CFD Providers – Australia

  • By Jeff Cartridge

  • June 17, 2015
  • 1:44 pm BST

How do the CFD Providers stack up?

CFD Providers in Australia have always been fiercely competitive in this rapidly growing market. Advertising budgets for some CFD providers run into the millions as they look to grab the largest share of the CFD market locally.

Australian CFD Provider Comparision Chart Below

The market forCFD providers in Australia hasn’t all been smooth sailing though. For example during the 2008 Australian Market Meltdown CFD providers came under intense heat as margincalls hit all time highs. Short selling was to blame for driving the share price down on many wellknown companies, like ABC Learning centers and all eyes were firmly planted on Australia’s CFDproviders.

Despite many financial share brokers (Opes Prime) hitting hard times, the Australian CFD providers have weathered the storm and are forging ahead strongly.

So which CFD Provider is right for you?

Which CFD Provider is by far the most common question that is asked time and time again. If you ask 10 people you’ll get 10 different answers and they are all correct. The most critical thing you can do is identify the type of service your CFD trading plan will need to be successful trading CFDs. Once you identify the exact style of CFD trading you will be doing then the right CFD provider will appear.

To make life easier for you, we have built each CFD provider profile based on some critical services they should be providing you with. Here are questions you should be asking your current or future CFD provider.

What are the key things to look for when selecting a CFD provider?

  • Can you access to the top 300 ASX stocks. Most active CFD traders only trade the top 300. Having access to additional CFDs outside this range is not paramount and margins run close to standard share trading. I.e. 100% margin up front.
  • Can you short sell the top 200 ASX stocks?
  • Do they use Direct Market Access (DMA) or are they a using a Market Maker model?
  • Is the platform easy to operate?
  • Do you get access to customer support around the clock?
  • What are their standard brokerage rates?
  • What are their discount brokerage rates for large volume/active traders?
  • Do they give you access to global markets?
  • Do they have the full range of Global index CFDs?
  • Can you trade global FX pairs from the one account?
CFD Provider Comparison Chart – Australia

 

CMC Markets

IG Markets

FP Markets

Macquarie Prime

GFT

City Index

Basics

DMA or MM

MM

DMA

DMA

DMA

MM

MM

ASX CFDs Offered

500+

1,000

2,000

950

500

300

Pre Open Auction

No

Yes

Yes

No

Platform Used

MarketMaker ®

IG Pure Deal

WebIress

MQ Prime

Dealbook® 360

City Index

Account Opening $

$1,000

$0

$5,000

$5,000

$2,500

$100

Software Demo Trial

14 days

14 days

14 days

14 days

20 days

No

Margin Rates

3-50%

5-50%

5-100%

5-80%

5-50%

5-100%

Commission

%

0.09%

0.10%

0.10%

0.12%

0.10%

0.08%

Phone Orders

0.10%

0.10%

0.10%

0.10%

0.10%

Vol Discounts

0.06-0.08%

$8 or 0.1%

Neg%

0.07-0.1%

0.07-0.10%

Min Commission

$7

$8

$10

$10

$10

$10

Financing

Long CFDs

RBA +2%

RBA +2.5%

RBA +3%

RBA +2.5%

LIBOR +3%

RBA +2%

 Short CFDs

RBA -2%

RBA -2.5%

RBA -3%

RBA -2.5%

LIBOR -3%

RBA -2%

Interest Paid

RBA-2% >$US10K

RBA -1%

 7.25%

Markets

Int CFDs

19 Int

20 Int

17 Int

No

12 Int

14 Int

CFD Indices

20

29

No

No

35

17

Forex

72

64

Yes

No

123

64

Commodities

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Futures

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Options

No

Yes

No

No

No

No

Warrants

No

No

Yes

No

No

No

ASX Equities

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

No

Shares as Collateral

No

No

Yes

Yes

No

No

Fee’s

ASX fee

$38.50

$37.50

$38.50

$41.25

Free

Free

Platform fee

Free

Free

$50

Free

Free

Free

OrderTypes

GSL

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

GSL: Guaranteed Stop Loss Order
Note: CFD brokers change their offerings without warning, so we provide no guarantee as to the accuracy of the data above.