Pepperstone Review

Should I trade with Pepperstone ?

Australian brokers are known for being some of the best brokers out there, but you should always gather some information before choosing a broker. We have encountered with several “scam brokers” from different parts of the world including Australia and New Zealand.

Is Pepperstone one of these “scam brokers”? We are pretty sure that they are not. Pepperstone is a solid broker with lots of year in the market and a great reputation.

In this article we will give all the information you need to know about this broker. Things such as their regulation, years in the market, accounts, conditions and more. All of this will help you to know if this is the right broker for you or not.

About Pepperstone Forex Broker

Pepperstone was founded in 2010 in Australia. By 2011 the company introduced the Razor account which was an ECN account available for all their clients. This account is still offered by the broker.

The broker has expanded quickly during its 8 years of existence. In 2013 they decided to enter the great Chinese market with an office in Shanghai, but that’s not all. By 2014 the company opened offices in Ukraine and launched a website targeting the Russian market.

In 2013 the broker also introduced a new trading platform called cTrader which was developed by the company Spotware. If you thought that Pepperstone was all about Asia and Oceania, then you are probably wrong. Broker is FCA Regulated and provides services in UK & Europe too.

The company’s growth has given some great results as on the firm’s 2018 fiscal year it managed to obtain a trading revenue of US$6.4 million.

Company’s Regulation

The company has two regulations currently in place:

Pepperstone Limited: This company is under FCA regulation
Pepperstone Group Limited: This company is under ASIC regulation

Products offered by Pepperstone

The company offers the following products:

Forex: It has 70+ FX crosses to trade with.
Indexes: The company offers 12 global indexes to trade with.
Metals: With Pepperstone you can invest in Silver, Gold, Platinum & Palladium.
Energy: The broker also offers 3 energy instruments to trade.
Soft Commodities: You can also trade with 6 different soft commodities.
Cryptocurrencies: You will be able to trade with 5 different cryptocoins.

Types of Accounts

This broker offers you the possibility to trade with 5 types of accounts. Each account has its own trading conditions. The specifics are here:

Demo Account

Pepperstone gives its clients the possibility to trade with demo accounts which are free-accounts where you can use “virtual money” to trade. This means that this is a zero-risk account as you don’t need to put any real money. Demo accounts are good to know the broker’s trading conditions and, it’s good to practice if you are a new trader.

All you need to do is register in Pepperstone and then you can open a demo account for free from your user panel.

Standard STP Account

This is a classic account but with the advantage that it offers lower spreads than other “classic accounts” from other brokers because it uses STP technology:

You can deposit as few as US$200.
Your account will be in AUD, USD, JPY, GBP, EUR, CAD, CHF, NZD, SGD or HKD.
The minimum spread is 1 pip.
Maximum leverages are 1:30 & 1:500 *.
Minimum size of lots is 0.01.
US$0 commissions per lot.

(*) Max. leverage of 1:30 is only for clients of Pepperstone Limited (from Europe). Max. leverage of 1:500 is only for clients of Pepperstone Group Limited (clients outside Europe).

Razor Account

This is a great account for those traders who appreciate low spreads. The spread is low due to the interbank pricing that is offered. Some features are:

You can deposit as few as US$200.
Your account will be in USD, EUR, GBP, PLN or CHF.
The minimum spread is 0.0 pips.
Maximum leverages are 1:30 & 1:500 *.
Minimum size of lots is 0.01.
AUD$3.5 commissions per 100k traded.

(*) Max. leverage of 1:30 is only for clients of Pepperstone Limited (from Europe). Max. leverage of 1:500 is only for clients of Pepperstone Group Limited (clients outside Europe).

Swap-Free Account

This account is known in other brokers as Islamic account. Conditions are very similar to the Standard Account but with the difference that there are no swaps involved. Let’s see some characteristics:

You can deposit as few as US$200.
Your account will be in AUD, USD, EUR or SGD.
The minimum spread is 1 pip.
Maximum leverages are 1:30 & 1:500 *.
Minimum size of lots is 0.01.
US$0 commissions per lot.

(*) Max. leverage of 1:30 is only for clients of Pepperstone Limited (from Europe). Max. leverage of 1:500 is only for clients of Pepperstone Group Limited (clients outside Europe).

Professional client

Professional clients aren’t a type of account but it’s important to mention it in here because since the implementation of ESMA, clients now can be retail or professional.

This only affects client from inside the European Union so if you are from outside EU you don’t need to worry about it.

Clients from the EU only have access to leverage up to 1:30. If you want more leverage you will have to ask for a professional client evaluation where you will have to provide proof that you meet at least 2 of 3 of the following points:

You have been trading at least 10 lots per quarter during the last 4 quarters.
You have a portfolio or capital equal or higher than 500,000 euros.
You have worked in a financial company for at least a year in a position where you had to know about financial transactions or trading.

If you are approved as a professional client you will be able to trade with the maximum leverage available in the broker, 1:500 in this case. If not, you will only trade with leverage of 1:30.

Trading Platforms

Pepperstone offers three different types of trading platforms: MT4, MT5 & cTrader. MT4 & MT5 have been developed by the same company which is MetaQuotes. It’s likely that you have already used one of these platforms as they are known as the most used trading platforms out there.

cTrader has been developed by the company Spotware and it’s known as a good trading platform that works well with ECN or STP systems.

In the broker’s website you will find all the .exe files to install the platforms in your Mac or Windows system. You can also find the iOs files and Android ones in case you want to use a smartphone to trade.

A great feature of Pepperstone is that the broker offers ECN and STP systems which are great for traders because they allow you to trade with the lowest spreads available in the market. You can trade with spreads as low as 0 pips with the Razor account which runs with an ECN system.

Another great advantage of this broker is that they have invested heavily in building great trading servers. They have partnered with Equinix to create an important trading infrastructure that will allow all its clients to trade with faster servers. Why is this important for traders? Execution time is something to keep in mind when trading, especially when you trade in moments of high volatility. Also, EA’s and algorithmic trading benefit from having a smooth connection and good execution.

If you are a scalper or you like to hedge your trades, then this is a great broker for you. Pepperstone allows you to trade using these kind of trading styles without any issue. Also, you can benefit from low spreads because as we know, low spreads are like gold for Scalpers.

Education / Training

The resources offered by the broker to educate its clients are ok. They offer a basic guide that it’s meant for new traders as it explains how the FX market works.

Pepperstone also offers webinars that you can participate in. You can go to the live event or access to a database full of videos from previous webinars. This is interesting as you will find videos about new trading strategies and about how to manage the risk in your trades.

They also have a big database of ebooks/guides that you can receive in your email. There are several topics that are covered on those guides.

So, the broker does a good job in giving materials to cover all the basics on financial markets. However, if you are seeking for something more advanced you will probably not find it in here. Our Forex School will be helpful too.

Deposit / Withdrawal Methods

Deposit methods are different for clients under FCA regulation and for those under ASIC regulation. For clients from Pepperstone Limited (Europe) the deposit methods are:

Payment & Money Transfer companies such as Skrill and Neteller.
Debit and Credit cards.
Broker to broker transfers.

For clients from Pepperstone Group Limited (Australia and countries outside EU) the deposit methods are the following:

Payment & Money Transfer companies such as Paypal,Skrill, Neteller, POLi, China Union Pay, BPay, Qiwi and Fasapay.
Debit and Credit cards.
Broker to broker transfers.
Wire transfers.

Deposits are done instantly with most options for both companies. The only deposit that may take a time is the broker to broker transfers and the wire transfers. These could take up to 2 – 3 days. About Withdrawals, any operation received before 21:00 GMT will be processed that same day if it’s received later then it will be processed the next day.

Withdrawals can take 2 – 3 days to reach your credit card or your bank account.

Should I trade with Pepperstone ?

About Pepperstone Forex Broker

Company’s Regulation

Products offered by Pepperstone