As markets become increasingly volatile, I find that using hedging strategies can be useful to help offset risk. Unfortunately, not all brokers allow hedging in the same market or even offer the products to hedge across different asset classes.
As our team has reviewed over 80 forex and CFD brokers every year since 2011, it has given us a good insight into which brokers are better than others. Using this data and my 18 years of trading experience, I have identified the top 5 forex brokers for hedging and listed them below in different trader categories.
*AvaTrade doesn’t allow CFD trading in Spain; only Futures are available.
Our team of experts has identified each broker’s strengths and weaknesses using FXEmpire’s comprehensive methodology.
Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Australia, FP Markets is my best overall broker for utilising hedging strategies. I discovered the broker offers over 850 CFDs covering multiple asset classes from the MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView platforms, as well as direct market access (DMA) trading accounts to trade over 10,000+ shares via the IRESS platform.Â
Key Features:
One of FP Markets’ standout features is the variety of trading accounts available. This includes trading CFDs on the commission-free Standard account, accessing raw spreads from the Raw account, and DMA accounts for trading global shares. I find this useful for hedging strategies, as you can use different accounts to hedge exposure either in the same account or in another. For example, you could have an account to hold long-term positions and then hedge any pullbacks on an account designed just for short-term trading.Â
For short-term trading, my preferred account is the FP Markets Raw account as I found the EUR/USD spread averaged only 0.2 pips and offers an industry-standard commission of $6 per lot for a round turn. It’s also useful that FP Markets offers access to a wide range of markets for hedging and some of the best trading platforms in the business. I like TradingView for higher timeframes and longer-term trading because it’s very easy to use and access. For short-term trading, I prefer cTrader due to the built-in risk management calculators and fast execution speeds. Overall, FP Markets is a top broker to consider.
Founded in 2007, IC Markets is my best forex hedging broker if you need to trade with the lowest spreads in the industry. I found low fees on the commission-free Standard account, as well as on the commission-based Raw account to trade over 2,200 CFDs from top hedging platforms like MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView.Â
Key Features:
During my live fee test, I found the spread on the commission-free Standard account for EUR/USD averaged 0.80 pips during the London and New York trading sessions, beating the industry average from our database of 1.08 pips. My personal preference is the IC Markets cTrader Raw account as it offers spreads from 0.0 pips, a competitive commission of $7 per lot round-turn, and can be synced to trade via the TradingView platform.Â
I found the infrastructure allows you to easily open opposing buy and sell positions to execute hedging strategies easily. I like using the cTrader and TradingView platforms as they both have built-in risk management calculators that show the profit, loss and margin for each trade. This is crucial information to know to hedge properly and ensure the overall risk on the account is not too high. With free VPS hosting, Trading Central and Autochartist research and signals, and indemnity insurance up to $1 million per account, IC Markets is a top broker to consider.Â
Founded in 2003, my research and live testing show that FxPro offers the best trading platform for forex hedging. I found that over 2,100 CFDs are available to trade on MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView, FxPro WebTrader, and the FxPro Mobile App. With five account types, Trading Central research, a LiveSquawk service and free VPS hosting, FxPro is a top broker to consider.Â
Key Features:
While FxPro provides access to all of the top trading platforms in the industry, I found its proprietary platform to be a great solution for hedging. I was impressed with how user-friendly and clean the interface is, and how much better it is than the MT4 and MT5 platforms. With features like customisable watchlists, one-click order execution, trading from the chart, a built-in news feed and price alerts, the FxPro WebTrader platform caters well to all styles of manual trading.Â
I found all the typical indicators, drawing tools, and order types available in the platform, as well as useful, built-in market research from the FxPro in-house research team. The Pro News Weekly updates are particularly useful for tracking major market movements and work well alongside the FxPro Squawk service for real-time market-moving news. Overall, I found these extras useful for short-term, active traders who need to make fast trading decisions and adjust hedges quickly.Â
Founded in 2006, AvaTrade is my best forex hedging broker for professional traders. I discovered over 1,450 CFDs covering all of the world’s asset classes available to trade on MT4, MT5, Ava Web Trader, and the AvaTrade App. With access to unique apps like AvaOptions and AvaSocial and the AvaProtect hedging tool, AvaTrade could be the broker for you.Â
Key Features:
During my live test, I found that AvaTrade’s standout feature for hedgers is the AvaProtect tool, which is available in the Ava Web Trader platform and AvaTrade app. I discovered this is a built-in risk management tool that lets you insure a trade against losses for a specific timeframe and fee. For example, you can insure a live trade against losses up to $1 million over a user-defined timeframe, for a small hedging cost. It’s a unique feature that I have not seen any other broker provide.Â
I also found that the AvaOptions app is another useful hedging tool. While you can trade forex pairs using CFDs with a stop loss, options can provide more flexibility and can help to hedge exposure on your open trades. This is because there is no stop loss on an option; the risk is defined by the premium you pay for the contract. With these unique hedging tools, I find AvaTrade is a top broker for professional traders.Â
Founded in 2007, I found that eToro is the best forex hedging broker for beginners. Over 7,300 tradable instruments are available from the eToro proprietary web platform and mobile app, which are easy to use and designed for beginners. With educational materials covering hedging strategies and easy copy trading access, eToro could be the broker for you.Â
Key Features:
I was surprised by the number of articles and videos in the eToro Academy dedicated to hedging. It’s a fantastic resource for beginner traders to learn more about trading the financial markets and how to use different strategies in an easy-to-understand way through articles, guides, courses, podcasts and more.
While eToro only offers its own proprietary platform, both the web version and mobile app are beginner-friendly but offer a wide variety of tools. I found the standout feature is the eToro CopyTrader, as you can copy the trades of other traders at the click of a button. What I found most useful is that eToro provides categories like Trending Investors, Market Outperformers, Long-Track Record, and others, allowing quick access to the top-performing traders in each category who you can copy with one click.
The forex and CFD analysts and editors at FXEmpire bring together seasoned trading professionals and experienced financial journalists. Many of our experts have been featured in leading publications such as Investopedia and Forbes, and all of them combine strong industry credentials with hands-on trading experience.
Dan Blystone began his career in the trading industry in 1998 on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Later, Dan gained insight into the forex industry during his time as a Series 3 licensed futures and forex broker. He also traded at a couple of different prop trading firms in Chicago. Dan is well-equipped to recommend the best forex brokers due to his extensive experience and understanding of the brokerage industry.
Jitan Solanki is a professional trader, market analyst, and educator. He day trades major currency and index markets and focuses on swing trading US equities and commodities. A qualified Market Technician, Jitan also works with trader education and brokerage companies on various projects. These include market analysis, live trading events, and broker reviews. As an experienced trader and educator, Jitan brings all his qualities in action when reviewing and recommending brokers.
Having been a retail trader since 2013, Plamen has gained an in-depth understanding of the challenges that novice traders face today. His expertise is swing trading and day trading with a heavy emphasis on psychological and fundamental analysis. Plamen’s favourite trading instruments include FX majors and gold. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Economics and International Relations. Plamen's broad experience has equipped him with the expertise to recommend the best forex brokers.
In more than 15 years of trading in the financial markets, Vladimir dealt with a wide range of brokers and financial instruments. His career as a day-trader at a proprietary trading firm goes back to 2007. Later, Vladimir turned to longer time frames and became an independent trader and analyst managing his own portfolio. Using his experience, he helps traders find the best broker in his reviews.
Jitan Solanki is a professional trader, market analyst, and educator. He day trades major currency and index markets and focuses on swing trading US equities and commodities. A qualified Market Technician, Jitan also works with trader education and brokerage companies on various projects. These include market analysis, live trading events, and broker reviews. As an experienced trader and educator, Jitan brings all his qualities in action when reviewing and recommending brokers.
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