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Please Note: Admiral Markets was not included in the 2019 annual review. As a result, this broker's ratings may be outdated. Read our Best Forex Brokers 2019 guide for a look at the top rated forex and CFDs brokers.
Admiral Markets Group was founded in 2001, and has since expanded into a global brand with several international entities and regulatory licenses in Australia, the UK, Cyprus, Estonia, and across continental Europe.
Primarily a MetaTrader forex broker offering the suite of platforms from MetaQuotes Software corporation, Admiral Markets focuses on 145 instruments, including 55 forex pairs and 90 CFDs (five on cryptocurrencies). It also offers premium features such as its MT4 Supreme add-on, together with volatility protection tools.
Is Admiral Markets Safe?
Admiral Markets is considered average-risk, with an overall Trust Score of 78 out of 99. Admiral Markets is not publicly traded and does not operate a bank. Admiral Markets is authorised by two tier-1 regulators (high trust), one tier-2 regulator (average trust), and zero tier-3 regulators (low trust). Admiral Markets is authorised by the following tier-1 regulators: Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC). Learn more about Trust Score.
Regulations Comparison
| Feature | Admiral Markets | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2001 | 1974 | 1992 | 1989 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Bank | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trust Score | 78 | 99 | 98 | 98 |
Offering of Investments
The following table summarizes the different investment products available to Admiral Markets clients.
| Feature | Admiral Markets | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forex: Spot Trading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs) | 55 | 91 | 182 | 183 |
| CFDs - Total Offered | 106 | 15000 | 32999 | 9959 |
| Cryptocurrency traded as actual | No | No | No | No |
| Cryptocurrency traded as CFD | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Offering of Investments |
Commissions & Fees
Admiral Markets offers three account types with a range of fees and products to trade. However, when calculating the all-in cost to trade, including spreads plus any commission, the fees are similar across all three accounts offered.
For example, at roughly 0.6 pips on the EUR/USD, using typical spreads published by the broker, after including the round-turn commission of 0.6 pips in the Admiral Prime MT4 and MT5 account types, the all-in cost of 1.2 pips is the same as the typical spreads in the non-commission Admiral Markets MT4 account.
Admiral Markets provides agency execution across all account types and does not operate a dealing desk or take in-house risk. Instead, it routes your orders to its sole liquidity provider – its parent company, Admiral Markets AS, similar to the way in which Saxo Capital Markets UK routes orders solely to Saxo Bank in Denmark.
Traders who want a broader product offering will choose the Admiral Markets MT4 account, whereas those focused just on forex may gravitate to the Admiral Prime MT4 account, which offers 9 more pairs, while the MT5 platform is the least developed in terms of the broker’s product range.
When it comes to commissions, the all-in cost is nearly the same across all three account types and platforms and is comparable to other MetaTrader forex brokers such as FxPro, FXOpen, and Pepperstone, which also offer MT4 with agency execution (no dealing desk).
| Feature | Admiral Markets | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Initial Deposit | 200 | £250.00 | $2,000.00 | $0.00 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.20 | 0.750 | 0.900 | 0.744 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 1.20 | 0.363 | 0.600 | 0.744 |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Commissions & Fees |
Customer Service
For our 2018 Forex Review, 129 customer service phone tests were conducted over three months. The data collected is institutional grade. On average, three questions were asked for each test. To score each test, the tests were divided into three separate groups and scores were given for the time taken to connect with each support representative and the ability of each representative to professionally (and thoroughly) answer each question. A Net Promoter Score was also given for the overall experience.
Results:
- Average Connection Time: <1 minute
- Average Net Promoter Score: 7 / 10
- Average Professionalism Score: 5.7 / 10
- Overall Score: 7 / 10
- Ranking: 15th (43 brokers)
Research
Admiral Markets provides a good range of market research tools and resources that are grouped neatly across several categories, including its analytics section. This makes it easy for traders to find what they need, compared to firms that may have poorly organized broader research content.
It was easy to switch between research tools and areas such as market heat maps, fundamental and technical analysis content sections, Elliot Wave Analysis, and multiple sentiment tools. In addition to in-house content and research tools, Admiral Markets added AutoChartist – a popular suite of pattern recognition tools - to enhance its research offering, and is available on its Markets account.
All in all, Admiral Markets has done a great job going beyond the standard news section found in MT4 by adding additional research on its website and trading tools that help boost its research offering.
| Feature | Admiral Markets | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Weekly Webinars | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AutoChartist | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | No | No | Yes |
| Delkos Research | No | No | No | No |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Research |
Platforms & Tools
Admiral Markets is predominantly a MetaTrader broker, which means traders can choose from the suite of popular retail trading platforms for which MetaQuotes Software Corp is known. This includes the MetaTrader4 (MT4) and MetaTrader5 (MT5) platforms, which support automated trading systems. To learn more about MT4, read our MetaTrader guide.
While MetaTrader4 comes standard, with little that varies from broker to broker on the surface of the platform, there can be significant differences in how the platform is set up when it comes to pricing, execution method, and other administrative areas that can affect your trading experience.
As a MetaTrader broker, Admiral Markets stands out with its MT4 Supreme offering, which consists of a suite of 12 expert advisors and 20 custom indicators. These tools are comparable to MT4 add-ons offered by ADS Securities and Pepperstone, as they’re created by the same developer by FX Blue LLP.
Without question, the volatility protection tools are a big plus for a broker that offers only agency execution.
After installing the separate MT4 Supreme package and relaunching the MT4 platform, the related tools can be found along with other extras as part of the Supreme add-ons that enhance the platform’s default features.
Some of the useful add-ons include showing news events plotted as small color-coded alarm bells on the chart, for both historical and upcoming news events. There are also other subtle tools such as a candle countdown timer or spread widget.
Admiral Markets also provides a unique set of volatility protection tools to help you control inherent risks associated with agency execution, including slippage and market gap scenarios, and are welcome features traders will appreciate. Without question, the volatility protection tools are a big plus for a broker that offers only agency execution.
Overall, Admiral Markets has done a great job at enhancing the typical MT4 user experience with add-ons such as MT4 Supreme. Even if more seasoned MT4 users prefer to use their own developed EAs or acquire third-party add-ons from the MQL4 community, Admiral Markets’ ranking among MetaTrader brokers with similar pricing and execution methods is superior, thanks to its additional product depth.
| Feature | Admiral Markets | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | No | No | No |
| cTrader | No | No | No | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 51 | 22 | 47 | 81 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 31 | 17 | 17 | 24 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 | 12 | 12 | 8 |
| Order Type - Trailing Stop | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Platform & Tools |
Mobile Trading
Depending on the account type you open at Admiral Markets, either the MT4 or MT5 apps come standard on Android and iOS and are available straight from MetaQuotes Software Corporation on Apple’s app store and Google play.
Like the rest of its products, Admiral Markets’ platform and mobile app are from the same developer. That said, unlike desktop, which can include additional add-ons to other platforms to enhance the overall experience, mobile apps are standardized. As a result, scoring for this category matches that of other MetaTrader-only brokers.
| Feature | Admiral Markets | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Trading - Forex | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Trading - CFDs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watch List | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watch List Syncing | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 26 | 41 | 23 |
| Charting - Draw Trend Lines | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Trend Lines Moveable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Drawings Autosave | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Forex Calendar | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading |
Other Notes
Admiral Markets offers clients several regulatory jurisdictions where your account can
be opened, with its entities regulated in Australia, the UK, Cyprus, and Estonia. It is also passported throughout Europe under MiFID regulation.
Admiral Markets’ parent company in Estonia, Admiral Markets AS, publishes its execution rates, including degrees of negative versus positive slippage, among other execution statistics, to help uphold its transparency as a market maker for its UK entity. However, as seen below, the execution statistics have not been updated since our last review of Admiral Markets.
Beyond Bitcoin (BTCUSD), Admiral Markets expanded its cryptocurrency CFDs offering in 2017 with the addition of Bitcoin cash (BCHUSD), Ethereum (ETHUSD), Litecoin (LTCUSD) and Ripple (XRPUSD), helping it cater to the growing demand of investors and traders looking for exposure on digital assets.
Final Thoughts
Admiral Markets can be a good choice for MetaTrader enthusiasts looking for the entire suite of platforms from the developer. This includes, the enhanced add-ons in the MT4 Supreme package and access to a good range of forex and CFDs from an agency broker, which round out the offering of Admiral Markets offering.
Summarizing Admiral Markets, I found the find the firm’s low margin rates, competitive fees on commission-based accounts, and numerous education and support resources for beginners appealing. That said, the one primary caveat to keep in mind is customer service although this category saw an improvement year-over-year, showing that the company is also focusing on improving its customer service capabilities.
Methodology
For our 2018 Forex Broker Review we assessed, rated, and ranked 43 international forex brokers. Each FX broker was graded on 140 variables. Learn more.
Forex Risk Disclaimer
"There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities. With respect to margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives, and cryptocurrencies, there is considerable exposure to risk, including but not limited to, leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection and market volatility that may substantially affect the price, or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable, or that they will not result in losses." Learn more.
About the author: Steven Hatzakis Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.
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Ratings Overall
Summary
Commissions & Fees
*Admiral Markets did not participate in the 2017 Online Broker Review, as a result the following data may not be up to date.
Commission Notes
Since the pricing across account types is nearly the same at Admiral Markets, using typical spreads on the EUR/USD as an example, and while factoring in the commission to determine the all-in cost, the main difference is the margin requirements and available markets you can trade.
Admiral Markets MT4 account:
- The Admiral Markets MT4 account offers 31 forex pairs and 90 CFDs, which can be accessed with just a $200 minimum deposit. Also, it is a non-commission account, so the cost to trade is based on the prevailing spreads.
Admiral Prime MT4 account:
- The Admiral Prime MT4 account requires a $1,300 minimum deposit, and offers a larger range of forex pairs (46), yet only three CFDs are available. This account is commission based with $3 charged per side (total $6 round-turn) for each standard lot (100,000 units), in addition to prevailing spreads.
Admiral MT5 account:
- The MT5 platform , with the lowest range of pairs and highest margin requirement, is not great, as it is still a newer addition to Admiral Markets’ offering and remains under development. This account is commission based where a fee of 0.003% of the volume is charged per side (or roughly $6 round turn per standard lot).
- This account is not available in Admiral Markets Pty Ltd (Australia)
