ESMA Regulations Reveal: Where CFDs Traders Lose the Most

Transparency has been a key issue for foreign exchange and CFDs brokers in recent years. When it comes to EU-regulated brokers, the beginning of August was supposed to be the start of a new era. European brokers were forced to make some dramatic changes to their offerings, and some key aspects of the broker-client relationship are now out in the open.

While some traders are scratching their heads and contemplating how to get higher Leverage Leverage In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders need to rely on leverage to make financial trading viable. Generally, the higher the fluctuation of an instrument, the larger the potential leverage offered by brokers. The market which offers the most leverage is undoubtedly the foreign exchange market, since currency fluctuations are relatively tiny. Of course, traders can select their account leverage, which usually varies from 1:50 to 1:200 on most forex brokers, although many brokers now offer up to 1:500 leverage, meaning for every 1 unit of currency deposited by the trader, they can control up to 500 units of that same currency. For example, if a trader was to deposit $1000 into a forex broker offering 500:1 leverage, it would mean the trader could control up to five hundred times their initial outlay, i.e. half a million dollars. Likewise, if an investor using a 1:200 leveraged account, was trading with $2000, it means they would be actually controlling $400,000, i.e. borrowing an additional $398,000 from the broker. Assuming this investment rises to $402,000 and the trader closes their trade, it means they would have achieved a 100% ROI by pocketing $2000. With leverage, the potential for profit is clear to see. Likewise, it also gives rise to the possibility of losing a much greater amount of their capital, because, had the value of the asset turned against the trader, they could have lost their entire investment.FX Regulators Clamp Down on Leverage Offered by BrokersBack in multiple regulators including the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) took material measures to protect retail clients trading rolling spot forex and contracts for difference (CFDs). The measures followed after years of discussion and the result of a study which showed the vast majority of retail brokerage clients were losing money. The regulations stipulated a leverage cap of 1:50 with newer clients being limited to 1:25 leverage. In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders need to rely on leverage to make financial trading viable. Generally, the higher the fluctuation of an instrument, the larger the potential leverage offered by brokers. The market which offers the most leverage is undoubtedly the foreign exchange market, since currency fluctuations are relatively tiny. Of course, traders can select their account leverage, which usually varies from 1:50 to 1:200 on most forex brokers, although many brokers now offer up to 1:500 leverage, meaning for every 1 unit of currency deposited by the trader, they can control up to 500 units of that same currency. For example, if a trader was to deposit $1000 into a forex broker offering 500:1 leverage, it would mean the trader could control up to five hundred times their initial outlay, i.e. half a million dollars. Likewise, if an investor using a 1:200 leveraged account, was trading with $2000, it means they would be actually controlling $400,000, i.e. borrowing an additional $398,000 from the broker. Assuming this investment rises to $402,000 and the trader closes their trade, it means they would have achieved a 100% ROI by pocketing $2000. With leverage, the potential for profit is clear to see. Likewise, it also gives rise to the possibility of losing a much greater amount of their capital, because, had the value of the asset turned against the trader, they could have lost their entire investment.FX Regulators Clamp Down on Leverage Offered by BrokersBack in multiple regulators including the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) took material measures to protect retail clients trading rolling spot forex and contracts for difference (CFDs). The measures followed after years of discussion and the result of a study which showed the vast majority of retail brokerage clients were losing money. The regulations stipulated a leverage cap of 1:50 with newer clients being limited to 1:25 leverage. Read this Term, firms now have to disclose what percentage of their clients are losing money. In an extensive effort, the Finance Magnates Intelligence department has collected a set of data which provides valuable insight into the dealings of several brokerage companies.

Every EU-regulated broker is now visibly displaying figures which the ESMA considers valuable to retail investors. The primary goal of this new regulation was to put a halt on misleading advertising, but the supranational regulator’s decision to put a spotlight on client losses also provides traders and brokers themselves with precious information.

Not only can brokers compete to attract the most-successful traders, they can also smartly use their percentage of winning clients as a reputational edge.

Win-Loss Ratios

The Finance Magnates Intelligence Department included a total of 30 brokers in its sample. While the charts are certainly comprehensive, we must stress that these figures are in no way representative of the quality of the service of the mentioned brokers.

Trading is a zero sum game and as such, there will always be more losers than winners. The goal of the new regulation is to better inform retail investors that the winners are in the minority. The days when regulated brokers were able to advertise aggressively are long gone.

I remember the years when a crystal ball banner with a message “guess where the EUR/USD is going” would appear. An enticing message that you can make money by trading Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest trading market by volume. According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) latest survey, the Forex market now turns over in excess of $5 trillion every day, with the most exchanges occurring between the US Dollar and the Euro (EUR/USD), followed by the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen (USD/JPY), then the US Dollar and Pound Sterling (GBP/USD). Ultimately, it is the very exchanging between currencies which causes a country’s currency to fluctuate in value in relation to another currency – this is known as the exchange rate. With regards to freely floating currencies, this is determined by supply and demand, such as imports and exports, and currency traders, such as banks and hedge funds. Emphasis on Retail Trading for ForexTrading the forex market for the purpose of financial gain was once the exclusive realm of financial institutions.But thanks to the invention of the internet and advances in financial technology from the 1990’s, almost anyone can now start trading this huge market. All one needs is a computer, an internet connection, and an account with a forex broker. Of course, before one starts to trade currencies, a certain level of knowledge and practice is essential. Once can gain some practice using demonstration accounts, i.e. place trades using demo money, before moving on to some real trading after attaining confidence. The main two fields of trading are known as technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Technical analysis refers to using mathematical tools and certain patterns to help decide whether to buy or sell a currency pair, and fundamental analysis refers to gauging the national and international events which may potentially affect a country’s currency value. Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest trading market by volume. According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) latest survey, the Forex market now turns over in excess of $5 trillion every day, with the most exchanges occurring between the US Dollar and the Euro (EUR/USD), followed by the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen (USD/JPY), then the US Dollar and Pound Sterling (GBP/USD). Ultimately, it is the very exchanging between currencies which causes a country’s currency to fluctuate in value in relation to another currency – this is known as the exchange rate. With regards to freely floating currencies, this is determined by supply and demand, such as imports and exports, and currency traders, such as banks and hedge funds. Emphasis on Retail Trading for ForexTrading the forex market for the purpose of financial gain was once the exclusive realm of financial institutions.But thanks to the invention of the internet and advances in financial technology from the 1990’s, almost anyone can now start trading this huge market. All one needs is a computer, an internet connection, and an account with a forex broker. Of course, before one starts to trade currencies, a certain level of knowledge and practice is essential. Once can gain some practice using demonstration accounts, i.e. place trades using demo money, before moving on to some real trading after attaining confidence. The main two fields of trading are known as technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Technical analysis refers to using mathematical tools and certain patterns to help decide whether to buy or sell a currency pair, and fundamental analysis refers to gauging the national and international events which may potentially affect a country’s currency value. Read this Term was designed to appeal to the most primal instincts of competitive humans. After all, competition is in our very nature and making money by beating our peers in a game is one of the most satisfying feelings one can experience.

With this long disclaimer, let’s move on to the data. Below you will find a complete list of the biggest brokerages. They are sorted by the number of most winning clients, which are represented as a percentage of the total clients of the brokerage.

Social Trading Actually Works

If there has been any doubt that social trading or copy trading works, the data provided by brokerage companies shows that there are some merits to it. Two of the top 5 brokers which are home to the largest number of winning clients offer a social or copy trading product.

A whopping 35 percent of clients of eToro have made money. Darwinex is the other firm on this list that offers clients to follow trade leaders. This has proven to be good for its customers, with 31 percent them being in the black.

Other brokers in the top 5 are also notable: AETOS, GBE Brokers, and XM Markets. Looking at the biggest brokerages, Saxo Bank comes close to the 30 percentile with about 29 percent of its clients making money.

The Red Line is Above 80%

We certainly don’t want to single out any brokers for not having enough profitable clients. What we can say is that 70 to 80 percent losing clients appears to be the norm. There is little brokerage companies can do to stop their clients from losing money. What they can do is make sure that their clients have the necessary tools to make informed decisions.

The chart below shows that the profile of brokerages which house mostly losing clients is rather broad. Only Vestle (formerly iFOREX), HYCM, and EasyMarkets have an unusually high percentage of customers which are in the red.

Competing for Smarter Clients

If any trend emerges from this data forced upon us by the ESMA, it is that brokers should race to build up a client base which is better informed. The number of additional tools and tools that actually work and provide insight will be crucial. What will be even more crucial is education: brokers with the least educated clients will always house more losing clients. If they want to use their win/loss ratio as a clever marketing tool, they should commit more resources to that.

With the new leverage rules in force in tandem with the win/loss percentage disclosure, brokers who are in this business for the long haul should focus on bringing in clients that stay with them for long. The days of churn and burn are behind us, and so are the days of reckless advertising. It is time to adapt and focus on a tactic that will bring long-term benefits to clients and brokers alike.