Mastering the Foreign Exchange Markets – Part 2

Today we are going to discuss one of the most important steps you will need to take when considering to start trading in the worlds of Forex: opening a trade account. This is a very important aspect and it should be treated with caution, you don’t want to get this one wrong!

Searching for the best brokerage

When looking for the best company to begin trading with, there’s a few factors you should take in consideration. When a company provides you will all of these, it probably means you found the right one. Make sure you do your research well and find the brokerage that best suits your need.

Here are some of the most important aspects to keep in mind:

  1. Always check if the brokerage if regulated by a financial authority.

If the company you’re checking has obtain the required regulations from a government agency, you can be pretty confident about the company’s honesty and transparency. Here are the most important regulatory bodies in the world:

  • United States: National Futures Association (NFA) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
  • United Kingdom: FCA
  • Australia: Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC)
  • Switzerland: Swiss Federal Banking Comission (SFBC)
  • Germany: Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFIN)
  • France: AMF
  1. Check the number of products or assets a broker offers.

If a broker also offers securities and commodities, it probably means it has a large investor base, and a wide business rage. This usually translates to being a trustworthy company.

  1. Always do a Google search on the company and read the comments.

What people have to say about a company is something you definitely want to look into when searching for a good broker. Surely, there you will find both positive and negative comments about pretty much any company in the world, but check the average. If more than 70-80% of them are good, you’re probably dealing with a serious company.

However, be wary of the fake comments. It is a common marketing practice for companies to write their own testimonials and comments. Make sure you do a proper research – common sense should tell you which comments are real.

  1. Have a good look on the broker’s website.

A good company must have a good, professional website. Go through all of their pages, check if all the links are active. Check the quality of the contents, see if they really invested time and money in building their website. If you see a lot of “coming soon” or “under maintenance” links, you should probably stay away from that brokerage.

  1. Check the customer service quality.

I think this goes without saying. A serious company will always have great customer support. Try emailing them, see how fast they answer, make sure they aren’t only giving you canned answers. You should also find plenty of comments on a company’s customer services on the internet.

I can’t stress this enough – whenever money is involved, you need to have a good relationship with the company, and if needed, to be able to get in touch easily. You should always look for a reputable broker.

Choosing how you want to manage your account

There are 2 main ways of handling an investment portfolio. You can either open a trading account where you manage and execute transactions by yourself, or have an account with a manager, that is usually a trading expert or advisor, who offers you guidance or even trades on your behalf.

Some companies will only offer one of these options, while others will let you choose. It is important to check this as well on your broker’s website.

Filling the appropriate paperwork

Most brokerage companies will require you to fill in some documentation, or go through some sort of verification process when opening your account. This is usually a simple and straight forward process, meant to comply with the international financial regulations.

You will usually be able to send in the required papers either through email, or upload them directly on your broker’s website.

Activating your account

As soon as you register with a broker, they usually send you an email containing a link that you need to click in order to activate your account. Click on this link and follow the instructions to start trading.

Follow us and stay tuned for the next parts, with even more fun educational articles about the Forex world!

SPECIAL TRADING OFFER
WAITING FOR YOU
SIGN UP NOW!

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*