Pepperstone Review 2024

Trust

This section will cover how the different entities of Pepperstone are regulated and how this impacts you as a trader. We rate regulators on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 reflecting the highest level of trust.

• Pepperstone Limited is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom, Registration Number 684312. We rate FCA as a Tier 1 regulator.
• Pepperstone EU Limited is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). License Number 388/20. We rate CySEC as a Tier 1 regulator.
• Pepperstone GmbH is regulated by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). License number 151148. We rate BaFin as a Tier 1 regulator.
• Pepperstone Group Limited is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). AFSL No.414530. We rate ASIC as a Tier 1 regulator.
• Pepperstone Financial Services (DIFC) Limited is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). Reference Number F004356. We rate DFSA as a Tier 2 regulator.
• Pepperstone Markets Kenya Limited is regulated by the Capital Markets Authority of Kenya (CMA). CMA License No.128. We rate CMA as a Tier 3 regulator.
• Pepperstone Markets Limited is regulated by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB). License Number SIA-F217. We rate SCB as a Tier 3 regulator.

Why is it important to know where your broker subsidiary (entity) is regulated?

Different regulators provide different levels of protection—for example, Pepperstone clients in the United Kingdom benefit from the oversight of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA requires that clients have negative balance protection, which means they cannot lose more than their deposit.

In addition, when trading with a broker authorized by the FCA, client funds are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS protects investments of up to £85,000 if a firm becomes insolvent. A trader working with a broker entity regulated offshore would not necessarily have these benefits.

We have compiled a comprehensive table below to clearly present the various protections and benefits provided by the broker, which are organized according to entity, regulator, and region.

Regulatory requirements are subject to change. We gathered the data listed above in April 2023.

Watch the video ‘Best ASIC-regulated Brokers’, which features Pepperstone:

Stability and Transparency

In our tests for the Trust category, we also cover factors relating to stability and financial strength. Here, we focus on how long the broker has been in business, the company’s size, and its transparency.

Founded in 2010, Pepperstone has a substantial operating history. According to the company’s LinkedIn page, it has 201-500 employees, reflecting a relatively large company. In my research, I found that Pepperstone is transparent in its regulatory status, fees, and background information. All corresponding materials are available on the website. The regulatory status of different entities is covered on their About Pepperstone page. Costs of trading are covered on the Spreads, commissions and swaps page. The Terms and Conditions pdf is available online via the Legal documents page.

To conclude, I rate Pepperstone as having an above-average level of trustworthiness and stability due to the following factors:

• Regulated by multiple top-tier agencies.
• Enduring operating history.
• Good level of transparency.

Fees

Trading Fees

We tested the spreads at Pepperstone across different asset classes using the MetaTrader 4 platform. The tests were done at 8 a.m. GMT and at 4 p.m. GMT on 24 and 25 April 2023. We made our tests at two different times of day to allow greater perspective. 8 a.m. GMT is the London open when there is a great deal of liquidity in the forex market, and tighter spreads in currency pairs. 4 p.m. GMT is during the New York trading session.

See Pepperstone’s fees’ test results below

Swap Fees

Swap fees (the cost of holding a position overnight) were average at Pepperstone.

In the table below, you can see the Swap Long (the cost/credit of holding a buy position overnight) and the Swap Short (the cost/credit of maintaining a sell position overnight) for one full-sized contract. A full-sized contract is 100,000 units of the base currency (the first currency quoted in the pair). We recorded the data on 25 April 2023.

Non-Trading Fees

Unlike most brokers, Pepperstone does not charge an inactivity fee.

Are Fees at Pepperstone Competitive?

Overall, I rate the spreads, swaps and commissions as competitive and better than the industry average at Pepperstone.

Platforms and Tools

Pepperstone Platform Walkthrough

Pepperstone offers the full suite of MetaTrader platforms across desktop, web, and mobile. In my tests, I used the popular MetaTrader 4 platform.

MetaTrader 4 Desktop

MetaTrader 4 for desktop is a robust platform including advanced functions such as copy trading and automated trading.

Traders can access the platform in 39 different languages, from Arabic to Vietnamese. Here are some of its essential features:

• Alerts. This feature updates traders when an instrument reaches a specific price level.
• Watchlists. Traders can create a list of their favorite instruments and follow live quotes in a market watch panel.
• One-Click Trading. This feature allows traders to execute orders with a single click and no secondary confirmation. This feature enables traders to operate faster and is especially useful for short-term traders.
• Trading from the Chart. MT4 also allows users the convenience of trading directly from the chart.

MetaTrader delivers when it comes to the range of available order types. The platform offers the following order types:

• Market Order. Traders use market orders to buy or sell an instrument at the best current price.
• Limit Order. Traders use limit orders to buy or sell an instrument at a specified price or better.
• Stop Loss Order. Traders use stop-loss orders to buy or sell an instrument when its price reaches a specified level.
• Trailing Stop Order. Traders use trailing stop-loss orders as a stop-loss order at a defined percentage or dollar amount away from an instrument’s current market price. This order type allows traders to secure profits when they are in a winning trade while not having to exit the position.

Charting features are robust. MetaTrader 4 offers:

• 30 Technical Indicators. These include classic trend indicators, volume indicators, and oscillators.
• 23 Analytical Objects. These include lines, channels, Gann, and Fibonacci tools.
• 9 Time Frames. Traders can choose from nine time frames, from one minute to one month.
• 3 Chart Types. Traders can use Bar Charts, Japanese Candlestick Charts, and Line Charts.

MetaTrader is also popular due to its copy trading and automated trading features.

• Trading Signals. Signals in MetaTrader 4 allow users to copy other traders’ activity in real time.
• Automated Trading. MetaTrader 4 allows users to develop, test, and apply Expert Advisors (EAs). EAs are programs that monitor and trade markets using algorithms.

In my experience, the MetaTrader 4 desktop platform stands out as a highly feature-rich and widely favored trading platform. It does not have a slick interface and requires some time and effort to learn, but I find this to be a common trait among advanced platforms.

MetaTrader 4 Web

The MetaTrader Web Platform (Web Trader) is a slightly stripped down version of the desktop platform. It allows you to trade without any additional software, only an internet connection is required. The Web Platform allows users to trade directly from any browser and operating system.

Popular features include:

• One-click trading.
• Trading from the chart.
• Watchlists with real time quotes.
• Trade History.
• Advanced charting with 30 indicators for technical analysis.

Copy trading and automated trading are also only available on the MT4 desktop platform.

MetaTrader 4 Mobile App

Pepperstone offers the MetaTrader 4 mobile app for mobile trading, which is available for Android and iOS. The app offers popular features such as alerts, 1-click trading, and trading from the chart.

The MetaTrader 4 mobile app also provides many order types, including pending and stop-orders. However, trailing stop-loss orders are only available from the desktop. To change the language of the MT4 app, you must change the language for your entire phone. As with the desktop and web platforms, from my experience, the interface doesn’t tend to be highly intuitive, but the MT4 app offers an above-average range of features.

TradingView

Pepperstone offers access to the TradingView platform to Razor account holders. The platform provides one-click trading, trading from the chart, watchlists, market news, and trading ideas. In my experience, it’s easy to place trades and manage open positions and pending orders from the platform.

The market-leading TradingView charts feature 11 time frames, 11 chart types, and over 100 technical indicators. Various drawing tools, from trend lines to Fibonacci retracements, are also available.

The range of available order types is above average. Market orders, limit orders, stop-loss orders, and trailing stop-loss orders are available. Traders also have the option to apply time-in-force conditions such as Good-Til-Canceled (GTC).

I found that the massive, active community on TradingView is very helpful for users to draw inspiration, thanks to features such as the ideas stream. The TradingView platform has the rare combination of being powerful in its functionality and intuitive with a well-designed interface.

The TradingView app is the most intuitive and powerful I have yet to come across; the user experience is superb.

cTrader

Pepperstone also offers cTrader available via desktop, web, and mobile. In my experience, this platform has an intuitive interface, catering to both beginners and advanced/algorithmic traders. It is designed to replicate an institutional trading environment, with features such as Level 2 DoM (Depth of Market). The depth of market shows incoming liquidity from LPs (liquidity providers).

One-click trading and trading from the chart are available via cTrader. Another popular feature is alerts. The platform can alert you when the market reaches a set price. Market sentiment data is available and displayed below the QuickTrade buttons. Market sentiment indicates the percentage of client accounts that are long (buyers) or short (sellers). The information is collected from all available cTrader servers across multiple brokers.

Various order types are available, including market, limit, stop loss, stop limit, and trailing stop. Time-in-force conditions such as Good ‘Til Cancel (GTC) are available for pending orders.

Charting via the desktop platform is robust, with 26 available time frames, four chart types, 76 indicators, and more than ten drawing tools. A news feed and integrated economic calendar are built into the platform.

cTrader can be used for automated trading and strategy backtesting. cBots are automated trading robots that can automate your trading strategies in cTrader. To use a cBot, you can simply drag and drop it on the symbol you want to trade and set your preferred parameters (initial volume, stop loss, and take profit). Any cBot built in cAlgo will automatically be available in cTrader, and custom robots can also be downloaded from the cTrader website. cAlgo is a programming language that enables you to build cBots and custom technical indicators using C#.

To conclude, cTrader has many of the advanced features of MetaTrader within what I experienced as a better-designed and more user-friendly interface.

Pepperstone WebTrader Platform

Pepperstone’s browser-based platform is well-designed and highly customizable. It includes popular features like personalized watchlists, alerts, 1-click trading, and trading from the chart. Users can toggle between multiple workspaces – a feature I find important when trading multiple asset classes. The steady stream of stories via the news feed keeps traders informed without having to leave the platform.

Charting is solid with 8 timeframes, 3 chart types, 12 drawing tools, and over 90 technical indicators. Standard order types, including market, limit and stop-loss are all available.

Capitalize.ai

Pepperstone clients have access to Capitalize.ai, which enables them to create, test and automate trading strategies using everyday English instead of code. For example, you could type in an entry trigger such as ‘if EUR/USD 30 minute RSI crosses above 80, buy $500 worth’.

You can also automate your exits, for example, ‘close position at a profit of 6% or at trailing stop of 4%’. I found this to be a user-friendly platform with great potential for easily automating your trading ideas.

Order Execution

Pepperstone incorporates trade execution with pricing from multiple banks and liquidity providers and 100% automated execution. It commits to absolutely ‘No Dealing Desk’ intervention on any trading instruments; the pricing received from LPs (liquidity providers) is fed straight to the platforms. Trade execution is from as low as 30ms (0.03 of a second), and orders are always executed at the best available prices at the time the order is received.

Tradable Instruments

CFDs (Contracts for Differences) are financial derivative products that allow traders to speculate in various markets without owning the underlying assets. Tradable instruments at Pepperstone include the following:

• 90 Currency Pairs. A currency pair combines two different currencies, with the value of one currency quoted against the other. For example, EUR/USD, which reflects the value of the euro measured in dollars.
• 31 Commodities. Commodities are raw products, such as gold and oil.
• 900+ Global Stock CFDs. Pepperstone offers trading in stock CFDs from countries ranging from Australia to Hong Kong, Germany, the UK, and the US. A stock is a security that represents partial ownership of a corporation. *Keep in mind that when trading stock CFDs you are speculating on the price of a stock without actually taking ownership of the underlying asset.
• 26 Indices. Available instruments at Pepperstone range from Japanese to UK stock indices. An index is a basket of trading instruments that is used to gauge a market sector, stocks within an exchange or the economy of a country.

In the tables below, you can see a selection highlighting the variety of instruments available at Pepperstone:

The selection of instruments at Pepperstone goes above and beyond. This is reflected in the availability of assets such as CFDs on ETFs and currency indices, which are unavailable at many competing brokers.

Customer Support

Whether you are a new trader looking for basic guidance or an advanced trader who needs to reach support fast in the event of technical failure, reliable customer service is a significant asset.

Via chat, a chatbot first tries to answer your inquiries but quickly passes you on to a live agent. In my live chat tests, wait times were short, usually less than a minute. By email (support@pepperstone.com), I received replies within 24 hours. Finally, I experienced short wait times of less than a minute when making contact by phone.

When I reached out to customer support at Pepperstone, I asked a range of questions ranging from basic (for example, do you charge an inactivity fee?) to more complex issues relating to regulatory oversight and account security. Agents were able to answer questions quickly and thoroughly in most cases. Pepperstone offers support in multiple languages to support clients across various regions of the world.

Deposits & Withdrawals

In the tables below, we break down the fees and processing times for each deposit and withdrawal method.

Deposits

Withdrawals

*Pepperstone does not charge any additional fees on deposits or withdrawals. However, you may incur fees on payments to and from some non-UK banks.

Account Types and Terms

Account Application

To open an individual account at the UK entity (Pepperstone Limited), prospective clients must provide the following details.

• Basic information: Country of residence, account type, first name, last name, date of birth, mobile phone, email address and choice of password.
• Further information: Address, nationality, national insurance number.
• Choose Platform (MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader or TradingView), choose account type (Standard, Razor, Managed Account, Spread Betting), account base currency.
• Employment and income: the source of your trading funds, value of your savings and investments, approximate annual income, employment status, industry.
• Trading experience: an appropriateness test, covering trading experience.

Account Types Comparison

The two major account types at Pepperstone are the Standard and Razor accounts. In my opinion, the Standard account is mostly suited for beginners and casual traders, while the Razor account caters more to advanced and professional traders.

Pepperstone Account Types

Demo Accounts

Pepperstone offers demo accounts for MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, and TradingView. Demo accounts are especially important for beginners as they allow them to practice their strategies and get comfortable with the trading platform without risking real money.

The demo account features live quotes and simulates live market conditions in assets such as forex and CFDs on commodities, indices, and stocks. Once users have gotten up to speed on a demo account, they can easily switch to a live version.

Professional Accounts

For clients in the UK, Pepperstone offers a Professional Account, which allows greater leverage. Professional Account holders are not subject to ESMA’s restrictions, which came into force in September 2019 to protect retail investors. To apply for a Professional Account, the trader must meet at least two of the following three criteria:

• You must have carried out significantly large transactions in the relevant market, on average 10 per quarter over the previous four quarters.
• The size of your financial instrument portfolio, including cash deposits and financial assets, must exceed 500,000 EUR.
• You currently work or have worked in the financial sector for at least one year in a professional position.

Islamic Accounts

Pepperstone offers a swap-free Islamic account that adheres to the principles of Sharia law.

Leverage

One of the reasons that traders are attracted to the forex and CFD markets is the high degree of available leverage. Leverage is the use of borrowed funds to increase the size of your trading positions beyond what would be possible using only the cash in your account.

The maximum leverage for retail clients in the UK is 1:30. This means that with an account of $1,000, you can control up to $30,000 worth of positions in the market. Leverage is often described as a ‘double-edged sword’ as it can hurt you as much as it helps you. Traders must remember that it can amplify both their profits and their losses.

Supported Countries

Pepperstone takes clients from the majority of countries globally. However, Pepperstone is not currently accepting applications from applicants residing in the following countries: Afghanistan, American Samoa, Antarctica, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo,, Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Guam, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Iran,Iraq,Japan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Korea, State of Palestine, Puerto Rico, Russian Federation, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Somalia, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, South Korea, South Sudan, Sudan (North), Suriname, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States of America, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Virgin Islands (U.S.), Western Sahara, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

Research

Pepperstone’s market analysis, led by Chris Weston (formerly head of research at IG Australia), guides traders with coverage of high-impact economic events and general market commentary. Traders can prime themselves for significant events in the market with previews of the US nonfarm payrolls and a detailed playbook for the week ahead.

For more actionable technical trade ideas, Pepperstone offers Autochartist. I found Pepperstone’s research to be in-depth and nuanced. I also liked that video content is available, making it easier to consume when actively trading the market.

Autochartist is a powerful pattern recognition tool that simplifies technical analysis for traders by identifying trading opportunities based on key support and resistance levels. Traders can access Autochartist for free within the client portal.

Education

Pepperstone covers all bases with its educational materials – with content available in text and video format and course materials broken down into easy-to-digest modules. I was pleased to see that platform tutorials are available, helping traders get up to speed with the sometimes challenging MetaTrader interface.

Coverage of market basics is available to assist beginners in getting a solid foundation. Detailed trading guides cover more advanced topics like improving your Expert Advisor’s (EA) performance. Pepperstone has recruited veteran trader and educator Mark Holstead to present regular webinars which cover topics such as price action trading. I have followed Mark’s work on YouTube over the years, and he does a great job of explaining trading strategies.

The Bottom Line

Pepperstone is a broker that packs a hard punch. It was a challenge for me to find fault with the Aussie CFD industry giant, which has carved out a unique niche in the hyper-competitive marketplace. This broker is better than average across the board, excellent in several areas, and has not cut corners in customer support and education.

Pepperstone is licensed and regulated globally and has a progressive approach to fees, waiving inactivity and withdrawal fees. The range of tradable instruments is solid; for example, within commodities, you can trade instruments as varied as rough rice and high-grade copper. Spreads in the standard account are good overall, and more competitive trading costs can be accessed via the Razor account type.

Traders can work with a fabulous range of platforms, from the popular MetaTrader 4 and 5 to the more intuitive cTrader and cutting-edge TradingView. I found Pepperstone an exciting broker to test thanks to its advanced technology, and the user-friendly client portal and reliable support made it a smooth process.

FAQ