Moneta Markets Review

As a new standalone brand within Vantage Group, Moneta Markets struggles to compete with the industry average in the core categories that are most important to forex and CFD traders.

Top Takeaways for 2021

Here are our top findings on Moneta Markets:

• Moneta Markets has regulatory status in one tier-3 jurisdiction and is part of Vantage Group, which holds licenses in two tier-1 jurisdictions. These factors help make it a safer broker (average-risk) for forex and CFD trading.
• While MetaTrader is available alongside a proprietary platform, Moneta Markets is not a good choice for low-cost trading. Its WebTrader platform and related mobile AppTrader are rudimentary, and trading tools are not directly integrated.
• Despite providing the Trading Central addon and offering branded Moneta TV daily video content, Moneta Markets lacks comprehensive, quality market research. With education, while I found over 100 videos in the Moneta Markets Masters Course, there is a distinct absence of in-depth written articles.

Overall Summary

Is Moneta Markets Safe?

Moneta Markets is considered average-risk, with an overall Trust Score of 79 out of 99. Moneta Markets is not publicly traded and does not operate a bank. Moneta Markets is authorised by two tier-1 regulators (high trust), zero tier-2 regulators (average trust), and one tier-3 regulator (low trust). Moneta Markets is authorised by the following tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Learn more about Trust Score.

Regulations Comparison

Offering of Investments

The following table summarizes the different investment products available to Moneta Markets clients:

Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrency trading is available through CFDs, but not available through trading the underlying asset (e.g. buying Bitcoin). Note: Crypto CFDs are not available from any broker's UK entity, nor to UK residents.

Commissions and Fees

With three account options available, the trading costs you incur will depend on what account you choose to open at Moneta Markets. The True ECN account has tighter spreads but is commission-based ($6 per round-turn lot), compared to the STP account and Moneta Prime account, which are commission-free. The average spreads at Moneta Markets for the EUR/USD pair stand at 1.16 pips as of March 15th 2021 (0.69 pips for the ECN account). This pricing means that Moneta Markets is not a low-cost broker for forex trading, especially compared to the best forex brokers.

Platforms and Tools

Moneta Markets offers you two choices of trading platforms. The MetaTrader platform suite (MT4 and MT5) developed by MetaQuotes Software Corporation is available, alongside the Moneta Markets WebTrader app, powered by PandaTS. The WebTrader layout is clean and not overly crowded with features, but also severely lacks depth. For example, there are just three watchlist columns available. Also, news and related headlines for various symbols are absent for the WebTrader experience.

Trading tools: The few tools offered on WebTrader, such as Market Buzz and Featured Ideas (Trading Central), are not integrated and simply redirect to open in an external link. Likewise, the Economic Calendar also opens externally. Incorporating these tools within the platform is crucial long term so that traders can stay focused on the markets. Full integration would provide a measurably smoother WebTrader experience.

Platform usability: The first thing I noticed on the WebTrader platform is the smooth HTML5 that is now the industry standard for web-based trading apps. The platform is also incredibly easy to navigate. And while beginners may find the WebTrader platform suitable for their needs, more demanding traders will not. For example, complex order types such as a trailing stop-loss are not available on WebTrader.

Charting: Charts were just "okay," providing six types, ten drawing tools, 48 indicators, and nine timeframes. The panning and zooming were less smooth than I expected but not terrible, such as when using the dedicated zoom buttons, and not my mouse. When it comes to charting, brokers such as FOREX.com and eToro provide a more comprehensive charting package.

Sentiment data: The Trader's Trend section below the order ticket displays sentiment. However, beyond a percentage ratio of bears to bulls, there are no further details. For comparison, CMC Markets shows the sentiment of not just all but also its most successful traders, and with the percentage change for the day.

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Research

Moneta Markets offers research content almost entirely from third-party sources with few, if any, in-house content, besides videos from its Moneta TV series.

In-house articles: Adding more in-house content and written articles would help balance Moneta Markets research offering, as it otherwise falls behind research leaders Saxo Bank and IG. For example, technical analysis commentary is automated and streams from newsfactorycalendar.com, making it far less impactful than human-powered editorial.

Video Content: Daily market briefings are available on the broker's YouTube channel under the Moneta TV series, and Web TV powered by Trading Central. Both video series follow a template that is consistent each day with a high-level overview of key market movements. I found the videos plain yet useful for quick snippets as they are short and easy to digest. Integrating these into the platform would make it easier for traders to consume as they are otherwise separated on the Moneta Markets website.

Trading Central: Moneta Markets provides several third-party research tools, namely from Trading Central. Clients with more than $500 get access to Market Buzz, Featured Ideas, and the Economic Calendar. For comparison, some of the best forex brokers offer such content and premium tools for all live account holders. Furthermore, these tools can be far more useful by being directly integrated into the trading platform.

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Education

Moneta Markets doesn't offer much in terms of education beyond the videos available in its Masters Course, which covers multiple asset classes. On that note, the Masters Course does a good job covering many topics and categories with brief video clips for beginners, and longer videos for more advanced concepts.

Masters Course videos: There are a total of 114 videos that are each a few minutes to just under ten minutes at most. I found many of them useful. Moneta Markets needs to add more content to its YouTube channel (i.e., archived webinars) to expand its educational offering to help fill the gap in this category.

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Mobile Trading

In addition to the Moneta Markets AppTrader platform, the full MetaTrader platform suite (MT4 and MT5) is also available as a mobile app for iOS and Android devices.

Likewise, the Moneta Markets AppTrader is available on Google Play for Android, and on the AppStore for Apple iOS devices. AppTrader is developed by PandaTS, the same developer that helps power the Moneta Markets web platform.

AppTrader: Overall, there is substantial room for improvement for the AppTrader mobile app, such as adding features found on the web version to more closely unify the experience across devices.

Charting: AppTrader charts appear to resemble the web, except there are no indicators available or drawing tools, and watchlists do not sync with the web version. For comparison, Saxo Bank and TD Ameritrade (US-citizens only) are examples of brokers that have nearly perfected syncing the experience across devices where even trend-lines sync on mobile.

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Final Thoughts

Moneta Markets is a Cayman Islands regulated broker that is backed by its larger parent, Vantage Group, which is regulated in tier-1 jurisdictions.

Testing Moneta Markets left me with a clear takeaway: the broker needs work if it wants to compete with the best forex brokers. Moneta Markets trails industry leaders across all core categories, including cost, trading platform and tools, research, education, and mobile trading.

About Moneta Markets

Moneta Markets is a brand of Vantage International Group Limited. Moneta Markets holds its client's funds at National Australia Bank (NAB), as part of its Cayman Islands offering regulated by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA). It was founded in 2019 and is part of the Vantage Group of companies. With entities that hold regulatory statuses in Australia and the United Kingdom, the group has a history since 2009 (see our Vantage FX review for more).

2021 Review Methodology

For our 2021 Forex Broker Review we assessed, rated, and ranked 27 international forex brokers over a three month time period. Each broker was graded on 108 different variables and, in total, over 50,000 words of research were produced.

While encouraged, broker participation was optional. Each broker had the opportunity to complete an in-depth data profile and provide executive time (live in person or over the web) for an annual update meeting.

All data submitted by brokers is hand-checked for accuracy. Ultimately, our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .1% each year, providing site visitors quality data they can trust. Learn more about how we test.

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.