some clients who have experienced bad outcomes trading forex, it can be hard to choose who is leaving valid complaints about the broker as opposed to sour grapes due to bad trading practices from their own end. If you choose to use Hugosway, then you should be cautious and make sure you do your research before choosing this unregulated broker.
Hugo’s Way offers 24/7 customer service via email and live chat. Interestingly, there is no phone contact, which may be an issue to some traders.
We tried Hugosway 24/7 live chat widget to find that there was no actual human contact operating their live chat, but rather a fairly clever chatbot. While it’s fair to say the use of the word “live” is a bit of a stretch, the chatbot can be useful but is limited. Most brokers using a chatbox will connect you to a human contact if the bot cannot assist. Hugo’s Way chatbot, while fairly well-written and comprehensive, does not offer genuine human connection. Instead, you are persistently suggested to check their FAQ.
The Hugo’s Way support team is actually quite helpful if you require support via email at support@hugosway.com. More often than not you will receive responses in reasonable time and the support team seems eager to not only answer your question but educate you about forex concept relevant to your question. For example, we wanted to clarify the commissions they charged, they not only answer the question but explained how commission costs work when buying and selling lots. A nice touch.
Possibly. Hugo’s Way has its own policies in place so clients can have a level of trust using the broker. These policies include segregated accounts, segregated accounting books, KYC and 2FA. However, Hugo’s Way is not a regulated broker, meaning they are not accountable to a more powerful oversight from financial authorities.
If you prefer a regulated broker, see our best forex brokers, all brokers in the list are regulated.
Hugosway offer the following withdrawal methods.
HugosWay allow the following deposit method
Hugo’s Way will appeal to you if you are looking to trade with a wide range of cryptocurrencies or to fund your account using Bitcoin, Ole Platform or Vload. If you are looking for a broker with tight spreads, cheap commissions and platforms other than MT4, you may be better to look elsewhere. Hugo’s Way is not a regulated broker, so do your research and make sure you are comfortable with this, we only recommend brokers regulated by the relevant financial oversite in your region. You can view their main competitor, Trader’s Way.
See our best-regulated brokers for the following regions
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.
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