Exclusive: Q3 2013 US Retail Forex Broker Profitability Report, IB #1
Forex Magnates is once again publishing US retail forex account profitability and active users. Overall, among reporting brokers, active account

With another quarter in the books, Forex Magnates is once again publishing US retail forex account profitability and active users. Despite a drop in currency volatility during the quarter, both profitability and active account numbers declined. Overall, among reporting brokers, active account totaled 96,390, with weighted profitability at 34.2%, 1.2% below Q2 numbers.
(Figures exclude data from CitiFX which will be updated when available. In addition, according to FXCM, only Alpari accounts which were transferred to them as well as made a trade during the two day period between Alpari’s transfer to FXCM and the end of the quarter were added into the broker’s calculation)
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The drop in retail accounts follows two quarters where brokers showed customer growth. After an active beginning of 2013 that was highlighted by record retail forex volumes and increased volatility, the current data represents that US brokers were unable to capitalize on the increased exposure to the asset class.
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In terms of individual brokers, Interactive Brokers (IB) once again took the top spot among profitable clients, with 44% of its customers gaining. For the first time since the collection of these reports, IB also led all brokers in active clients, showing 7.3% growth. The numbers contrasted the entire US retail forex industry where brokers all reported customer contraction. Among other brokers, OANDA has been in the spotlight, this due to changing its pricing to a dynamic spread model. There has been conflicting opinion about the spreads’ changes, with client profitability holding steady this quarter, but 5% below Q4 2012’s figures.

Also worth noting is GAIN Capital, where active US accounts have fallen for the second consecutive quarter after increasing in Q1 2013, upon taking over GFT’s US client base. Lastly, ILQ showed a small drop in active account numbers. Due to a change in how accounts are being reported, Q2 totals were restated to 1,146 versus figures reported in the Q2 report. ILQ COO, Mark Krier, also reported to Forex Magnates that there has been a rotation of US-based accounts to the broker’s new Australian-based entity as he stated, “ILQ Australia now being several quarters into its launch, we’re starting to see a shift with business moving from ILQ US to ILQ Australia.”
Previous Reports: Q2 2013, Q1 2013, Q4 2012, Q3 2012, Q2 2012, Q1 2012
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Um, doesn’t FXCM have 195,000 accounts? Figures cited above are grossly underestimated.
Where would Thinkorswim / TDAmeritrade fall here? Didn’t they used to be reported along with the rest on this report? Or did they just route all their FX business to another US broker?
Yeah, nevermind, I only asked since I could have sworn I used to see ToS on this list from a few years ago (back when they cleared most things Penson..) but upon digging up the old profitability releases I realized I was mistaken.
Thx to FM for compiling these data. Could someone please elaborate on the difference between fx firm and fx dealer. Are firms not required to report? Are their numbers too small to matter? Thanks.
@Ron, so putting Jack's and my questions together, is ToS an IB? If so, then for whom? Thanks again.
70% of fxcm clients lose money, then there is me.
ILQ only has 13 mio. in retail forex obligations – according to the last FCM report. Do they have more depostits from institutional clients, or is that it?
Does anyone know or have an estimate of how much of these fx deposits are from U.S. citizens/residents? I ask because I have it in my mind that GFT was showing deposits of nearly $100,000,000 just before selling their U.S. accounts to Gain Capital, but Gain Capital only showed an increase of approximately $8,000,000 when GFT shut down. If that ratio holds for the other brokers with international divisions, then none of them have $20,000,000 of deposits from U.S. citizens/residents. If true, then I would expect all of them to be quietly migrating non-U.S. accounts out of their U.S. division… Read more »
@Ghazi – OANDA added it to the Currency Converter in April but its not on the trading platform
@Ghazi – OANDA added it to the Currency Converter in April but its not on the trading platform