Many forex brokers will bombard you with promotions and innovative features that are more confusing than educative.
London Capital group (LCG) is an exception as they are experts in managing proprietary trading operations – which cater for both professional and private clients. Located in London, the firm began operations in 1996. Their focus is to provide reliable services with a quick turnaround at the lowest prices for its 70,000+ clients. Here are some of the reasons why LCG is attractive to clients in the United Kingdom.
Overview
The broker specializes is online trading services offering products such as FX majors, Precious Metals, Oil and Soft commodities. At last reading, the market capitalization of the public trading holding company was approximately 20 million GBP. LCG has won awards such as the “Best Mobile Trading Platform” at Money AM in 2012 and 2013. Financial Times/Investors Chronicle also rated it as the “Best CFD Provider” of the year in 2011.
Trading
Forex traders place their trades through LCG Forex. The Forex broker offers unrestricted access to all the ECN multi-bank platforms such as Currenex. Traders get to enjoy one of the lowest spreads and commissions in the industry. Commissions are set on instrument and trade size. Their market execution setup enables a spread-plus-commission pricing model. Leverage asset class start at 300:1 for forex, and declines to as low as 40:1 for some indices.
Account Types
LCG offers 2 main types of live trading accounts, the standard, and premium trading account.
- Classic Account – This basic account type has no minimum deposit and is ideal with small trading. It allows traders to make spread betting on more than 4,000 different markets.
- Premium Account – Traders who want a more personalized trading experience can choose this account. You will access a variety of trading tools, top-notch market analysis and undivided attention from a personal account manager. To qualify for this account a trader needs to have a balance of 25,000 GBP in their trading accounts. This account type has much tighter spreads than the classic account.
There’s also the Islamic account or swap-free account – which imply no swap or rollover interest on overnight positions. This account type is popular with brokers searching to expand their presence in markets with a high Muslim population. Sharia law absolutely forbids Muslims to profit from interests and usury.
LCG also offers a demo account to novice traders who want to practice trading on their platform.
Deposits and Withdrawals
You can use most major debit and credit cards except American Express to deposit funds into your LCG account. Secure bank wire transfers is the favored method. Checks are also accepted which is rather rare in the brokerage industry. Withdrawals are approved and processed within 24 hours once the mandated trader information have been verified.
Trading Platform
LCG provides two desktop trading platforms. They are standard Forex trading application MetaTrader 4, and LCG Trader web-based platform. MT4 is accessible for both types of live trading accounts while the LCG Trader is for ECN accounts. Both platforms are available on iOS and Android trading apps. The latest 256-bit SSL technology is engaged to encrypt all sensitive data.
The LCG Trader is a web-based platform that allows traders to trade in all 5,000 markets across seven asset classes the broker offers. The platform’s interface is customizable. It also has an advanced charting kit and state-of-the-art trading tools that keep traders updated.
In order to provide quick order execution at low prices, LCG management elected to launch a dedicated MetaTrader 4 platform that serves traders who want institutional grade services and product offering. The MT4 platform assures traders of near real-time execution and ultra-tight spreads.
Spreads and Commissions
LCG provides floating spreads for both Classic and the ECN accounts. The average spread on the popular forex pair EURUSD on the classic account is 1.6 pips. This is close to the average for the floating spreads. The maximum average on a major pair is 2.6 pips for GBPJPY.
LCG charges a commission on accounts with tighter spreads. Traders on MetaTrader 4 (MT4) pay $10 per lot. Commission for trading on the proprietary LCG Trader is $45 per $1,000,000 traded.
Leverage
Leverage differs by asset choice selection. The highest leverage LCG provides is 1:500 for Classic accounts. This applies to most major pairs except EURCHF and USDCHF, where the leverage is 1:50 like other exotic pairs. Maximum leverage is 1:200 for minor pairs. For ECN accounts, maximum leverage is 1:200 for major and minor pairs and exotics it’s 1:50.
Customer Support
LCG offers customer support through telephone, email and live chat. Telephone and live chat support is available 24/7. Novice traders can watch video tutorials on the LCG website to learn everything they need to know about trading with this broker.
LCG Pros
- Effective and state-of-the-art trading platforms
- Superior market analysis
- Regulated broker
- An experienced broker with a reputation for quality service
- Wide variety of markets
LCG Cons
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- Restricted support hours
- Does not support social trading
- Substandard website interface
- U.S. clients not accepted
As evidenced from this review, this Forex broker is a solid FX provider with experience stretching over 2 decades. They offer traders good support and reliable trading platforms. The no minimum deposit is advantageous for small trading with amounts such as 100 GBP.
CFD
Forex
Minimum Deposit £100
UKs Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulates LCG under registration number: 182110.