Vantage FX is a high-caliber online broker that offers more than 180 markets for trading with Forex, hard and soft commodities, shares, and indices. The brokerage firm recently celebrated ten years of excellence in the trading industry.
It was established in 2009 by a team of professionals with a strong background in the fields of foreign exchange trading, finance, and technology. The company boasts fast execution speeds, an excellent support service, and tons of trading instruments you can choose from.
Its immaculate reputation is further consolidated by the numerous awards for excellence Vantage FX has added to its trophy rack over the years. Among its latest recognitions is winning in the category of Financial Trading Services Provider of the Year at the CV Magazine Awards.
The broker’s platform runs on third-party software, with customers having a choice from MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. Its portfolio of financial instruments is accessible on mobile via iOS and Android apps. Social trading is also possible here.
There are plenty of options at Vantage FX where account types are concerned. Trading newbies can build up their knowledge and experience by opening demo accounts. Those who already are seasoned traders can register for STP and ECN accounts. Customers of the Muslim faith are granted the option to execute swap-free trades.
Regulations
Being a reliable brokerage firm, Vantage FX upholds the highest standards of security, transparency, and compliance with regulations. The company’s operations are overseen by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA).
This regulator demands its licensees to adhere to strict financial requirements and follow internal procedures that allow for adequate risk management.
The broker is rigorously vetted by its regulators and complies with the requirement to keep the funds of its customers in segregated trust accounts. This ensures a high level of protection for clients. Should Vantage FX declare insolvency, all customers will receive their money back.
Other than that, Vantage FX is the trading name of the Vantage International Group Limited. For customers based in the United Kingdom, the broker is authorized and overseen by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The company also services the market Down Under. Its Australian outfit is subject to the regulations of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Customers from Australia can access and register with the broker through its vantagefx.com.au domain.
Traders should keep in mind that the services of Vantage FX are restricted in some jurisdictions. The broker does not offer its trading to clients domiciled in the United States, North Korea, Japan, British Colombia, Congo, Egypt, Russia, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Tunisia, among several others.
The company has numerous liquidity partners with a solid reputation, including Goldman Sachs, Societe Generale, Bank of America, UBS, and J. P. Morgan.
Lastly, customers’ money is held in segregated accounts with the National Australia Bank (NAB), which is among the four largest banking institutions on Australian soil. NAB services more than 12 million customers and boasts a market capitalization amounting to $93 billion.
Trading Instruments
At Vantage FX, you can trade with a versatile selection of financial instruments including currency pairs, indices, shares, soft commodities, and precious metals and sources of energy such as crude oil and natural gas. Depending on what account type you sign up with, you can enjoy tight spreads starting at zero pips and variable leverage that allows you to better control your risk.Forex Trading
Foreign exchange is the most liquid market in the world, with a daily turnover of more than $4 trillion. All banking institutions, global companies, and country governments participate in this liquid market. In turn, this creates volatility which Forex traders can take advantage of and use their edge to realize consistent profits.
Vantage FX provides transparent Forex trading offering round-the-clock access to the foreign exchange markets via its robust third-party platforms MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. Clients of the broker can trade over 40 Forex currency pairs with spreads starting at zero for some account types, and more specifically the Raw ECN account.
Major, minor and exotic pairs are all available for trading, including options such as GBP/JPY, USD/JPY, EUR/JPY, GBP/USD, GBP/AUD, USD/SGD, and many more. Customers also get to adjust their exposure to risk as the leverage at Vantage FX is variable and can reach up to 500:1.
Indices Trading
Vantage FX gives you the chance to trade with 15 of the most liquid stock exchange indices in the world. At the same time, you will benefit from the fast execution of your quotes, super-sharp spreads, and transparent pricing. The latter is based on the underlying prices of the indices’ stock markets.
Some of the options from this instrument category include the German DAX Performance Index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, the Nasdaq 100 Index, the Euro Stoxx 50, the Nikkei Stock Average, and the S&P 500 Index.
The leverage for index trading is again flexible and can reach a ceiling of 200:1. Clients who speculate with indices can open long or short positions for their quotes. Just be careful because the speculation with index CFDs can be both a very lucrative and highly volatile venture. Trading with leveraged products like the CFD is not recommended for all types of investors.
Hard Commodities Trading
Those who join Vantage FX face the option to trade with hard commodities such as natural sources of energy and precious metals, both of which boast a very high economic value. Such commodities are considered a haven for investors and traders alike, especially during periods of difficult economic conditions.
Plenty of advantages result from this fact, starting with the protection against inflation. Unlike currencies which can severely depreciate during periods of inflation, hard commodities maintain relatively stable values and prices.
Clients of Vantage FX are enabled to trade both in long and short directions. The broker offers trading with gold, silver, and copper, with variable leverage that ranges from 20:1 to 100:1, depending on the type of metal you trade with.
At Vantage FX, you are also able to trade with a variety of energy markets, which gives you the benefit of ultra-tight spreads and flexible leverage. Customers can deal with oil at a leverage of up to 100:1. Natural gas, diesel fuel, and heating oil trading is leveraged at 20:1. Gasoline CFDs are also available via this brokerage platform.
Soft Commodities Trading
Unlike hard commodities, soft commodities are valuable products that are grown instead of being mined. The roots of this financial instrument can be traced back to thousands of years. However, the instrument is associated with significant risk and therefore, is unsuitable for some traders.
With that said, there are many advantages of trading with soft commodities including portfolio diversification, high liquidity, and protection against inflation. Vantage FX allows you to trade with a range of soft commodities including sugar, orange juice, cocoa, cotton, and coffee. Margins are variable and so is leverage. Cocoa and coffee are leveraged at 50:1 while all other soft commodities have leverage of 33:1.
CFD Trading with Shares
Vantage FX proudly offers its customers the option to trade with the shares of fifty of the largest listed companies in the United States, including Coca-Cola, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Visa, Chevron, Nvidia, and Intel.
You can open both long and short positions for leveraged share CFDs from as little as $6 per trade. Customers can bank from the short, medium, and long-term market fluctuations regardless of whether they trade manually or rely on an expert advisor (EA). The leverage for US shares CFDs is 20:1, with a margin requirement of 5%.
Trading with the shares of fifty of the biggest companies across China and Hong King is yet another alternative for clients of Vantage FX. They can take advantage of various short, medium, and long-term opportunities in both directions, long and short.
Vantage FX boasts some of the most reasonable costs for leveraged share CFD trading in the industry. CFDs are offered with leverage of 20:1, which translates into a small initial margin for customers.
The commissions are also quite reasonable and start from $6 per order. Some of the large Chinese and Hong Kong companies whose shares are available for trading here include Petro China, Henderson Land Development, Wharf REIC Finance, and China Sinopec.
Trading Platforms
 Platforms |
 PC / MAC |
 Smartphones |
 Tablets |
|---|---|---|---|
| MetaTrader 4 |   |   | |
| MetaTrader 5 | | | |
| Meta Trader 4 Mobile | | | |
| ZuluTrade | | | |
| Web Trader | | | |
Vantage FX provides you with several different options for accessing its trading portfolio. You can deal with various financial instruments on your desktop computer, Mac laptop, Android or iOS-based mobile devices.
The broker relies on the leading MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 third-party platforms. They support more than thirty languages and round-the-clock market hours. If you prefer a browser-based experience, you can take advantage of the WebTrader interface.
MetaTrader 4
MetaTrader 4 is easily the most broadly used platform in the trading industry thanks to its intuitiveness and the high levels of practicality it offers. Vantage FX offers several types of accounts to MetaTrader 4 users, namely Raw ECN, Standard STP, and Islamic accounts. There is a choice from several base currencies – AUD, USD, GBP, CAD, SGD, and EUR.
The platform gives you access to an impressive range of markets. You can trade with 40 Forex currency pairs, 13 indices, 20 or so commodities, and 100 share CFDs for the biggest listed companies in the United States, China, and Hong Kong.
Here you are facing numerous other benefits including 9 timeframes, a huge range of customer-made indicators, minimum-side lots of 0.01, and MQL4-based expert advisers (EAs). Hedging and scalping are supported as well. The MT4 platform is even more powerful when linked to the broker’s Forex liquidity pools via the finely tuned oneZero™ MT4 Bridge.
MetaTrader 5
MetaTrader 4 is commonly viewed as an industry benchmark when it comes to retail trading platforms. Nevertheless, Vantage FX gives its clients the option to implement its successor MetaTrader 5 (MT5) if they consider it more convenient.
Similarly to MT4, MetaTrader 5 is compatible with a wide range of desktop and portable devices. You can install it at no extra cost on your Mac or Windows-based computer. Vantage FX offers a free download of the latest version of MetaTrader 5 which is equipped with all expert advisors and signals. It also provides expert traders with the capability of hedging their positions.
Users can view up to 21 timeframes and enjoy leverage of up to 500:1. Another advantage is the alert system built into MetaTrader 5. It enables you to keep an eye on important market events without the need for consulting any external economic calendars.
Customers can also implement over 3,200 advanced trading signals all of which have been painstakingly tested and approved by the developers of the platform. Switching from MT4 to its successor is a painless process because MetaTrader 5 relies on the familiar interface.
There are powerful charting tools as well. These are fully customizable, allowing you to tailor your trading experience to your style or strategy system.
WebTrader
Vantage FX clients who do not feel like dealing with the download and installation of additional software will benefit from the availability of the inbuilt WebTrader. This provides you with quick, intuitive and very reliable access to your MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 account regardless of what browser you use.
Feel free to load it via Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera, and Mozilla Firefox. WebTrader performs immaculately across all these browsers.
Vantage FX claims to be the only brokerage company to have built its full MT4 and MT5 offering by incorporating the official trading ecosystem of MetaQuotes Software, the developer behind the two platforms. This further improves performance.
WebTrader supports more than 180 financial instruments, including currency pairs, soft and hard commodities, shares, and indices. One-click trading is also an option for sharp traders while the intuitive interface works to the advantage of less experienced customers.
Mobile Trading Apps
Smartphone and tablet users are granted the opportunity to keep a close watch on their open positions while on the go since Vantage FX offers a free download of the MetaQuotes Software dedicated applications. You can download the mobile software for your Android device, iPad, and iPhone.
Customers who utilize iOS-based devices can download their free applications through the official App Store. Both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 have been fully optimized for a fast and stable trading experience on the go.
This gives you access to real-time quotes, fast execution, detailed technical analysis, 30 technical indicators, various analytical objects, 9 timeframes, the option to trade from customizable charts, and the latest financial news.
The apps support 22 different languages and are compatible with iPhones and iPads running on iOS 9.0 or higher. The MT5 app has several additional advanced functionalities.
As for the Android app, you can download and install it from the official Google Play Store, with a choice from MT4 or MT5. The features largely coincide with those for the iOS apps.
ZuluTrade for Social Trading
Social trading is made possible at Vantage FX thanks to the ZuluTrade platform. For the uninitiated, social trading gives you the great opportunity to follow professional traders and take advantage of their experience.
The broker uses the leading social trading platform ZuluTrade, which allows customers to find more than 10,000 successful traders in the ZuluRank database. You can view and compare their performance, which is ranked based on different parameters.
There is one very useful tool for simulation as well. It enables you to test the performance of your chosen traders in advance. The customization options allow you to stay in full control of your account at times. Lastly, the Margin-Call-o-Meter significantly improves your risk management.
Payment Methods
Deposits to your live account balance are free of additional fees at Vantage FX. The broker works with a broad range of funding methods, including domestic and international bank transfers, Visa, Mastercard, Neteller, Skrill, PayPal, China Union Pay, and FasaPay.
As you may have noticed, some of the funding options are restricted to specific countries and locations. Such is the case with POLi and BPay, which are exclusively available to customers based in Australia for payments in their local currency AUD.
The processing times are variable depending on how exactly you fund your account. If you insist on quick payments, you can use credit/debit cards, PayPal, FasaPay, Skrill, and Neteller, all of which allow for immediate deposits. By contrast, bank transfers require between 1 and 5 working days.
Vantage FX does not charge fees for deposits but you may incur additional costs on behalf of the payment service provider. The minimum deposit is $200 while the daily maximum is restricted to $10,000 or the currency equivalent. Traders who deposit for the first time with a card will have their first transactions limited to $1,000.
| Brand | Minimum | Fees | Processing Time |
 | $200 | No Fees | Requests received after 7 pm will be processed on the next business day. |
 | $200 | No Fees | Requests received after 7 pm will be processed on the next business day. |
 | $200 | No Fees | 1-5 business days |
 | $200 | No Fees | Requests received after 7 pm will be processed on the next business day. |
 | $200 | No Fees | InstantRequests received after 7 pm will be processed on the next business day. |
 | $200 | No Fees | Requests received after 7 pm will be processed on the next business day. |
 | $200 | No Fees | Requests received after 7 pm will be processed on the next business day. |
 | $200 | No Fees | Requests received after 7 pm will be processed on the next business day. |
| Brand | Minimum | Fees | Processing Time |
| - | No Fees | Instant |
| - | No Fees | Instant |
| - | No Fees | 1-5 business days |
| - | No Fees | Instant |
| - | No Fees | Instant |
| - | No Fees | Instant |
| - | No Fees | Instant |
| - | No Fees | Instant |
Account Types
At Vantage FX, clients have a choice from three main account types, Raw ECN, Standard STP, and Pro ECN. There is also the possibility to register with a demo account, which is the ideal alternative for novice traders who want to check out this broker and its platforms. Customers of the Muslim faith are catered to with Islamic accounts.
Unlimited Demo Accounts
It takes time to build up experience and become a profitable trader and this is something Vantage FX is well-aware of. The broker enables its customers to open demo accounts for MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. The registration process requires under half a minute to complete.
This allows you to take the time necessary for you to get used to trading and see how it works. Moreover, customers who already hold live accounts can also benefit from the option of registering unlimited demo accounts.
They can use their live accounts in conjunction with the unlimited demo. This enables them to adapt to market conditions by trying different strategies without exposing their capital to risk.
Standard STP Live Accounts
This type of Vantage FX account is the ideal solution for novice traders in search of cost-effective, quick, and simple access to the available trading markets. The account provides straightforward access to the broker’s dark liquidity pools which can help boost your liquidity.
Other benefits include transparent prices, greater market depth, tight spreads and the absence of commissions. You can also count on a lightning-fast execution of your trades because they are executed through the sophisticated Equinix fiber optic network.
All Standard STP accounts are equipped with the capability of accessing flexible leverages of up to 500:1. In turn, this enables customers to increase their trading size and manage their risk more effectively.
Here you have a choice from over 180 tradable assets. The minimum trade size is 0.01 lots while spreads start at 1.4 pips. You can sign up for a Standard STP account with a minimum deposit of $200. Vantage FX allows you to set up an account and deposit in any of the following base currencies – AUD, USD, EUR, GBP, NZD, SGD, JPY, and CAD.
Raw ECN Live Accounts
More experienced traders are recommended to register for Raw ECN accounts, especially if they are looking for deeper liquidity and sharper spreads. As you can deduce by the name, this account is based on the ECN execution type, giving you direct access to the trades of other market participants.
The base currencies it is available in coincide with those for the Standard STP account but you need a minimum deposit/balance of $500 in this instance. Spreads start from zero pips but there is a commission of $3 per standard lot per side. Leverage again reaches up to 500:1, with a minimum trade size of 0.01 lots.
Pro ECN Accounts
Vantage FX has tailored its Pro ECN account exclusively to the needs of professional traders and investors who are accustomed to trading high volumes. The account ensures faster execution speeds and comes with razor-sharp spreads from zero pips, with a commission of $2 per standard lot per side.
Speaking of lots, the minimum trade size here is the same as that for Standard STP and Raw ECN accounts. The account is suitable for both automatic and manual trading thanks to its unmatched execution speed.
With Pro ECN, customers are granted direct access to Vantage FX’s interbank price feeds. These come directly from the biggest banking institutions and liquidity providers in the world. The account is accessible across thirteen platforms and devices.
Existing customers can easily switch to Pro ECN accounts. For the purpose, they should load at least $20,000 into their Vantage FX balance, close all open trading positions they currently have, and send an email to the support team at support@vantagefx.com to request a professional ECN account.
Islamic Accounts
Islamic accounts are available to prospective Vantage FX customers of the Muslim faith. According to this religion, money has no intrinsic value and is only used as a medium of exchange. Respectively, people of the Muslim faith are prohibited from lending money.
Receiving capital from somebody else is also disallowed and so is earning or charging interest, known as riba. In fact, the concept of riba is referred to and condemned by multiple verses in the Qur’an.
Islamic accounts at Vantage FX comply with the Shariah law and the requirements of Sheikh Hasan Qamra, who assumes the position of a Chairman of the Shariah Supervisory Board.
Here it is impossible to pay or receive swaps for your overnight positions. Muslim customers can choose from Islamic Standard STP and Islamic Raw ECN accounts. They are charged administration fees, which are deducted straight from their available balance.
Traders of the Muslim faith can deal with precious metals thanks to the exclusive partnership between Vantage FX and the Australian Gold and Silver Exchange (AGSX). Note that in this case, traders must have a physical gold and silver backing to deal with these hard commodities.
They also have immediate access to 13 swap-free global indices and are not charged daily swaps when trading with currency pairs. Those who opt for the STP-execution account need a minimum deposit of $200 while the Islamic Raw ECN option requires a balance of at least $500.
Support
Clients of Vantage FX can seek assistance from any page of the broker’s website by clicking or tapping the live chat button, pinned to the lower right corner. We had a couple of questions concerning the serviced jurisdictions and regulations and are pleased to report to readers they provided us with immediate and highly professional answers.
To use the chat, you only need to fill in your name and email address and then select from the drop-down menu whether you are an existing account holder or a prospective customer. You can also call the support reps by dialing +44 2080 363 883 for the UK, 400 120 9301 for China, +1 888 442 4106 for Canada, and +61 2 8999 2044 for international customers.
Another option is to send them your inquiry via email at support@vantagefx.com or support@vantagefx.com.au for traders from Down Under. The support team endeavors to answer queries within a 24-hour timeframe.
Conclusion
Vantage FX is a trusted and experienced broker that focuses on providing currency trading but also gives customers a choice from a broad range of other tradable instruments, including shares, commodities, and indices.
The broker is very upfront and transparent with its prices, offering razor-sharp spreads and low commissions. It boasts a solid range of trading platforms, allowing you to enjoy fast-execution trading across all devices.