AvaTrade Broker Review


Minimum Deposit
$100
Regulators
ASIC, MiFID
EURUSD Spread
Fixed Spread 3 Pips
US Traders
No
Platforms
ACT and MT4, Mirror trader, Zulutrade, Currensee
Founded
2006
Country
Ireland

AvaTrade only accepts non-U.S. customers.

AvaTrade Corporate History

AvaTrade was launched in 2006 by its parent company Ava FX Group, an international investment firm, with the motto: “Integrity is our most valuable currency.” The popular forex broker’s subsequently swift development to one of the leading online forex brokers was spearheaded by a group of finance professionals and technology experts.

AvaFX performs retail forex operations under the corporate name of Ava Financial Ltd which is headquartered in the British Virgin Islands, and the broker’s E.U. headquarters under the name Ava Capital Markets Ltd is based in Dublin, Ireland.

AvaTrade is also available in Canada by collaborating with the local broker Friedberg Direct which is regulated by IIROC, the main regulator in Canada (Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada).

Broker Features

  • Quotes in dozens of currency pairs, plus gold and silver.
  • Excellent support for automated trading with several options.
  • Fixed dealing spreads.
  • Free advanced trading and analysis tools.
  • Daily exclusive market analysis.
  • 24-hour trading and customer support.
  • Trade immediately with credit card, PayPal or WebMoney deposit.
  • Start trading with as little as $250.
  • 200:1 leverage in some cases.
  • No commissions or fees on transactions.
  • Euro or U.S. Dollar-based accounts.
  • Withdraw funds instantly using an Ava debit card.
  • Website translated into 12 languages.
  • 31 international local customer service numbers.
  • Broker will automatically close positions upon insufficient margin in account.
  • Stops guaranteed in normal trading conditions.
  • Automatic tom/next rollover of positions at end of NY trading day.

Trader Accounts

Standard Account

  • Silver ($250), Gold ($1,000) and Platinum ($10,000) accounts depending on initial deposit.
  • Minimum deposit requirement is $100.
  • Maximum leverage of 400:1. Beware that Increasing leverage increases risk.
  • Minimum trade size is 5,000 units of base currency
  • No maximum size.
  • Support for trailing stops.

Ava Premium Account

  • Minimum initial deposit of $50,000
  • Free AvaFX Debit Card
  • Two weeks training by a professional forex trader
  • Weekly account review by a professional risk manager
  • Special discounts on spreads
  • Free SMS trading signals and price alerts
  • Free set of forex training CDs worth $400

Demo Account

  • Free of charge.
  • Practice trading with up to $100,000 of virtual currency.
  • Access provided to Ava trading platform.

Current Bonuses

  • High Max First Time Deposit Bonus

Transactions

Order Types

  • Market orders
  • Limit orders
  • Entry stop and entry limit orders
  • Stop orders
  • Trailing stop orders.

Deposits

Fund your trading account at AvaTrade in any currency, but it will be held in either Euros or U.S. Dollars.

Make deposits with:

  • Credit cards
  • PayPal
  • WebMoney
  • Wire transfers from banks

Withdrawals via

  • Credit card
  • Bank wire
  • Check (for U.S. clients)

Trading Platforms

Many traders using AvaTrade as their forex broker appreciate that you can use MetaTrader 4, perhaps the most popular forex platform for Window-based computers. This means that AvaTrade offer all of the excellent MT4 charting capabilities, plus you can design your own custom indicators or use a commercial trading robot. AvaTrade also offers its own platforms, and its website contains tutorials and manuals for them.

AvaTrader Trading Platform

  • Downloadable desktop version.
  • Windows-based trading station.
  • Professional interface.
  • Customizable display.
  • Real-time charts with trading directly from charts.
  • Free to broking clients.
  • Online users manual.
  • Support for automated trading.
  • Can open multiple worksheets.
  • One-click trading capability.

AvaTrader Online Platform

  • Fully online application.
  • No download necessary.
  • Straightforward to use.
  • Secure Java-based application.
  • Similar look and feel to AvaTrader.

Automated Trading Support

AvaTrade offers an impressive range of options for automating your trading systems as a part of their standard AvaTrader platform including:

  • Ava AutoTrader – trade strategies instead of individual currency pairs.
  • ZuluTrader – offers trading strategies you can assess and implement for yourself.
  • Algorithmic trading (via AvaAutoTrader) – write a system and auto-execute it.
  • API trading interface for customizing your own automatic strategy.

AvaFX Mobile Trader

  • Works with even basic mobile phones.
  • Available in both I-Mode and WAP.
  • Easy-to-use mobile interface.
  • Trade, place orders and manage your trading account.

As of August 1st 2018 Avatrade complies with the new ESMA rules and have changed their leverage limits for European Clients to:
30:1 for major currency pairs.
20:1 for non-major currency pairs, gold and major indices.
10:1 for commodities other than gold and non-major equity indices.
5:1 for individual equities and other reference values.
2:1 for cryptocurrencies.

Customer Support

AvaTrade provides answers to a good selection of common questions online, in addition to quality trading support via phone, e-mail, Live Help chat and a callback service throughout the trading week. Trading desk contact is available via e-mail, and with over 31 local numbers in a variety of countries, you can readily get help.

Educational

In addition to a video-based guided tour to forex trading, AvaTrade provides suitable informational written material for novice traders to use to further their education about forex trading and technical analysis. Available topics currently include:

  • Introduction to Forex
  • Advantages of FX
  • Guide to Trading
  • Technical Analysis – Introduction and Trading Guide
  • Fundamental Analysis – Introduction
  • Glossary

Technical Analysis

AvaTrade offers the following to its clients regarding technical analysis:

  • User Indicator Editor
  • Excellent technical analysis from Trading Central.
  • Advanced charting capabilities in AvaTrader platform.

Market News and Data

  • Market analysis and review blog featuring Cliff Wachtel.
  • Forex and commodities trading recommendations

Safety

Regulatory Compliance

AvaTrade operates under reference number C53877 and is regulated by the Irish investment regulation authorities which use the European Union’s MiFiD standards of compliance.

Fund Safety

Customer funds are held in one of the world’s largest banks for security, and AvaTrade’s financial statements are audited by top-four accounting firm Ernst and Young. Also, Ava Group, its parent company, has a market capitalization of around $17 billion with an A+ credit rating from S&P.

Data Security

AvaTrade uses up to 256-bit SSL (secure socket layer) encryption on the secure areas of their website. The website features the True-Site identity assurance seal and complies with AICPA WebTrust standards, thereby providing AvaFX’s customers with the best e-commerce data security available.

Conclusion

AvaTrade promotes a user-oriented perspective when it comes to pleasing its clients, and the company currently boasts over 100,000 registered customers, making it one of the largest online forex brokers. Furthermore, the broker provides successively greater privileges and bonuses to clients depending on their account size.

AvaTrade also goes the extra distance to provide an exceptional support for automated trading which even includes offering execution capabilities using the popular MetaTrader 4 software. This means traders can take advantage of its advanced technical analysis features and can use commercial expert advisor trade signal generators and forex trading robots to manage their accounts.

Finally, the fact that AvaTrade forms part of a larger group capitalized in the tens of billions and falls within the E.U.’s strict regulatory net means that the broker is a relatively secure trading partner. Overall, AvaTrade offers just about everything a forex trader could need and makes a respectable choice for online forex.