Pepperstone Forex Broker Review

Pepperstone is a global Forex and CFD broker, which – among its standard selection of tradable assets – features cryptocurrencies as well, like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and Dash. That’s far from being Pepperstone’s main selling point though. The brokerage Pepperstone offers a superb selection of trading platforms and account types that will fulfill the needs of even the most demanding retail- or institutional client.

The main corporate entity behind the brokerage is called Pepperstone Group Limited, and it is based in Australia. Founded back in 2010, Pepperstone Group Ltd. is regulated by ASIC and it offers financial services to residents of the country as well as to retail and institutional clients located in countries not covered by the other regulatory umbrella of the operation. This “other” regulatory framework is one provided by the UK’s FCA, and it is aimed at the UK (obviously) as well as at the countries of the EEA (European Economic Area). The UK side of the operation was launched only in 2016 though, so it is a much younger undertaking. The company behind Pepperstone’s UK branch is Pepperstone Ltd. Pepperstone Financial Services (DFIC) has secured a DFSA license in Dubai to grow even more in the Middle East. To strengthen their position in Africa Pepperstone has in October 2020 acquired a license in Kenya and is now also regulated by CMA. November 2020 Pepperstone EU Limited acquired a CySEC license. August 2020 Pepperstone GmbH was officially granted a BaFin License in Germany. Pepperstone Markest Limited hold a SCB license from Bahamas.

Why would you choose Pepperstone as your primary trading destination?

First of all, the trading conditions are excellent in some cases. According to the Pepperstone website, the spreads and liquidity on offer through the platforms of the brokerage were previously only available to institutional and high-volume retail investors. Indeed, in some cases, spreads on Forex majors such as the EUR/USD start from 0.0 pips. The execution is said to be outstanding as well, though there is some user feedback out there which begs to differ on this account.

The above depicted institutional-style trading comes with no catches: to open an account with the brokerage, all one really needs is a AUD 200 deposit.

The trading technology brought to bear by Pepperstone is second to none as well: in addition to the proven MT4 , MT5, TradingView and cTrader platforms, the operator offers a couple of very attractive web traders too, which are easy to access and which offer rather superb features and trading tools of their own.

Customer service is another major asset delivered by the operation. According to the official Pepperstone website, the customer service of the brokerage is #1 in the industry. Indeed, Pepperstone do seen to possess a number of prestigious industry awards to back up their case in this regard.

Pepperstone Regulation

From a regulatory perspective, Pepperstone is indeed in an enviable position. As said above, it is regulated by ASIC as well as the FCA.

Its ASIC license number is ACN 147 055 703. Its FCA registration number is FRN 684312. With both brokerages, user funds are kept in segregated accounts, with some of the world’s top banking institutions. Investors are also protected by some sort of investor protection scheme. It has to be pointed out though that the provisions and protections set forth in the ASIC license are only valid for those residing inside Australia.

Pepperstone Trading Instruments

The trading instruments offered by Pepperstone cover a pretty decent range indeed. Their Forex selection includes some 70 currency pairs, from the majors like the EUR/USD, to minors and even exotics. According to the Pepperstone website, the brokerage was originally founded as a specialist Forex brokerage, which means that it is hardly surprising the site offers access to interbank execution rates and low spreads. The maximum leverage rate available on Forex is an impressive 1:30 for retail and 1:500 for professionals.

In addition to the more than 70 currency pairs mentioned above, some 25 Index CFDs are available as well. These assets are supposed to cover most of the global economy and they come with margin requirements of just 0.5%-1% of the nominal value of the contract. The maximum available leverage for this asset class ranges from 1:10 for professionals and 1:20 for retail clients

The precious metals section is broken up into two categories: Gold/Silver and Platinum/Palladium. Both precious metal categories are available on the MT4, Tradingview, MT5 and cTrade platforms. As far as Gold and Silver are concerned, the CFDs offer traders a certain set of advantages: the commodity pairs do not carry any commission fees and hedging is available on them. The maximum leverage on these commodity pairs is 1:10 for retail and 1:50 for professional traders. The minimum trade size has been set to $0.10 per pip. Platinum and Palladium feature similar trading conditions.

The Energy section is about Oil and Gas. The trading conditions on these commodities are similar to the above described conditions for Gold, Silver, Palladium and Platinum.

The Soft Commodities section is perhaps the most interesting one. It offers assets such as Coffee, Cotton, Sugar, Cocoa and even Orange Juice. These assets are available on the MT4, MT5, TradingView and cTrade platforms too. The spreads on these are higher than on Forex. On Cotton for instance  the minimum can be as high as 35 points.

Cryptocurrencies wrap up the trading instrument selection. Like most of the above assets, 18 different crypto CFDs are offered at Pepperstone. What this means is that traders won’t get to possess any cryptos when they trade them. They will only be trading the difference between the entry and exit prices in the contracts.

If you are trading from Australia, UK and or part of the ASIC or FCA regulation the leverage, margin close out and negative balance protection is as follows:
30:1 for major currency pairs
20:1 for minor currency pairs, gold and major indices
10:1 for commodities other than gold and minor indices;
5:1 for individual equities
10:1 for cryptocurrencies/digital assets but only for professional traders.

Margin Close Out
A margin close out rule on a per account basis, at 50% of minimum required margin;

Negative Balance Protection
Negative balance protection on a per account basis, guaranteeing a limit on your losses so that your balance won’t drop below zero.

Pepperstone Trading Platforms

Pepperstone offer some 4 trading platforms to their users. MT4 is arguably the centerpiece of this offer. MT4 comes with all the bells and whistles one may expect from it, and yes, that includes support for EAs and VPS. The platform also features an impressive number of technical indicators, as well as one-click trading straight off the charts. MT4 is available in Windows- and Mac-based versions.

In addition to MT4, Pepperstone offers MT5 as well as an MT4-based web trader, which is indeed the easiest to access and to use. Despite its no-download nature, this web trader is surprisingly powerful and capable. It too offers access to technical indicators and various trading tools.

The trading platforms are all available in iPhone, iPad and Android versions.

cTrader comes in three versions as well: there’s a downloadable, Windows-based version, a web trader, as well as a mobile platform.

Pepperstone Account Types

Those interested in putting some of the Pepperstone trading platforms to the test, can create a demo account, which entails no financial risks whatsoever. The opening of a real money account is quite accessible as well though: it only requires a deposit of AUD 200.

The most basic real money account is the Edge Standard account, which is a zero commission account, featuring STP execution. The spreads on this one are said to be “institutional grade” and they start from 1 pip.

The Edge Razor account features commissions, but the minimums on its spreads are as low as 0.0 pips.

The Swap free account doubles as the brokerage’s Islamic Account, and it too is a zero-commission account.

The Active Traders account is geared towards institutional investors and retail traders who can generate massive turnovers.

Conclusion

Everything accounted for, Pepperstone is a superb trading destination indeed. In addition to the above listed account-types, it also supports MAM/PAMM accounts for money managers. The trading platforms are indeed superb, the regulatory status of the operation is spotless and its trading instrument selection is decent.

It has to be mentioned though that there seems to be some negative user feedback out there, regarding the speed of trade execution at the brokerage.

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