Broker to Trading

Pepperstone is an FCA regulated broker. It supports a wide range of trading styles, including trading with robots. Pepperstone provides MetaTrader 4, its successor MetaTrader 5, cTrader and TradingView. Pepperstone offers CFD trading across these platform, but in the UK it additionally provides spread betting. Thus in the UK, the trader may open an account which lets them spread bet with no dealing desk execution and low latency fast order execution and can additionally build and run EAs (MetaTrader's online trading robots), with tight Forex spreads.

What is Spread Betting ?

Spread betting has similarities with CFD trading, in that the trader does not own the underlying market being traded and in that it allows the trader to speculate on the price movement of a market and lets the trader go long or short. Spread betting (like CFD trading) allows leverage, but increasing leverage increases risk. So why spread bet and not trade CFDs ? One reason is that in the UK, spread betting profits are exempt from capital gains tax. If the traders wants to trade CFDs in the UK, they may do so simply by opening one of the Razor or Standard CFD account. These accounts differ in that the Razor account has spreads from 0, plus a commission charge, while the Standard account does not charge commissions and has spreads from 0.6 pip.

Spread Bet on MT4, MT5 and cTrader

Pepperstone offers MT4, MT5 and cTrader for both CFD trading and spread betting. MT5 is the successor platform to MT4 and offers a number of enhancements on MT4. cTrader is a relatively user friendly online trading platform which can be used by beginners and more advanced traders. As a spread betting platform it offers a more granular set of time frames than is normally found as well as charting which arguably present data in a particularly clear way.

Commission charges

The Razor CFD account does have a commission charge, which is $3.50 per lot per side for MT5. This is added to the raw spread, which can be as low as 0 pips for the most liquid Forex pairs. The Standard does not have a commission charge and consequently has higher spreads. The spread betting account also does not have a commission charge and offers higher spreads than the Razor CFD account. However the spread betting account does provide tight spreads. One feature of Pepperstone is that it can provide low average spreads, as well as low minimum spreads.

Trading conditions - Types of traders supported

Across all account types, Pepperstone has a minimum trade size of 0.01 lots (micro lots) and a maximum trade size of 100 lots. Scalping is allowed as is news trading, Expert Advisors and hedging. There is no dealing desk order execution for all account types, with rapid low latency order execution. Thus Pepperstone is suited to a wide range of traders, from scalpers, to news traders to those who let robots trade on their behalf. The trader can use all these strategies (and more) on their spread betting account.

Traders who spread bet might be the type of trader who analyses markets using charting tools and fundamental data and then executes and manages these trades, perhaps from medium to longer term trades. Are these traders supported ? MT4 and MT5 offer charting tools, including the capacity to download and build indicators. There are Economic Calendars accessible for those who want to trade with fundamental data. Pepperstone additionally provides Stocks CFDs for those who want to trade Stocks without owning them. However cTrader is a platform which can be seen as one which makes an effort to combine features with a user friendly interface and might be of interest to those who plan and execute their own trades, from very short to longer term.

What markets are available to trade ?

The markets offered to trade vary depending on the trading platform. The widest range is on MT5, which has Forex, Indices, Metals, Energy, Soft Commodities and Stocks to trade, with 1000+ available.

How does the trader fund their account ?

In the UK, Visa, Mastercard and Bank Transfer is offered (funds can be withdrawn from the secure client area, available when an account is created). 

Why Pepperstone ?

Pepperstone is perhaps known as an ECN broker. While this label is perhaps not used so much now, it does convey key features of Pepperstone. Pepperstone provides no dealing desk intervention, thus supporting a wide range of trading styles.  These include scalping, news trading and trading with robots. The trader can download robots or build them. Pepperstone offers rapid order execution, which may be suited to styles such as scalping and robots. Pepperstone provides MT4, and additionally its successor MT5. MT5 is a more advanced platform, with additional features compared to MT4, but they are functionally similar (supporting traders who execute their own trades and those who use robots). Additonally it offers cTrader, which has advanced features in a user friendly interface. All of this is available for CFD trading, including the Razor account with spreads from 0, plus a commission charge. However spread betting while similar to CFD trading does not incur a capital gains tax in the UK. Thus traders can now trade on all these platforms in these trading conditions and spread bet at Pepperstone, with tight spreads and no commission charge.