Vantage Broker Review

Is Vantage safe?

Yes, Vantage is a safe broker to trade with.  It maintains regulation from some top-tier authorities, including ASIC of Australia and the FCA of the UK.  It is also registered in the Cayman Islands and Vanuatu.

Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Sydney, Australia, Vantage is authorised and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA), and the Vanuatu Financial Service Commission (VFSC).  Furthermore, every deposit is protected by either the Investor Compensation Fund or by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in the UK. See the following list of Vantage registered companies:

• Vantage International Group Limited trading under Vantage is authorised and regulated by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA), Securities Investment Business Law (SIBL) number 1383491 and is registered at Artemis House, 67 Fort St, PO Box 2775, Grand Cayman KY1-1111.
• Vantage Global Limited is authorised and regulated by the VFSC under Section 4 of the Financial Dealers Licensing Act [CAP 70] (Reg. No. 700271) and is registered at iCount Building, Kumul Highway, Port Vila, Vanuatu.
• Vantage Global Prime Pty Ltd, trading under Vantage, is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), AFSL no. 428901 and is located at level 29, 31 Market St, Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia.
• Vantage Global Prime LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN: 590299, and is registered at 7 Bell Yard, London, England, WC2A 2JR (Company No. OC376560).

Australian traders will be trading with the Australian subsidiary of Vantage, which is licenced and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). 

In early 2021, ASIC tightened its restrictions on CFD trading to better protect traders. As a result, Vantage clients in Australia will have a leverage limit of 30:1 for Forex trading and will be provided negative balance protection, meaning that traders can never lose more money than they have in their trading accounts. In addition, ASIC regulations ensure that Vantage keeps its operational funds segregated from client accounts, but also prevent Vantage from offering promotions or bonuses. 

While the additional protection offered by ASIC regulation is welcome, some Australian traders may find the low leverage levels and lack of bonuses at Vantage restrictive. The only way around these restrictions is to trade with a broker which does not have ASIC regulation, which of course then means less protection.

Overall, because of its history of responsible behaviour, ASIC and FCA regulation, and the fact that Vantage is regularly audited, we consider Vantage a safe broker for Australians to trade with.

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Trading Fees

Vantage’s trading fees are higher than average on its entry-level account but lower than average on its ECN accounts.

Like most other brokers, Vantage offers two live retail accounts and a Pro Account with increasing minimum deposits linked to tighter spreads and other account benefits.  All three accounts are available on the MT4 and MT5 platforms (click here for more on Vantage’s trading platforms).

The Standard Account has trading costs included in its variable spreads, while the Raw account offers raw spread pricing in exchange for a commission per lot.  

Vantage’s accounts were assessed to compare the costs to those of other forex brokers. The costs were evaluated based on the trading fees on one lot (100 000 USD) on the EUR/USD, including the spreads and commission.  

When making this calculation, we used one lot of EUR/USD as a benchmark as it is the most commonly traded currency pair and it usually has the tightest spread.

Unfortunately, Vantage does not publish the average spreads associated with each account, so these calculations are based on the minimum spreads.  Traders should be aware that spreads widen or tighten depending on trading volume and market volatility.  

Trading Cost Formula: Spread x Trade Size + Commission = Cost in Secondary Currency (USD):

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As you can see from the table above, the trading costs on the Raw account is lower than those on the Standard Account and lower than those of other brokers.  Most other good brokers have an average trading cost of 9 USD per lot of EUR/USD traded.

Swap Fees

The other main trading cost to consider is the overnight swap fee. It is determined by the overnight interest rate differential between the two currencies involved in the pair and whether the position is a buy ‘long’ or sell ‘short’. Unfortunately, Vantage’s swap rates are not published on its website.  

For the most up-to-date Forex swap rates, please refer to the Market Watch panel in the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform.  Simply follow the steps outlined below:

1. Locate the product in the ‘Market Watch’ window. Right-click, and select ‘Symbols’.
2. Select the product to view from the list. Select ‘Specifications’.
3. Here you can view the Forex swap rates for both long and short positions.

Swap rates are calculated as follows:

Swap rate x Volume x Contract Size x Number of Nights 

Overall, Vantage offers a good pricing environment and caters to traders of all experience levels.  However, it does not publish its average spreads nor swap rates on its website.  

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Broker

Trading Conditions

Base Currencies

EURUSD (Standard)

Commission

Trading Cost (Standard)

EURUSD (Best)

GBPUSD (Best)

USDJPY (Best)

Vantage

4.5/ 5

AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, SGD, CAD, NZD, JPY, HKD

0.00 pips

USD 6

USD 6

0.00 pips

0.50 pips

0.40 pips

Pepperstone

4.5/ 5

AUD, USD, JPY, GBP, EUR, CAD, CHF, NZD, SGD, HKD

1.00 pips

USD 0

USD 10

0.17 pips

0.59 pips

0.26 pips

Fortrade

3.5/ 5

EUR, USD, GBP

2.00 pips

USD 0

USD 20

2.00 pips

2.00 pips

2.00 pips

Vantage’s Non-trading Fees

Vantage’s non-trading fees are lower than other similar brokers.  

Some of the most overlooked trading costs are the non-trading fees that are charged by brokers.  These fees can significantly affect your profitability and so should be carefully scrutinised.

Unlike other brokers that charge fees for deposits, and on inactive accounts, Vantage does not generally charge any non-trading fees.  However, a 25 USD fee is charged for withdrawals via bank wire transfer. 

Overall, this is a welcome development in an industry where additional fees are charged on almost every transaction.

Opening an Account at Vantage

The account-opening and verification process at Vantage is seamless, fully digital and accounts are ready within 24 hours, which is about the industry average. 

All Australian residents are eligible to open an account at Vantage, as long as they meet the following minimum deposit requirements:

• Standard Account: 200 USD
• Raw ECN Account: 500 USD

Vantage offers corporate and individual accounts.  For the purposes of this review, we will outline the process for opening an individual account:

1. From the Vantage homepage, you will have to click on the ‘Live Account’ tab where you will be directed to register an account with a name, email address, telephone number, and country of residence.  
2. Vantage’s registration form requires traders to fill in their personal details, including physical address, date of birth, and ID number. 
3. Next, traders are required to fill in their financial details, employment status, and trading knowledge.  
4. Traders will then have to choose their preferred trading platform (MT4 or MT5), choose their account type (click here for more on Vantage’s account types), and account currency.  
5. Verification usually takes less than 24 hours and Vantage will need:
   1. Proof of Identification – Vantage accepts all government-issued identification documents such as Passport, national ID card, driving license, or other government-issued ID. 
   2. Proof of Address – Proof of residence/address document must be issued in the name of the account holder within the last 6 months and must contain a trader’s full name, current residential address, issue date, and issuing authority. 

Overall, Vantage’s account-opening process is fully digital and hassle-free and accounts are ready for trading within 24 hours.

Vantage’s Account Types

Vantage offers two live retail accounts and a pro account, which is average compared to other brokers, and its accounts are suitable for both beginners and more experienced traders.  

An ECN/STP broker, Vantage offers trading on Forex, indices, energies, metals, cryptocurrencies, and shares. 

Vantage offers two live retail accounts and a Pro account with higher minimum deposits linked to tighter spreads on either the MT4 or MT5 platform (click here for more on Vantage’s trading platforms). 

Its Standard Account has a minimum deposit of 200 USD, making it accessible to beginner traders.

We define beginner traders as inexperienced traders who have never traded before or have been trading for less than a year. Beginners often do not want to risk trading large sums of money, and will generally not be able to trade full-time during the workweek. 

In general, experienced traders tend to prefer accounts with higher minimum deposits and tighter spreads. Vantage’s Raw ECN Account offers raw spread pricing and a low commission, but this is in exchange for a minimum deposit of 500 USD.  

Vantage allows hedging, scalping, and copy trading. Maximum leverage under the ASIC regulation for Australian traders is up to 30:1 on major Forex pairs.  See below for account details:

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Standard STP Account

The Standard account is perfect for novice traders who want direct market access with no commissions. The minimum deposit on this STP account is 200 USD.  Fees are included in the spreads, which start at 1.0 pips on the EUR/USD, and traders can access leverage of up to 30:1.  These trading costs are average for the industry.  Minimum transaction levels are at 0.01 lots.  

Raw ECN

As the name implies, this is an ECN account, with no dealing desk.  Raw ECN accounts are professional trading accounts with floating spreads starting at 0 pips on the EUR/USD. The minimum deposit is 500 USD, leverage is 30:1, and a commission of 1 USD is charged/lot per side (2 USD round turn).  These trading costs are some of the lowest in the industry.

Pro ECN

Pro ECN accounts are tailored for professional traders and money managers who trade in high volumes.  Pro traders will receive leverage of up to 500:1 but will have to meet certain eligibility criteria in order to open an account:

• Traders should have net assets of 2.5 million AUD or a gross income of 250,000 AUD for the last two consecutive financial years.
• Demonstrate your knowledge by finishing a short online quiz
• Traded at least 20 times per quarter (for any 4 quarters in the last 3 years)
• Traded at least 500,000 USD  in notional value for each of the 4 quarters

  Traders should be aware that under Pro status they will be giving up the following protections:

• The provision of a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), Financial Services Guide (FSG) or any other relevant documents that Vantage will typically provide to retail clients.
• The protections afforded under ASIC’s PIO measures for CFDs, including leverage restrictions.
• AFCA’s dispute resolution scheme for recourse.

Demo Account

Those afraid to risk real money on trading will be glad to learn that Vantage has introduced an unlimited MT4 demo account. Traders can test strategies and analyse data on over 300 instruments.    

Deposits and Withdrawals

Vantage offers a wide range of payment methods, while and deposits are free, some withdrawal methods incur a fee.  Additionally, processing times are average for the industry.  

As a well-regulated broker, Vantage ensures that all Anti-Money Laundering rules and regulations are followed. 

Vantage offers a range of deposit and withdrawal methods, including bank wire transfer, local bank transfers, credit cards, and debit cards, Skrill, Neteller, BPay, Poli, and Unionpay transfers.  

Deposits for all payment methods are free, although clients will have to absorb the fees charged by their various banking institutions.  All withdrawal requests are processed Monday to Friday, 9 am – 7 pm (AEST), within one business day. Clients can withdraw funds online by simply logging into the secure Vantage client portal and selecting the withdraw tab from the menu.  Please see the following list of payment methods for further details:

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Overall, Vantage offers a decent range of funding and withdrawal methods, which are generally free, and average processing times.  

Base currencies (Trading Account Currencies)

Vantage offers a wider range of base currencies compared to other similar brokers.  

Vantage clients can choose between 9 base currencies, including AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, SGD, CAD, NZD, JPY, and HKD.

This is an advantage for Australians who will likely have bank accounts denominated in AUD, and will be able to avoid paying currency conversion fees on deposits and withdrawals.  Currency conversion fees can make trading expensive and affect profitability.  

For traders that trade in large volumes (more than 10 lots a month), it is better to open an account denominated in USD at a digital currency bank, especially for trading on assets such as the EUR/USD. This is because when trading a USD quoted currency pair with another currency account, there will be a small conversion fee for every trade made.

Overall, Vantage offers more trading account currencies than most other large international brokers and it offers accounts denominated in AUD.  

Trading Platforms

Vantage’s platform support is better than other similar brokers.  

Vantage offers support for MT4 and MT5 platforms in addition to the Vantage App (but this will be covered in the mobile trading section). 

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Broker

Platform Choice

Copy Trading

Platforms

Vantage

4.5/ 5

Yes

MT4

MT5

ProTrader

Pepperstone

5/ 5

Yes

MT4

MT5

cTrader

TradingView

Fortrade

4.5/ 5

No

MT4

MetaTrader 4

The MetaTrader 4 Platform (MT4) is the most popular online Forex trading terminal in the world. It has a straightforward interface, considered easy-to-use for both novice and experienced traders alike.  It is also widely recognised for its fast execution speeds, range of charting tools, algorithmic trading, and customisability. MT4 is available in over 31 languages.  

Other features of MT4 include:

• Supports the creation, modification, and utilisation of automated trading strategies.
• Supports MQL4 programming language.
• Algorithmic trading, which allows any trading strategy to be formalised and implemented as an Expert Advisor. 
• Allows traders to develop their own custom indicators
• Superior charting tools in nine timeframes
• 31 graphical objects
• 30 built-in indicators
• 9 timeframes
• Three order execution types
• Four types of pending orders

While MT4 has great customizability, the platform feels outdated, and some of the features may be hard to find.  In addition, only the basic orders are available, including Market, Limit, Stop, and Trailing Stop.

MetaTrader 5

MetaTrader 5 is the latest trading platform developed by MetaQuotes Software Corp. Set to replace MT4, MT5 is more intuitive and offers significant improvements in copy trading, mobile trading, and other innovative features that make trading account management more efficient.  Other features of Mt5 include:

• 38+ preinstalled technical indicators
• 44 analytical charting tools
• 3 chart types
• 21 timeframes
• Additional pending order types
• Detachable charts
• Trailing stop
• Depth of Market
• An integrated Economic Calendar.

Overall, although Vantage only offers the Metatrader suite of platforms, which are not as beginner-friendly as the proprietary platforms offered at other brokers, it also offers its own proprietary mobile trading app.  

Mobile Apps

Vantage’s mobile trading apps are excellent compared to other brokers. 

All the trading platforms supported by Vantage are available as mobile and tablet downloads – allowing traders to keep track of their open positions while on the move.

MT4/MT5

Both MT4 and MT5 are available as mobile and tablet downloads on Android and iOS – allowing traders to keep track of their open positions while on the move. 

The advantage of using the MetaTrader platform is the cross-device and multi-broker functionality, making it easier to change brokers or use multiple brokers.  

Vantage’s MT4 and MT5 apps allow traders to work from anywhere, with nine timeframes and 30 indicators. However, traders should be aware that there is some loss in functionality when compared to the desktop trading platforms, including reduced time frames and fewer charting options, but traders can close and modify existing orders, calculate profit and loss, and trade on the charts. 

Vantage App

With a suite of technical indicators such as Moving Averages, Bollinger Bands, MACD, 9 timeframes, charting tools, and 10 timeframes, the Vantage App offers traders of all styles powerful yet simple technical charting.  It is packed full of features such as order management, custom watch lists, trading signals by Trading Central, alerts, news calendars, and more. 

Trading Tools

Vantage’s trading tools are average compared to other brokers.

Vantage offers a broad range of trading tools, including MT4/MT5 Smart Trader Tools, sentiment indicators, and Premium trader tools.  

MT4/MT5 Smart Trader Tools

The MT4/MT5 Smart Trader Tools consist of three additional MetaTrader plugins that dramatically improve the trading environment. The tools include an array of sophisticated alarms and messaging systems, and correlation tracking:

• Alarm Manager: Allows traders to set the alarms, apply their rules and triggers.  It offers 6 types of alarm alerts available on SMS, via email, and push notifications.  
• Correlation Matrix and Correlation Trader: These tools work together to show correlations between pairs of trading symbols. It functions with any symbols available in the trading platform, allowing a calculation of the correlation between multiple asset classes against Forex. The Correlation Trader will then allow for a detailed inspection of the correlation between any two instruments.
• Excel RTD Link: Clients can use MS Excel fans to compare, analyse and create rules in real-time across multiple accounts using their favourite spreadsheets.

Sentiment Indicators

Vantage’s sentiment page displays the overall long and short positions of the Vantage book. The sentiment ratio of long to short positions is represented as a percentage and displayed as a sliding scale where red represents clients’ shorts and blue represents their longs.  Sentiment indicators are available for Forex, commodities, and indices.  

Traders should be aware that as forex is a decentralised market, Vantage’s sentiment readings are of the Vantage book only. By reading this snapshot of the market, however, traders will get an idea of the average trader’s mindset and therefore take advantage of the supply/demand imbalances that may result.

Premium Trader Tools

Pro Trader tools are available to clients with a minimum balance of 1,000 USD.  Pro Trader tools include various market news updates, trading ideas, an economic calendar, and various analyst views:

• Market Buzz: A news feed that offers news analytics and sentiment indicators.
• Featured Ideas: Access technical and fundamental trade ideas based on proven, backtested strategies across all your favourite currency pairs and technical setups. 
• Economic Calendar: Vantage offers actionable, real-time economic data, which allows traders to act on market-moving events from more than 30 countries across the globe. 
• Analyst Views: Vantage offers a unique combination of quantitative technology and technical analysis expertise covering 80,000 instruments. 

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Broker

Economic Calendar

Autochartist

Trading Central

Trading View

Free VPS

Vantage

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Pepperstone

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Fortrade

Yes

No

Yes

No

No

Financial Instruments

Vantage offers a slightly limited range of financial instruments compared to other similar brokers.

Vantage’s range of financial instruments for CFD trading (click here for more details on CFD trading), includes Forex, share CFDs, commodities (energies, metals, and softs), indices, and cryptocurrencies:

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• Forex: Vantage has 46 currency pairs available for trading, an average range compared to most other brokers.  These include majors (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and USD/JPY), minors (NZD/JPY, GBP/JPY, and USD/ZAR), and exotics. 

• Share CFDs: Vantage offers 226 share CFDs, which is slightly limited compared to other large international brokers.  The selection available includes some of the major US, UK, European, and Australian Exchanges. 

• Indices: There are 17 indices available for trading at Vantage, which is around the average available at other similar brokers. The most popular indices are those that combine the shares of some of the largest and globally acknowledged companies.   

• Energies: Vantage offers trading on 6 commodities, which is average compared to other similar brokers.  Energies include oil, natural gas, gasoline, gas oil, and oil cash. 

• Metals: Vantage offers trading on 5 metals, although these include silver and gold with USD and AUD crosses.  It also offers trading on copper.  

• Soft commodities: Vantage offers trading on 5 soft commodities, including orange juice, cocoa, coffee, cotton, and sugar.  

• Cryptocurrencies:  At the time of writing, there are 6 crypto pairs available, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, among others, which is slightly limited compared to other brokers.  Traders should be aware that the spreads vary significantly compared to other traditional Fiat currencies, so if you trade on these assets, watch your margins.

Overall, Vantage’s CFD offering is limited to other brokers, which may leave more experienced traders dissatisfied. 

Vantage for Beginners

Overall, Vantage offers a decent range of educational or market analysis materials for new traders.  However, to access the Pro Trader Tools powered by Trading Central, a deposit of 1,000 USD is required.  It also offers a free unlimited MT4 demo account, and customer service support is available 24/5 for all client-related and technical queries. 

Educational material

Vantage’s educational materials are comprehensive and well-presented, but not as good as the best Forex brokers in this space.  

For those without a Pro Trader account, beginner traders can access a series of articles and videos explaining Forex trading basics, a market overview, market analysis, trading psychology, and various MetaTrader platform tutorials. Vantage also provides a library of over 130 videos as part of its Pro Trader videos. Content ranges from short introductory clips for beginners to longer advanced concepts across forex and CFD trading across various markets.  Again, one has to make an initial deposit of 1,000 USD to gain access to this material.   

Vantage also offers regular webinars – run thrice weekly – a real advantage for beginners trying to find their footing in the Forex trading space.  

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Broker

Beginner Course

Advanced Course

Well Structured Education

Education Quality

Webinars

Vantage

Yes

No

Yes

Medium

Yes

Pepperstone

Yes

Yes

Yes

Medium

Yes

Fortrade

Yes

Yes

Yes

Medium

Yes

Market Analysis Materials

Vantage provides a good selection of market analysis materials, but these are all curated by third-party providers.  

Vantage provides research primarily from third-party content providers such as Trading Central. The broker also has some basic features, such as an economic calendar and client sentiment data. Still, Vantage lacks a variety of in-house content besides its daily videos, compared to other forex brokers.  

Customer Support

Vantage offers support in ten different languages, including Italian, French, Hindi, Malaysian, Chinese, Mandarin, Spanish, English, Cantonese, Mandarin. Help is available 24/5 via telephone, email, Telegram, and live chat.

For the purposes of this review, we found customer support via live chat extremely responsive and polite.  They were also able to answer all of our questions satisfactorily.  

Evaluation Method

We value transparency and openness in the way we review the partners. To bring transparency to the forefront, we have published our review process that includes a detailed breakdown of the Vantage offering. Central to that process is the evaluation of the reliability of the broker, the platform offering of the broker and the trading conditions offered to clients, which are summarised in this review. Each one of these is graded, and an overall score is calculated and assigned to the broker.

Risk Statement

Trading Forex is risky, and each broker is required to detail how risky the trading of Forex CFDs is to clients. Vantage would like you to know that: Trading Forex and CFDs involves significant risk and can result in the loss of your invested capital. You should not invest more than you can afford to lose and should ensure that you fully understand the risks involved. Trading leveraged products may not be suitable for all investors. Before trading, please take into consideration your level of experience, investment objectives and seek independent financial advice if necessary.

Overview

Overall, Vantage is a trustworthy STP/ECN broker, but with a limited range of financial instruments compared to other similar brokers.  It offers support for the most common trading platforms and has decent trading conditions on all of its accounts.  Most notable is its ECN account that offers raw spread pricing in exchange for a low commission. Its education and market analysis sections are somewhat limited, but it offers excellent customer support and a free unlimited MT4 demo account. 

Editorial Team

 

Chris Cammack
Head of Content

Chris joined the company in 2019 after ten years experience in research, editorial and design for political and financial publications. His background has given him a deep knowledge of international financial markets and the geopolitics that affects them. Chris has a keen eye for editing and a voracious appetite for financial and political current affairs. He ensures that our content across all sites meets the standards of quality and transparency that our readers expect.

 

Alison Heyerdahl
Senior Financial Writer

Alison joined the team as a writer in 2021. She is the Senior Editor for FXScouts.  She has a medical degree with a focus on physiotherapy and a bachelor’s in psychology. However, her interest in forex trading and her love for writing led her to switch careers. She has a passion for Forex trading and over a decade of editorial experience researching Forex and the financial services industry, producing high-quality content. She hosts a weekly podcast, “Let’s Talk Forex,” alongside her colleague, Chris, and has produced over 100 Forex educational videos for the FXScouts YouTube channel. She also writes weekly technical analyses and has tested and reviewed over 100 Forex brokers.

 

Ida Hermansen
Financial Writer

Ida joined our team as a financial writer in 2023. She has a degree in Digital Marketing and a background in content writing and SEO. In addition to her marketing and writing skills, Ida also has an interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain networks. Her interest in crypto trading led to a wider fascination with Forex technical analysis and price movement. She continues to develop her skills and knowledge in Forex trading and keeps a close eye on which Forex brokers offer the best trading environments for new traders.