Trading and investing in exchange-traded assets attracts a wide audience of people. However, only a few know that trading and investing is really risky and doesn’t meet everyone’s expectations. To add, they require deep knowledge, skills (including skills in working with a demo account), experience and an available-to-lose capital.
In addition, you need a reliable, trusted broker who will become an honest intermediary between the trader and the exchange.
Brokers are different
There are several dozens of popular brokers. These companies have different terms of cooperation, different levels of customer service and support, commissions and spreads, responsibility for risks and so on. Moreover, fraudsters and swindlers offer their services along with official brokers.
If you go into details, brokers may have different permissions and licenses, methods and speed of order execution, relevance and accuracy of data transmitted from the exchange. Software and platforms can be different too. Clients’ money can be kept in official ‘in country’ accounts or offshore accounts.
If you understand the risks of stock trading and are willing to spend your time on it, you must choose the right broker that suits you perfectly.
Where to look for information
Study the information on the official websites of brokers. Make sure the broker has valid licenses and permits to operate in your country. Compare conditions for depositing and withdrawing money, commissions and spreads, account types and available assets. If the broker tries to hide information then it should alert you a lot.
Do not trust advertisements and comments on the official websites of companies. Advertising information may be inaccurate or even unreliable.
In addition, collect information about brokers on the pages of thematic forums, blogs, and mass media sites. It can take some time but as a result you will find basic information to compare several broker companies.
Finally, visit independent sites that collect information, ratings, reviews and testimonials. Nevertheless there are ads and advertising reviews you can find useful info about brokers on those websites as well.
Independent review sites
Theoretically, you can find efficient information tools for objective analysis of brokers’ services on the pages of informative sites.
Firstly, these are official reviews, which contain public information about the company, the date of foundation, and the main conditions. Some sites publish lists of the advantages and disadvantages of particular brokers. Like Exness review.
Secondly, there are reviews and comments from users. Unlike official reviews, comments from users help to find out the pitfalls of cooperation and shortcomings of specific companies. However, we do not recommend believing isolated positive or negative reviews. Try to gather the information relying on as many reviews as you can find.
Thirdly, these are broker ratings, which are based on reviews or an internal rating system. They are not 100% objective but still can help to form a judgment about a particular broker.
Conclusion
Exchange activity is risky for your finances. They require experience, knowledge, skills, capital, and also a reliable broker. In order not to be mistaken with the choice, study the available information on the official websites of brokers independently, as well as read reviews and comments on thematic sites.
