XM Review

Main summary

Founded in 2009, XM has grown to become one of the leading online Forex brokers in the world. With over 5 million clients from as many as 190 countries, XM Is one of the most established brokers currently online.

XM offers traders a wide range of trading assets from Forex to CFDs on stocks, indices, commodities, and the like. Over the past decade, this broker has gotten licenses from leading regulatory agencies worldwide, including the FCA of the UK, CySEC of Cyprus, ASIC of Australia, and so on.

XM is known for charging very low fees and the spreads on major pairs start from as low as 0.6 pips. In today’s XM review, we are going to discuss all the important aspects that make this broker one of the leading companies in the Forex industry. So without further ado, let’s see what XM really has to offer.

Pros and Cons

Cons

Licensed in five jurisdictions
Offers over 1,200 assets
High-quality and extensive research and educational material, including videos, podcasts, detailed guides, and articles
Full MetaTrader suite available, including MT4 & MT5 with numerous indicators & tools
Opening an account takes less than a day
Does not charge withdrawal fees and spreads are very low, starting at 0.6 pips
The minimum deposit to open an account is just $5

Pros

Charges inactivity fee
Limited product portfolio when compared to industry leaders
Platforms do not offer safer, two-step login

XM Fact sheet

Main features
Regulations	Cyprus, Australia, UAE, UK, Belize
Fees on deposits	$0
Fees on withdrawal	$0
Inactivity fees	$15. $5 per month after 90 days of inactivity
Minimum deposit	$5. Minimum initial deposit for Shares Account is 10,000 USD
Minimum account activation	$5. Once an account is archived, it cannot be reactivated
Number of available assets	1200+
Leverage up to	1:1000. There’s no leverage available for Shares account
Available trading markets	CFDs on Stocks, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, Forex, Indices, Stocks
Account currencies	USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CHF,‎ AUD, HUF, PLN, RUB, SGD, ZAR
Demo account	Yes
Live account types	Micro, Standard, XM Ultra Low, Shares Account
Islamic account	Yes
Security
Negative balance protection	Yes
Part of compensation fund	Yes
Keeps funds on segregated bank account	Yes
Assets
Forex	57
Shares	100
Cryptocurrencies	31
Indices	14
Commodities	8
Total	1200+
Fees & spread
Forex	From 0.6. For Micro and Standard accounts, spreads start from 1 pip
Shares	From 0. As per the underlying exchange
Cryptocurrencies	From 0.0017. Spreads on BTC/USD start from 39
Indices	From 0.00010
Commodities	From 0.3
Software
Platforms	MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5
Mobile trading support	Yes
Mac device support	Yes
Commodities	Yes
Payment systems
Payment methods	Bank Transfer, Credit/Debit Card, Neteller, Skrill, UnionPay, WebMoney, XM Card, M-Pesa
Minimum deposit	Bank Transfer, Credit/Debit Card, Neteller, Skrill, UnionPay, WebMoney, XM Card, M-Pesa
Minimum withdrawal	Bank Transfer, Credit/Debit Card, Neteller, Skrill, UnionPay, WebMoney, XM Card, M-Pesa
Withdrawal processing time	Instant
Time to open an account	–

The Safety & Security

When choosing a broker to trade with, one of the important factors to keep in mind is the safety and security of the broker. There are several things that can define the safety and security of the broker you choose to use. One of the main things to focus on is the regulatory guidelines that a certain broker follows. While working on the XM broker review, we found that they are regulated in five different jurisdictions. Here is the list of licenses held by XM:

Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission;
Australian Securities & Investments Commission;
Dubai Financial Services Authority;
Financial Conduct Authority, UK;
International Financial Services Commission, Belize.

These licenses allow XM to offer services to traders in different parts of the world. Thanks to the CySEC license, this broker has access to the whole European market, while the license from Belize allows it to offer services to numerous jurisdictions around the world.

Policies that XM follows

To guarantee the safety and security of its clients, XM has adopted numerous regulatory guidelines over the past few years. These regulations are aimed at ensuring that every single client of the broker has the opportunity to ensure the safety and security of their funds, while also enjoying high-quality trading services. One of the policies that XM follows is negative balance protection, which is specifically important for those who use leverage when trading. Leverage is quite a useful thing for Forex traders, as it can amplify the profits made during trading. However, in addition to increasing the prospective profits made during Forex trading, high leverage can also increase the possible losses. To ensure traders are not able to lose more money than they have in their accounts, negative balance protection is adopted. This means that the broker will automatically close all of your positions in order to avoid your balance going into a negative. Apart from this, XM also keeps the funds of its clients in separate bank accounts. This means that no matter what goes wrong, traders will be able to access their funds. Even if the broker goes bankrupt, you won’t have to worry about the balance you had with the broker disappearing overnight.

Available Assets on XM – What Can You Trade?

There are over 1,200 assets available for traders to choose from on XM. While this might not sound like much, especially compared to other leading brokerages in the market, it should still be enough to give traders the opportunity to easily find the kind of trades they might be looking for. Traders can have access to all of these available assets with any account. However, keep in mind that shares can only be traded with the special Shares account. As for CFD shares, they can be traded with other accounts as well.

Forex

XM offers clients access to all types of Forex currency pairs, including major, minor, and exotic currency pairs. There is a total of over 55 currency pairs available for trading on XM. The XM leverage for FX trading is up to 1:1000, however, keep in mind that there might be some restrictions on the maximum leverage based on your location.

When it comes to trading markets, investing in stocks is the way to go for many people. Thus, it is quite important for brokers to ensure they offer these assets to their clients. There are two ways for individuals to trade shares on XM. The first option is very common for brokers in the market today, namely, trading stocks as CFDs. This method includes traders making certain predictions about the possible direction prices could take and then opening contracts according to their predictions. While this is a very common way of trading stocks today, not everyone is really into this strategy. For those who prefer not trading CFDs, XM offers a special “Share Account”, which allows traders to buy and sell shares of leading companies directly.

Indices

On XM, traders can have access to numerous indices. The total number of indices available on XM is 14. This includes the largest and best-known indices around the world, representing industries of countries like the US. Indices offered by XM give you the opportunity to have cost-effective and direct access to global markets. Among the indices available on XM are AUS200Cash, SWI20Cash, US500Cash, and many others. Indices such as S&P 500 and Nikkei 225 can also be traded.

Commodities

There are 8 different commodities available on XM. This includes soft and hard commodities such as cocoa, coffee, copper, and many others. Trading commodities can be done using CFDs. This means that rather than buying the commodities directly, the clients of XM simply speculate on the possible price movements of these assets. Commodities can play a huge role when it comes to portfolio diversification.

Cryptocurrencies

Digital currencies are some of the most popular assets today. On XM, they can be traded as CFDs. There are five crypto assets available for clients of XM. For these XM allows traders to use leverage of up to 1:250, which is quite high. The crypto market can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Among the crypto assets that can be traded on XM are BTC, BCH, ETH, LTC, and XRP. Digital assets can be great for investors to diversify their portfolios.

Account Types

To match the interests of different traders, XM has worked very hard to offer a diverse array of account types. Thus, the broker is able to offer traders services that work perfectly for their trading needs.

Standard account

The Standard account offered by XM can be a perfect match for traders of all different interests. To put it simply, this account was created with different types of traders in mind. Whether you are looking for ways to start trading with huge amounts of money, or you want to find a way to limit your losses, the standard account can be a great fit. In general, the standard account was created with intermediate-level traders in mind. Those using this account will deal with standard lots, which equal 100,000 units of the assets being traded. The leverage is the same as it was for the micro account and can go up to 1:888, depending on the size of your positions. However, traders should also keep in mind that if they are from Europe, the available leverage will be limited to 1:30. The same regulation also applies to traders from Australia and several other parts of the world due to local regulatory standards. The minimum amount of money that you have to deposit to open the live account is $5. This is the case for the Micro account as well. The Standard account is pretty much a great choice for traders of all interests. It offers you access to almost everything that other account types do, except the fact that you can’t trade real stocks with this account, rather, you will have access to CFDs.

Ultra-low account

This XM account type is a great option for traders who wish to limit the costs of Forex trading. Unlike other accounts, where the base currency options are 9, for the holders of XMs Ultra-low accounts, there are only six base currency options. They are, USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, ZAR, and SGD. As for the contract sizes, there are two options available for traders. First, it is the standard ultra, for which, 1 lot equals 100,000 units of the asset traded. As for the micro ultra, the lot equals 1,000 units of the asset traded. The leverage is pretty much the same, depending on the location as well as the amount traded. Spreads are very low with this account, which makes it truly special. For the major pairs, the spread can get as low as 0.6 pips. This account is basically a combination of the Standard and Micro accounts, offering traders the best of both worlds.

Shares account

If you are a trader looking for the opportunity to directly invest in stocks, there is a great offer waiting for you at XM. For stock investors, XM has created a special account type called a Shares account. This account offers you the opportunity to directly invest in some of the leading stocks around the world. However, there are some conditions that should be kept in mind by traders. First, there is only one base currency option for this type of account – USD. The contract size is 1 share, and there is no leverage available for share account holders. The spreads are greatly variable and depend on the underlying exchange. In addition to this, in order to create this account, you will be required to deposit at least $10,000. This is unlike any other account type offered by the broker, where the minimum deposit to open the account is just $5.

Fees & Commissions

The fees and commissions charged by the broker are quite competitive when compared to other Forex brokers. While the Forex spreads might be a bit higher when compared to other brokerages, everything is still very much in line with general market standards. The fees that you might have to pay mostly depend on the account type you are using, as well as the asset you are trading. All in all, the fees are very regular and not too high.

Inactivity fee

It is a very common practice for Forex brokers to charge an inactivity fee. This type of fee on XM is charged when your account remains inactive for a certain amount of time. This means that if there has not been any trading activity recorded on your account for over a year, you will be liable to pay this fee. The inactivity fee is just $15, and for every month that your account remains inactive after that, you will be charged an additional $5 per month. So, if you decide that you do not want to trade anymore, for whatever reason, ensure that you contact customer support and ask them to deactivate your account.

Trading Platforms

When we worked on this XM review, we focused on many different factors. One of the biggest concerns that many traders have when deciding on which broker to use is the available trading platforms. The list of XM trading platforms is very diverse. Here, you can find the most popular trading platforms such as MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, or go with the custom-made trading platform of XM. The broker also offers a web-based trading platform, which can be quite comfortable for many traders. Especially those who do not want to download additional applications to their computers.

Mobile Experience

There is also a mobile application available for the trading platforms offered by the broker. This makes it very user-friendly and ensures that no matter where you go, you will always be able to keep in touch with the Forex trading market.

Education & Research Tools

There is a wide array of educational material available on XM. The broker offers everything from simple Forex guides to different types of educational courses and videos that provide beginners with very detailed information about the market. There are numerous research tools available for traders, to ensure that they are able to understand price movements in greater detail. The broker also offers daily analysis and news articles, to keep you in touch with the most important events happening in the market.

Customer Support

One of the biggest advantages of XM is that it has a highly skilled and professional team of customer support agents. These specialists are always able to provide traders with accurate and timely information about the questions they might face. There are several options to contact the customer support team of XM. First, you can do so through the live chat available on the website of the broker. The second option is to send the customer support team an email, and the third option is directly calling the customer support hotline.

XM