Alpari Forex Trading Review 2012 - Ratings, Likes, Dislikes, Comparison, Demo, Open Account
Find latest review of Alpari Forex broker - Alpari (UK) Limited. Read their advantages/ disadvantages, compare it with others or share your experience.
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Last review date: 1/19/2012 |
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Recommendation is based purely on our own opinion, but we try to be objective as possible!
| Commission Type: | Spread |
| Forex Trades Fee: | 13.80 GBP |
Displayed 'Forex Trade Fee' is spread based. Commission for Forex trades is an estimation of fees charged per round turn of $100,000 major pair units. The cost of no-commission brokers is calculated as average spread markup on majors. |
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| Execution Type: |
DD/ECN
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DD - Dealing Desk, STP(MM) - Straight Through Processing/Instant Execution, STP(DMA) - Straight Through Processing/Direct Market Access, ECN - Electronic Clearing Network |
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| Minimum Deposit: | 200 GBP |
| Minimal Contract Size: | 1,000 |
| Maximal Leverage: | 1:500 |
| Account Base Currencies: | USD, GBP, EUR, JPY, CHF, GLD |
| Spread Type: |
Variable
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| EUR/USD: | 1.6 |
| GBP/USD: | 2.8 |
| USD/JPY: | 2.0 |
| USD/CHF: | 2.7 |
| AUD/USD: | 2.8 |
| USD/CAD: | 3.7 |
| Islamic (Swap-Free) Acc.: | |
| Managed Accounts: |  |
| Segragated Accounts: | |
| Virtual Trading: | |
| Demo Account Duration: | Unlimited |
| Account Opening: | |
| U.S. Citizens Allowed: | |
| Account Opening Type: | Online |
| Time To Open Account: | Few days |
| Paper-Work Required: | |
| Notarization Required: | |
| Documents Delivery: | |
U.S. citizens can open account with Alpari (US).
| Deposit Currencies: | USD, GBP, EUR, CHF, JPY, AUD |
| Withdrawal Fee: | 18.00 GBP |
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| Wire Transfer: | |
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| PayPal: | |
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Withdrawal fee is 15GBP, to non US bank 18 GBP, SEPA within EU 5 GBP, CHAPS (UK only) 15 GBP, BACS (UK only) Free. CC not available deposit method in all countries!
| Prize Contest: | |
| 1st Deposit Bonus: | |
Earn up to $4,000 credit bonus! Promotions are subject to change anytime. Visit Alpari's website for current offers. |
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| Refer a Friend Bonus: | |
| WEB App: | |
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| Software/Platforms: | |
| MetaTrader4 (MT4): | |
| VikingTrader (Currenex): | |
| PowerTrader (Currenex): | |
| MirrorTrader (Tradency): | |
| ZuluTrader: | |
MT5 (Demo only)
| Forex: | |
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| Options: | |
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| Indices: | |
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| No. of Currency Pairs: | 57 |
Alpari offers 34 currency pairs on our Micro and Classic accounts and 57 currency pairs on Pro accounts.
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| Market If Touched (MIT): | |
| Trailing (Server Side): | |
| Trailing (Client Side): | |
| One-Cancels-Other (OCO): | |
| If-Then (Conditional): | |
| Bid/Offer (Inside Spread): | |
MT4 is client based application in respect to trailing orders.
| Hedging Capability: | |
| Scalping Allowed: | |
| One-Click Orders: | |
| Chart Trading: | |
| Guaranteed Stop-Losses: | |
| Fractional Pips: | |
Trading features are related to platform selection.
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| 24/7 Support: | |
| Alpari (UK) Limited, 201 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 3AB, United Kingdom | |
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| International Phone: | +44 20 7426 2800 |
| Dealing Phone: | +44 20 7426 2950 |
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Stocks-For-Beginners.com is Alpari (UK)'s affiliate and is being compensated for every new opened client's account. |
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Alpari (UK) Forex Broker Review
Alpari is a fantastic Forex, CFD and Financial Spread Betting broker. The offer very competitive trading conditions, suitable for anyone, retail clients as well as professional traders.
Very Positive - Low commissions and wide range of trading platforms and tools available to choose from.
Could do Better - We miss effort of Alpari to build it own or connect to some other online trading community.
Introduction
Alpari is one of the leading global Forex brokers, located in UK. Together with companies in the group it has over 17,000 active trading accounts, who are able to trade variety of security types: Forex, precious metals, Contract For Differences (CFDs) and even spread betting on multiple trading platforms, including MetaTrader 4. Their monthly trading volume exceeds 210 billion U.S. dollars. Alpari is present in over 20 countries and 50 offices, also major financial centers like New York, Tokyo, Dubai, Shanghai, Mumbai, Moscow, and Frankfurt.
Why is Alpari so popular among traders? High-speed executions, spreads go as low as 0 pips, no dealing desk, transparent quotes, scalping is allowed, expert advisors accounts, leverage up to 500 on micro accounts, very low CFD commission from 0.09% and no fees on exiting the trade. Clients of Alpari can enjoy trading 32 currency pairs on micro account, 57 on Pro account, on tax-free spread betting platform there are 34 FX pairs, than there is gold and silver and over 10,000 CFDs. 100% segregated accounts are part of the company's policies for safety of funds next to FSCS protection - Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Clients enjoy world class support in multiple languages. Fair customer treatment is Alpari's strong focus.
Alpari is regulated by authorities of several jurisdictions, where it operates within required legal framework. FSA (Financial Service Authority) is regulatory body in UK, BaFin in Germany, CySec in Cyprus and many others. Regardless of regulation power all clients have to be aware of the fact that Forex, spread betting and CFD trading carry high risk, since they are all leveraged products where it is possible to lose more than initial investment, and might therefore not be suitable for everyone.
Trading with Alpari
Alpari provides a combination of straight through processing (STP) and non-dealing desk execution (NDD), depending on the account type. They offer high quality price feeds from largest financial institutions (access to deep liquidity from top tier banks and ECNs), thus lowering execution costs to minimums; conditions often available only to large institutional clients and banks. Alpari accepts Bid/Offer types of orders (inside the spread), so clients can add up to liquidity while lowering cost of execution at the same time. Trades are executed within 70 milliseconds.
There are many ways of how Alpari takes care for safety of clients funds. First of all, they are FSA regulated, which gives clients assurance of their funds being secure and adequately managed at all times. Next important feature of retail trading accounts is their segregation from Alpari's assets, disallowing use of clients money by Alpari, prime brokers or counterparties. Next thing to mention is that Alpari is part of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Client's funds are keept in safest top tier banks: HSBC, Barclays, and Royal Bank of Canada. And there is also an automated risk management system in place all the time, which tracks your trading account and reduces the risk of being depleted to zero or turning negative; this is done by preventing to open any further trades at 100% margin level and by automatically closing the trades when margin falls below 20%.
Account Opening
In order to open a live account with Alpari, you will first have to fill the application form, sign and date it.
Next, you will have to provide them a notarized copy of passport, national ID card or in some cases driving licence, plus one or two documents (depends on the country you come from) for address verification: bank statement, utility bill (gas, water, electric or landline phone), or credit card statement. All required documents can be scanned and emailed or faxed to Alpari. Notarization of documents is not required for every county; there is a list of countries on their FAQ page for which certified documents are not required.
As required by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), all clients must be made fully aware of all commissions/rebates paid to all parties concerned. Therefore, please fill the Commission Disclosure Form, which we will send it over to you by email. Once received, sign and date it and send it to Alpari as well.
Types of Trading Accounts
Alpari offers three types of accounts: Micro, Classic and Pro Account. Accounts differ on minimum spread, tradable instruments, minimum deposit, maximum leverage, type of execution (dealing vs. non dealing desk), minimum trade size, maximum open positions and some other features.
Micro Account: minimum spread on micro account is 1.6 pips, there are 34 currency pairs you can trad,e plus gold & silver, min. required deposit is $200 and max. leverage 1:500.
Classic Account: minimum spread on classic account is 1.6 pips, there are 34 currency pairs you can trade, plus gold & silver, plus 106 CFD instruments, min. required deposit is $500 and max. leverage 1:500 (5% margin on CFDs).
Pro Account: minimum spread on Pro account is 0 pips, there are 57 currency pairs you can trade, min. required deposit is $20,000 and max. leverage 1:100.
Please be aware that some trading capabilities and features depend also on trading platform you will choose, so you should check Alpari's website for any details related to different account types!
Spreads
Alpari offers among tightest possible spreads in industry due to their access to interbank market. In times of high liquidity the pass on this benefit to clients, while in times of lower liquidity and increased market volatility, spreads will naturally widen. Spreads for customers of specific nations are also widened (U.S., Middle East, India, Mainland China).
Trading Platforms
There is wide range of trading platforms available at Alpari. If you intend to trade Forex, you can choose between MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MT5 (demo only at the moment) and Systematic platform. Systematic v2 p automated trading latform can help you make smart decisions with help of graphical indicators and advanced search tools, while giving you ability to exclude emotions from trading with its automated real-time execution. There are over 2,000 strategies rated all the time against current market conditions and unique T-score tells you which one currently works best. Platform is available in 14 languages, requires no subscription or maintenance fees, all you need is to open Classic account with Alpari.
With a Pro account you will also get the opportunity to trade with Currenex platform (Alpari Direct), which is actually platform designed for institutional traders, allowing also individual traders to trade faster, with interbank-level pricing and higher volumes.
Just to clarify this broad range of trading platforms available with ALP: MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 4 Pro, Alpari Direct Pro, MetaTrader 5 (MT5), Alpari Direct, QTrader, L2 Dealer, and Systematic. Which platform you will be able to use depends on the account type, instruments you intend to trade and your experience level/preferences (manual vs. automated trading). Forex platforms: MT4, MT5 (demo), Systematic; Spread betting platforms: MT4; CFD platforms: QTrader, L2 Dealer; Pro platforms: Mt4 Pro, Alpari Direct Pro, Alpari Direct.
Trading Tools
Alpari offers a broad selection of research and analytical tools, which help customers quickly and easily spot trading opportunities on the market. Among special tools not found elsewhere or at least not on such high level are automatic chart-pattern recognition (Alpari AM), live audio market commentary (Squawk) and insightful technical analysis (Autochartist). In addition clients are provided various reports, fundamental analysis, newsletters (FX weekly, Global Markets Daily), and webinars, providing possibility to expand trading knowledge continuously.
Investments Offered
Alpari is very powerful in wide range of investment products offered for trading. Beside Forex, clients can trade precious metals, CFDs and financial spread betting as well. Just on Forex clients can trade all major currency pairs plus many exotics. Final number of available trading symbols depends on the account type.
FX Pairs: AUD/CAD, AUD/CHF, EUR/CHF, AUD/JPY, AUD/NZD, AUD/SGD, AUD/USD, CAD/CHF, CAD/JPY, EUR/SEK, CAD/SGD, CHF/JPY, CHF/SGD, EUR/TRY, EUR/AUD, EUR/CAD, GBP/JPY, EUR/DKK, EUR/GBP, EUR/HKD, EUR/JPY, EUR/NOK, EUR/NZD, NOK/JPY, EUR/SGD, EUR/USD, GBP/AUD, EUR/PLN, GBP/CAD, GBP/CHF, NZD/USD, GBP/NOK, GBP/NZD, GBP/SEK, GBP/SGD, GBP/USD, HKD/JPY, USD/JPY, NOK/SEK, NZD/CAD, NZD/CHF, NZD/JPY, NZD/SGD, SEK/JPY, SGD/JPY, USD/CAD, USD/CHF, USD/DKK, USD/HKD, USD/NOK, USD/PLN, USD/SEK, USD/SGD, USD/TRY, USD/MXN, EUR/MXN, MXN/JPY.
Financial spread betting is kind of derivative trading, where you bet on price movements on financial markets. Its major advantage is that capital gain is tax free; at least in UK, you have to check your domestic legislation! Otherwise it functions similar to some other financial products, like CFDs for example; you trade on margin, can go long and short, and you can bet on anything: currencies, stocks, indices, commodities. Spread betting with Alpari is also offered on MT4 platform. There are 34 currency pairs available for spread betting.
Beside Forex ALP also offers trading with some precious metals, Gold and Silver. Both are traded relatively to USD. If you go long XAU/USD, you are essentially buying gold and selling dollars and vice versa in case you go short (and similar for silver, XAG/USD). Classic and Pro account clients can also trade gold and silver as CFDs on futures.
Alpari also offers CFD trading on three different platforms: MT4, QTrader and L2 Dealer. MT4 is a popular trading platform, suitable for beginners in Forex and CFD trading. QTrader is web based platform, which is fully customizable, offers huge range of markets and has integrated some great tools: charting package, Reuters news, DMA, etc. L2 Dealer is downloadable desktop platform designed for professional, high volume CFD traders. ALP offers trading with over 10,000 CFD products, covering following categories: rates and bonds, sectors, shares, commodities, indices, energy, and options.
Customer Support
Customer support is available 07:00-22:00 (UK time) Mon-Fri. Clients can contact support by phone, live chat or email. Dealing desk is there for you 24 hours a day in case of emergency, when you need to place a phone order.
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Written by: Goran Dolenc
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