Pepperstone Review
Welcome to The Doji Trader’s full Pepperstone review, updated and re-tested for 2020. Pepperstone was established in Australia in 2010, but in spite of its relative newness, it has grown to become one of the most prominent brands in Forex and CFD trading in the world. Currently, it has offices in the UK, US, China, and Thailand, and as of October 2019, it processes over $12.5 billion worth of trades on a daily basis.
Pros
· Pepperstone is regulated in Australia by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), and in the UK, it is licensed and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
· Pepperstone is known for its wide selection of third-party trading platforms, such as MT4, MT5, and cTrader, as well as multiple social trading options, like Tradency, ZuluTrade, and Myfxbook.
· It offers a wide range of trade-able assets, including many currency pairs, five Cryptocurrencies, indices, commodities, and even single stocks.
Cons
· Its fee disclosures are scattered and can be confusing.
· The broker has no proprietary trading platform.
· It has competitive spreads and commissions.
· Pepperstone provides its clients with advanced trading tools, such as the AutoChartist, at no extra cost.
· It has a very responsive customer service, and clients can communicate in different languages.
· Its website is well-organized and easy to navigate.
· Pepperstone’s educational resources are easy to locate on its website.
· Despite its young age, it has won several prestigious awards.
Overall Ranking
Overall
Investment Opportunity
Commissions & Fees
Safety
Research
Smartphone Usage
Customer Service
Education
Platforms & Tools
Overall
Investment Opportunity
Commissions & Fees
Safety
Research
Smartphone Usage
Customer Service
Education
Platforms & Tools
Extended Pepperstone Review and Further Information
Established about nine years ago, Pepperstone grew rather exponentially to become one of the largest Forex brokers in the world by transaction size. With its impressive technology, low-cost spreads, and commitment to education, Pepperstone is already trusted by over 73,000 traders from different parts of the world.
Pepperstone offers a wide selection of trade-able instruments, and it provides CFD and Forex traders with competitive pricing and an amazing selection of third-party platforms for social trading.
How to Open your Account
Before you start putting money on the line, it is better to open a demo account to test the broker’s services and also hone your trading skills in a risk-free atmosphere. Pepperstone offers you the opportunity to practice with £50,000 virtual funds for 30 days.
Opening a live account with Pepperstone is quite straightforward. All you have to do is to fill in your country of residence and register with your email. You can open a live account with as low as $200. Pepperstone offers three account types: Standard, Swap-free, and Razor accounts.
Trading Instruments Available
Pepperstone is well known for Forex trading, but it also offers a wide range of other assets, such as Cryptocurrencies, commodities, indices, and stocks. It offers over 60 currency pairs, including the major, minor, and exotic currency pairs. With this broker, Cryptocurrency traders can trade Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Dash, and Litecoin.
There are up to 62 single stock CFDs you can trade on Pepperstone’s platform, in addition to stock index CFDs, commodity CFDs, and cash contracts.
Deposits and Withdrawal Methods
There are multiple ways to fund your Pepperstone account, and you have the option to choose the currency denomination you want for your account. You can fund your account via a bank wire transfer or through your credit/debit card. Alternatively, you may use PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, or QIWI.
Fund withdrawal can be processed on the same day if the withdrawal request is made before 8 AM GMT. It can be done through a bank transfer, PayPal, Neteller, or Skrill. Bank wire transfer can take up to 5 trading days, and all transfer charges are passed on to the client. Please note that this is not a fee from the broker, but the third-party used to process payments.
Interface
Although Pepperstone doesn’t have a proprietary platform, it provides its clients with the MT4 and MT5 platforms, as well as the cTrader platform. These platforms are very popular, and a beginner trader can easily find his way around them. Moreover, there are mobile versions of these platforms for iOS and Android devices.
In addition, Pepperstone offers a full selection of social trading platforms, such as ZuluTrade, Tradency, DupliTrade, RoboX, and Myfxbook. With these social trading platforms, a trader can copy the trades of professional traders.
Education and Research
There are plenty of educational and research resources available to Pepperstone clients, such as articles, trading guides, trading courses, webinars, and up-to-date market news, analysis, and commentary. Pepperstone also provides its clients with a comprehensive economic calendar and a special analysis tool known as Autochartist, which offers technical research functions. Additionally, the MT4 and cTrader platforms provide real-time news on their own.
Commissions and Fees
With Pepperstone, trading costs come from spreads, commissions, and swaps, and the cost varies with the type of trading account. On average, here is what we found:
· Standard account: zero commission and institutional grade spreads with markups (1.0-1.3 pips).
· Swap-free account: zero commission, institutional grade spreads with markups (1.0-1.3 pips), and interest free.
· Razor account: very low spreads (0.0-0.3 pip) and small commission charges of about $7 per round trip per lot.
On average, the Pepperstone review found that their fees were just below the average broker.
Customer Support
Pepperstone offers customer support 24 hours a day and 5 days a week across multiple channels, which include live chat, phone, and emails. Clients can communicate with them in different languages, including English, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and Thai. This is a great service provided by Pepperstone, as many other brokers only respond with English.
In addition, the comprehensive FAQ section on Pepperstone’s website addresses most of the common queries traders have.
As discussed below, our Pepperstone review found that they were rated the number 1 customer service provider of 2017, and it is easy to see why. The employees are professional, friendly, thorough and swift in dealing with all types of queries.
Awards
Despite its relatively young age, our Pepperstone review must note that they have won multiple awards from prestigious organizations, such as Deloitte, Investment Trends, and UK Forex Awards. In 2018, Pepperstone won the Best Forex ECN Broker and the Best Forex Trading Support, from the UK Forex Awards.
The Australia FX Report Investment Trends declared it the #1 for Customer Service and #1 for Value for Money in 2017.
Regulations and Jurisdictions
Pepperstone is regulated in Australia by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). In the UK, it is licensed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and with many European clients, it also abides by the rules set down by the European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA). Through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), its U.K. clients receive protection up to £50,000.
Pepperstone Australia is licensed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Pepperstone UK is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Pepperstone EU is authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
Pepperstone AE is authorised and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services (DFSA) Authority.
Pepperstone Markets is authorised and regulated by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB).
Pepperstone GmbH is authorised and regulated by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority of Germany (BaFin).
Pepperstone Markets Kenya Limited is authorised and licensed by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).
Under these licenses, Pepperstone is obliged to meet strict capital requirements whilst implementinmg and complying with stringent internal procedures that include: client money protection, risk management, anti-money laundering, conduct, training, accounting, and audits.
Conclusion of our Pepperstone Review
Even though it is relatively young, Pepperstone is a prominent brand in the retail Forex industry. It offers a wide range of instruments, including Forex, indices, commodities, stocks, and Cryptocurrencies, and provides traders with important analysis tools and social trading platforms to improve their trading experience. However, it can still improve on its educational resources and also reduce the minimum deposit requirement.
We hope you have found our in-depth Pepperstone review to be useful in finding the right broker. If this is not the broker for you, then why not take a look at another broker review. We have tried and tested over 30 brokers, why not take a look at the best 3 UK brokers?
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 78.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. This does not constitute as investment advice or personal recommendations as your specific financial circumstances have not been considered. No warranty is given in regards to the accuracy and completeness of information. Past performance is not an indicator of future results.