The importance of choosing the right CFD Provider and Trading Platorm

CFD trading like any new discipline can be a little confusing at first. However, as soon as you get to know the fundamentals it gets a lot easier. Choosing the right CFD provider can be difficult though.

Which CFD company is the best?

Does the trading platform matter? Here are some factors you may want to consider before making your choice .

Provider

It seems obvious but it really does pay to choose an established CFD provider, one that has been around for a while and is successful. There are quite a few providers who have started-up in the last few years, they tend to offer cash incentives to try and get you to start an account with them. Approach these with caution.
If you’re just starting out, be reassured that even professionals are eager to learn more about how to become a better trader. It’s therefore important you choose a provider who can offer you educational resources to get you started.

And, going forward, choose one who provides ongoing support to help you improve your trading skills. Take a look at the range of markets on offer, the more experienced providers will generally have a larger range of markets to choose from. Although it’s not always the deciding factor, you should get used to researching which CFD providers provide the most competitive spreads and margins. A CFD provider can either be a ‘Market Maker’ or offer ‘Direct Market Access’ and sometimes both, with the former the provider will quote a price for you to bid on and with the latter your contracts will go directly to the stock exchange.

Like all professional services, customer service is important, so, do a bit of research online and find out which provider will benefit you over the long-term.

CFD trading platform

It’s important to choose a reliable CFD trading platform, one that’s not going to crash the very moment you want to place a trade and also one that offers fast and accurate execution of trades. While how easy the platform is to use is important it’s also key to do some research in to the technology behind the platform. If you decide to go for a browser-based trading platform, check which browsers the provider recommends. Some platforms don’t offer charting packages, this might be ok for the new trader but you’ll find as you get more experienced that you’ll increasingly begin to rely on charts and the analysis of them to help you hone your trading strategy.

Choose a provider who has a variety of charts.

You might also want to consider looking into what kind of other tools the CFD trading company makes available to help you with you trading, such as technical analysis and news feeds.
Conclusion -Platform AND Provider

A professional CFD trader will tell you that actually the platform and the provider are of equal importance, so choose wisely. They’ll also mention that you should make sure the provider and the platform offers the full range of tools to help you manage your risk. These include guaranteed stops and trailing stops.

Recent technological innovations within the CFD trading industry have included mobile trading and the use of Multilateral Trading Facilities (Chi-X, BATS) to deliver increased liquidity and more competitive pricing to customers. IG Markets offer different products including forex trading and they have a free demo of their trading platform and free education and resources to help you become a better trader.

Remember that CFDs are a leveraged product and can result in losses that exceed your initial deposit. Trading CFDs may not be suitable for everyone, so please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved.