Guide to Brokers

‘Broker’ is a relatively broad term, the scope of which can extend across various contrasting fields. For example, we are perhaps most familiar with investment brokers, stock brokers, insurance brokers, or mortgage brokers. Despite operating in different lines of work, they essentially all do the same job. A broker generally acts as the middleman between a buyer and a seller; they will engineer a transaction, typically in the financial markets. Brokers, especially in the foreign exchange market, will be a bank specialised in trading currency and stocks. Therefore, before trading on the foreign exchange market, an individual must create an account with one of the many forex brokers, who shall then buy and sell depending on that individuals choices.

It’s important to research the various forex brokers before making a hasty decision as to which one to do business with – brokers charge commission for any transactions, therefore its recommended to spend time assessing the various options. One should investigate a broker’s reputation, their track record, previous clients, and perhaps probe more specific areas, such as the minimum account balance that a broker requires, or, for those intending to accumulate large account balances, whether or not interest will be acquired.

ACM Online Trading Services is a particularly favourable broker in that it caters for substantial specialist accounts, and also for the absolute beginner. ACM also offers a no commission policy, meaning the company takes nothing from the transactions it executes. ACM’s trading is also regulated by the FINMA, an independent supervisory financial authority, which tends to reassure clients and maintains a high quality of service.

Anyone wishing to find a trustworthy forex broker should take advantage of a feature that many companies offer potential clients nowadays – a demo, or ‘practice account’. Forex Club is a current broker offering the ‘non-live’ account – their website enables users to download software in which to learn and practice on before ‘going live’ and trading currency for real. The software is very much a simulation package, recreating the live experience and offering users plenty of support with help chat rooms, a customer service hotline, and even a twitter page.