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FP Markets Review

Steven Hatzakis

Written by Steven Hatzakis
Edited by John Bringans
Fact-checked by Blain Reinkensmeyer

March 24, 2023
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Retail CFD accounts lose money. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

FP Markets shines as a low-cost broker for trading forex and CFDs – as long as you use the MetaTrader or cTrader platform. The Iress platform suite offers well over 10,000 tradeable symbols, but it’s mostly a share trading platform – and is generally a much pricier option.

Forex and CFD traders will find a versatile, affordable MetaTrader and cTrader offering at FP Markets, but without the research and educational content offered by industry leaders.

FP Markets
4.5/5 Stars Overall
  • Minimum Deposit: $100 AUD
  • Trust Score: 86
  • Tradeable Symbols (Total): 10000
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Trade on highly competitive interbank.

(Retail CFD accounts lose money)

FP Markets pros & cons

thumb_up_off_alt Pros

  • Founded in 2005, FP Markets is regulated in one tier-1 jurisdiction and one tier-2 jurisdiction, making it a safe broker (average-risk) for trading forex and CFDs.
  • FP Markets offers the MetaTrader and cTrader suites, along with ultra-competitive spreads available by way of its commission-based Raw ECN account.
  • FP Markets finished Best in Class for our 2023 Annual Awards, for both MetaTrader and Commissions and Fees.
  • FP Markets provides access to the Iress platform suite which offers over 10,000 tradeable symbols.

thumb_down_off_alt Cons

  • FP Markets’s new mobile app is a welcome addition to its mobile lineup, but it still lacks many of the features typically found in the best mobile trading apps.
  • FP Markets’ educational content is not particularly strong, though it has improved year over year with the introduction of podcasts and more articles.
  • FP Markets’ Iress platform is more focused on share trading than forex, and data fees can add up quickly unless you are an active trader or maintain a high-balance account.
  • FP Markets’ Social Trading portal is compatible with MetaTrader 4, yet lacks the advanced performance metrics found with copy trading leaders.

Overall Summary

Feature FP Markets logoFP Markets
Overall Rating 4.5/5 Stars
Trust Score 86
Offering of Investments 4.5/5 Stars
Commissions & Fees 5/5 Stars
Platform & Tools 4/5 Stars
Research 4/5 Stars
Mobile Trading 4/5 Stars
Education 4/5 Stars

ForexBrokers.com has been reviewing online forex brokers for over six years, and our reviews are the most cited in the industry. Each year, we collect thousands of data points and publish tens of thousands of words of research. Here's how we test.

Is FP Markets safe?

Trust Score
86
ForexBrokers.com

FP Markets is considered trusted, with an overall Trust Score of 86 out of 99. FP Markets is not publicly traded, does not operate a bank, and is authorised by one tier-1 regulator (high trust), two tier-2 regulators (average trust), and zero tier-3 regulators (low trust). FP Markets is authorised by the following tier-1 regulator: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC). Learn more about Trust Score.


Feature FP Markets logoFP Markets
Year Founded 2005
Publicly Traded (Listed) No
Bank No
Tier-1 Licenses 1
Tier-2 Licenses 2
Tier-3 Licenses 0

Offering of investments

FP Markets’ MetaTrader offering is limited to roughly 130 tradeable symbols, whereas the Iress platform suite offers an extensive range of CFDs to global clients, including over 10,000 shares, 71 forex pairs, four metals, 12 indices, five cryptocurrencies, and three commodities.

Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrency trading is available at FP Markets through CFDs, but not available through trading the underlying asset (e.g. buying bitcoin). Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents.

Feature FP Markets logoFP Markets
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total) 10000
Forex Pairs (Total) 71
U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) No
Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) No
Social Trading / Copy Trading Yes
Cryptocurrency (Physical) No
Cryptocurrency (CFD) Yes
Disclaimers Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients).

Commissions and fees

FP Markets offers highly competitive pricing through its MetaTrader and cTrader offering, making it one of the most cost-competitive brokers available to traders globally – at least for its commission-based ECN account offering. The Iress ViewPoint account option is less affordable, and is geared towards active traders with high-balance accounts. It's worth noting that FP Markets' share CFD offering on Iress provides Direct Market Access (DMA) in terms of its pricing and execution process, including full depth of book available within the platform.

Standard versus Raw ECN account: FP Markets’ Raw ECN account features competitive spreads – averaging 0.1 pips as of October 2021. Its Standard account is a pricier option due to its significantly higher spreads (averaging 1.2 pips as of August 2022 for the EUR/USD). Likewise, its cTrader platform can be used with the spread-only standard account or the commission-based Raw account, which has a flat rate of $6 per round-turn standard lot for forex trading.

Iress ViewPoint Accounts (Australia): The FP Markets Iress platform suite offers three account options with varying minimum deposit requirements: Standard (AUD 1,000 minimum deposit), Platinum (AUD 25,000), and Premier (AUD 50,000). To avoid platform and data fees, you must either qualify for the Premier account or spend at least AUD 150 in commissions each month. Active traders and traders with high-balance accounts will find better deals at Saxo Bank and CMC Markets.

Iress Investor Account (Australia): For traders seeking a bare-bones, low-cost experience, FP Markets also offers its Iress Investor trading platform. Monthly fees are waived for this less expensive account option, but with the reduced price come some platform limitations. There is no streaming data by default (click to refresh quotes), and the charting package is far more limited than its ViewPoint platform counterpart. My take: if you can’t afford the ViewPoint account, then pass on Iress Investor.

Feature FP Markets logoFP Markets
Minimum Deposit $100 AUD
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard 1.2 info
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active 0.7 info
Active Trader or VIP Discounts Yes
ACH or SEPA Transfers No
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) Yes
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) Yes
Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) Yes
Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) Yes

Mobile trading apps

FP Markets delivers a good variety of mobile apps for forex and CFD traders. Its proprietary app has a nice layout for a new mobile app but lacks the advanced features that I’ve come to expect from the best brokers in this industry. Thankfully, Metatrader and cTrader platform suites are available as reliable alteranatives.

Apps overview: FP Markets offers four mobile trading apps: the popular MetaTrader platform suite developed by MetaQuotes software corporation, the cTrading platform suite developed by Spotware Systems, and the Iress trading platform, as well as its proprietary FP Markets mobile software.

Ease of use: As Iress is mostly optimized for share trading – not forex – I focused on FP Markets' MetaTrader offering and the FX Markets proprietary app for this review.

Charting: FP Markets’ mobile app offers rudimentary charting, with no drawing tools and no indicators. That being said, traders at FP Markets also have access to the impressive charting tools that come standard with the MetaTrader suite of platforms.

Trading tools: FP Markets mobile app lacks any substantial trading tools. There is a favorites watchlist, and several other predefined asset class lists – but that’s it. You won’t find any integrated research or streaming news headlines.

Feature FP Markets logoFP Markets
Android App Yes
Apple iOS App Yes
Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields Yes
Watchlists - Total Fields 7
Watchlist Syncing No
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) 30
Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) 15
Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines Yes
Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames Yes
Forex Calendar Yes

Other trading platforms

FP Markets offers the Iress platform suite for share trading, but MetaTrader is the primary platform option for forex and CFD trading. With support for Autochartist plugin integration as well as platform add-ons from FX Blue as part of its Trader Toolbox offering, FP Markets is a great choice for traders who wan to use MetaTrader. FP Markets' excellent MetaTrader offering had it finishing Best in Class for MetaTrader in our 2023 Annual Awards.

Platforms overview: FP Markets offers the entire MetaTrader platform suite, including MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). There are also three web-based platforms available by way of the Iress platform suite: Iress Trader, Iress Investor, and Iress ViewPoint for active traders. For forex traders, MetaTrader is the better choice, while the Iress platform (specifically its ViewPoint account) is more ideal for shares trading.

Copy trading: FP Markets also offers its own social copy trading platform, and traders at FP Markets gain access to the MetaTrader signals market. These features – combined with support for Myfxbook – make FP Markets a great choice for social copy trading. Read our Copy Trading guide to learn more about the best forex brokers for copy trading.

Charting: Charting on the Iress ViewPoint platform is powered by TradingView, and includes a clean watchlist tool and nearly 100 available technical indicators. That said, I had a hard time pulling up forex quotes and did not find any forex news headlines. Despite the decent charting tools available with the Iress platforms, MetaTrader remains the better choice for forex trading at FP Markets.

Feature FP Markets logoFP Markets
Virtual Trading (Demo) Yes
Proprietary Platform Yes
Desktop Platform (Windows) Yes
Web Platform Yes
Social Trading / Copy Trading Yes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) Yes
DupliTrade No
ZuluTrade No
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) 30
Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) 15
Charting - Trade From Chart Yes
Watchlists - Total Fields 7
View More

Market Research

Most of FP Markets’ research is found under the Traders Hub section on its website, where it is separated into technical and fundamental analysis. When compared to the best brokers for research, including IG, Saxo Bank, CMC Markets, FP Markets has room to improve, and could enhance its research offering by expanding it to include a wider array of daily content.

Research overview: FP Markets provides daily written articles and video content on its official YouTube channel. Headlines stream within the FP Markets MetaTrader platforms from top-tier sources such as Citibank, Rabobank, Commerzbank, Reuters, and other forex news providers.

Market news and analysis: FP Markets’ research section consists of a Daily Report, Technical Report, a weekly Market Insights outlook, and a Fundamental Analysis section that provides daily articles that cover global markets. It’s worth noting that the Forex News section had outdated content.

Feature FP Markets logoFP Markets
Daily Market Commentary Yes
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) Yes
Autochartist Yes
Trading Central (Recognia) No
Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs Yes

Education

Though education is not FP Markets’ strongest point, the broker’s educational content continues to improve year over year with content such as podcasts, articles, and archived videos on its YouTube channel – all consolidated within its FP Markets Academy portal. Adding more advanced video courses would only serve to improve FP Markets’ educational experience.

Learning center: FP Markets offers nearly sixty archived webinars as well as a handful of instructional videos on its YouTube channel, and there are at least 34 articles available under its Forex 101 section. I was pleased to see that FP Markets has launched a podcast, though I found it to be pretty basic. The podcast felt like a transcribed audiobook – not like an organic conversation. Adding interviews and more of a personal touch (and perhaps some market updates) would go a long way towards improving FP Markets’ foray into this new content format.

Room for improvement: I’d like to see FP Markets organize its educational content by experience level, and perhaps include a progress-tracking feature. These features combined with a general expansion of the range and depth of FP Markets’ educational material would help FP Markets compete with education leaders such as Admiral Markets and IG.

Feature FP Markets logoFP Markets
Has Education - Forex or CFDs Yes
Client Webinars Yes
Client Webinars (Archived) Yes
Videos - Beginner Trading Videos Yes
Videos - Advanced Trading Videos Yes
Investor Dictionary (Glossary) Yes

Final thoughts

FP Markets stands out for the competitive pricing available to forex traders with its ECN account. However, that pricing is only available with the MetaTrader platform, and FP Markets offers only 764 symbols on MetaTrader 5 (MT5).

While there are over 10,000 symbols available for share trading, they are segmented away on the Iress platform, and its associated platform and data fees can be a hurdle – unless you are an active trader or you maintain a high-balance account.

Overall, forex and CFD traders will be satisfied by the MetaTrader experience provided by FP Markets, though the scope of its research and educational offering are limited, when compared to the best brokers.

About FP Markets

Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, FP Markets (First Prudential Markets) was founded in 2005 as an online retail forex and CFD broker. The brand’s entities are regulated in Australia and Europe, with a total of 95 employees as of 2019. Read more on Wikipedia about FP Markets.

2023 Review Methodology

At ForexBrokers.com, our reviews of online forex brokers and their products and services are based on our collected data as well as the observations and qualified opinions of our expert researchers. Each year we publish tens of thousands of words of research and detailed forex guides, and we monitor dozens of international regulator agencies (read more about how we calculate Trust Score here).

Our research team conducts thorough testing on a wide range of features, products, services, and tools (collecting and validating thousands of data points in the process). We test all available trading platforms for each broker – whether they are proprietary or come from third-party providers – and evaluate them based on a host of data-driven variables.

We also take an in-depth look at each broker’s commissions and fees, such as bid/ask spreads – including the average spread data for some of the most popular forex currency pairs. We research other trading costs, such as inactivity or custody fees, minimum deposit requirements, VIP rebates and/or discounts, and a range of other important fee-based data points.

Some of the other important research categories that are factored into our testing include mobile trading accessibility and capability, availability of market research and educational content, and each broker’s overall Trust Score.

Read our full explanation and accounting of our research and testing process to learn more about how we test.

ForexBrokers.com 2023 Annual Awards

For the ForexBrokers.com 2023 Annual Awards, brokers were evaluated against ForexBrokers.com’s 8 Primary Categories: Commissions & Fees, Offering of Investments, Platforms & Tools, Mobile Trading Apps, Research, Education, Trust Score, and Overall.

Best in Class honors were awarded to the Top 7 forex brokers in each of the following areas: Beginners, Social Copy Trading, Ease of Use, MetaTrader, Algo Trading, Crypto Trading, and Professional Trading.

ForexBrokers.com also recognized brokers that demonstrated excellence and innovation with our exclusive Industry Awards.

Primary categories

FP Markets logoFP Markets Overall Rating Offering of Investments Commissions & Fees Platforms & Tools Research Education Mobile Trading Apps Trust Score
Rating 4.5/5 Stars 4.5/5 Stars 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars 4/5 Stars 4/5 Stars 4/5 Stars 86
Rank #1
Streak #1
Best in Class check
Best in Class Streak 3

Secondary categories

FP Markets logoFP Markets Social Copy Trading MetaTrader Crypto Trading Ease of Use Professional Trading Beginners Algo Trading
Rank #1
Streak #1
Best in Class check check check
Best in Class Streak 3 2

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. Read more on forex trading risks.

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About the Editorial Team

Steven Hatzakis
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. A forex industry expert and an active fintech and crypto researcher, Steven advises blockchain companies at the board level and holds a Series III license in the U.S. as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA).


John Bringans
John Bringans

John Bringans is the Senior Editor of ForexBrokers.com. An experienced media professional, John has close to a decade of editorial experience with a background that includes key leadership roles at global newsroom outlets. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from San Francisco State University, and conducts research on forex and the financial services industry while assisting in the production of content.


Blain Reinkensmeyer
Blain Reinkensmeyer

Blain Reinkensmeyer has 20 years of trading experience with over 2,500 trades placed during that time. He heads research for all U.S.-based brokerages on StockBrokers.com and is respected by executives as the leading expert covering the online broker industry. Blain’s insights have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Chicago Tribune, among other media outlets.