Founded over a decade ago by six students, this Israeli-based CFD broker has seen steady growth in popularity. Plus500 Ltd is now listed on the London Stock Exchange, marking a significant milestone.
Why Can You Trust This Plus500 Review?
Hello! I’m excited to share my insights on Plus500, which I’ve explored through my own Plus500 account. As a certified EFPA (European Financial Advisor #37363), I bring a wealth of knowledge and professional experience. I will provide a detailed analysis of this CFD broker, based on my direct experience and research.
Josep GarciaEFPA Financial Advisor
They claim to have about 330,000 + active customers and a wide variety of CFDs to trade with, allowing global operations.
But how accurate are these claims?
Let’s dive into this detailed Plus 500 analysis to uncover the truth and answer any questions you might have.
Plus500 Review Veredict
Ideal for experienced traders familiar with CFDs or those willing to learn. Using Plus500 requires comfort with leverage, as trading without it is not an option. Beginners, less risk-tolerant investors, or those interested in financial instruments other than CFDs might consider other brokers.
Trading is limited to CFDs, inherently riskier than other assets. The platform is user-friendly and caters well to experienced traders. However, it does not support external platforms like cTrader or MetaTrader.
Plus500 Pros & Cons
Pros
Tight Spread
The spread with which they operate is tight and very competitive when compared to other CFD brokers. But this is very difficult to test and changes a lot.
Charting
The graphics are complete with many options for customization like type of graphic or technical analysis tools.
Design
This trading platform has certainly put a lot of effort into creating a well-designed system. Its interface is straightforward and well-organised. Their demo account will help you get familiar with this broker.
Markets
You can trade over 2,800 + different CFDs on ETFs, shares, currencies, commodities, options, and cryptocurrencies (availability subject to regulation).
Regulated & Listed
It’s listed on the London Stock Exchange, is supervised by various governmental bodies (e.g., Financial Conduct Authority) and has been operating since 2008. This means that they have to comply with certain regulatory requirements.
Available Countries
Plus500 is available in many countries, allowing a wide range of users to trade using this online platform (e.g., UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, etc.). Note that in the US, Plus500 offers futures trading and not CFDs.
Cons
News Section
While Plus500 features a news section, it currently doesn’t integrate with your investments (e.g., no news filtering based on your investments).
Available Assets
Plus500 exclusively offers CFD trading. If you’re interested in buying securities like stocks or mutual funds, consider alternatives to Plus500. Bonds and other fixed income instruments are not available.
Educational Content
Plus500 could improve by offering more comprehensive content for investors to learn investing and trading basics.
Fixed Leverage
This broker doesn’t allow trading without leverage, nor does it offer the option to choose leverage levels; you must trade with the provided levels.
Inactivity Fee
Inactive Plus500 accounts incur a monthly inactivity fee of $10 after a specified period of non-use.
Plus500 in Detail
Opening a Plus500 Account
To open a Plus500 real account, simply follow these steps:
- Visit Plus500 website and click on ‘Start trading’.
- Register on the platform.
- In the left menu, click on ‘Account’ and confirm your details.
- Confirm your email address and phone number.
- Provide the requested documents: passport copy, proof of residence (e.g., bank statement), and verification of your payment method.
- Make your first deposit (minimum $100) and start trading.
Requirements
Beyond completing the account opening process, Plus500 has few other requirements.
As previously mentioned, you need to provide certain documents and make a minimum deposit of $100.
Ensure you reside in a country where Plus500 operates, such as the UK, Cyprus, France, Italy, Germany, Mexico, etc.For example: the UK, Cyprus, France, Italy, Germany, Germany, Mexico, etc.
Types of accounts
Plus500 offers several types of accounts for its users:
- Demo account: If you are thinking of using Plus500, I would suggest that you first take a look at their demo account to test the waters. It’s very useful to see what CFDs you can trade and what their system is like. It’s also ideal for beginners who want to experiment with trading without risking real money.
- Plus500 account: Once you have tried their system and are ready to dive into the world of trading, you can open a (real) account with Plus500. Their standard account, as mentioned above, has a leverage ranging from 1:2 to 1:30, depending on the instruments you trade and your country of residence this may vary – leverage cannot be changed.
- Professional account: Plus500’s professional accounts are available to those users who meet the requirements, these accounts basically offer a higher level of leverage – so they have even more risk associated with them. To be eligible for this type of account, you’ll need to have made an average of 10 trades per quarter (of a certain value), have over $500,000 (or equivalent) in your investments and have professional experience in the financial sector.
What Type of Broker Is Plus500?
Plus500 is a market maker, meaning you trade directly with them, not with the broader market. In other words, there’s no need to wait for another market participant to buy or sell before you can trade.
Plus500 charges a spread to compensate for this risk (selling at a higher price and buying at a lower price than the market). Their spread is highly competitive, ranking among the lowest in the market – more details below.
Plus500 is a CFD broker exclusively
When you invest in a CFD, you’re not buying an actual share, but rather entering into an agreement on the share’s price (in this case, with Plus500). Your profit or loss is determined by the difference between the price at which you bought and the price at which you sold, or vice versa if you short an asset.
If you’re new to the world of finance, it’s important to be aware that you can lose large amounts of money due to the effect of leverage.
Plus500 allows leverage, meaning that you don’t have to invest your entire capital; instead, you can use funds to cover a portion of it. This is particularly beneficial for individuals looking to execute a high volume of trades without committing their full capital.
However, a drawback of Plus500 is the inability to trade without leverage, which may be intimidating for beginners and potentially dissuade them. The leverage offered by Plus500 varies, ranging from 1:30 for Forex to 1:2 for cryptocurrencies (availability subject to regulation). Professional account holders can access even higher leverage ratios.
Plus500 in the US
For US-based users, Plus500 doesn’t offer CFD trading; instead, they offer futures trading. These future brokerage services are provided through Cunningham Commodities LLC, a subsidiary of Plus500. Consequently, they are registered with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and are also members of the National Futures Association. If you’re interested, their membership ID number is 0001398.
Is Plus500 a Scam?
Plus500 is a legitimate and well-established company with offices in reputable countries such as Cyprus, Australia, and the UK. It is not a scam.
To provide financial services in all the countries where they operate, Plus500 is regulated by multiple public bodies that audit its accounts, practices, and operations. These regulatory bodies are similar to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.
In particular, it must comply with the regulations of the securities commissions of Cyprus, United Kingdom, Singapore and Australia and be duly registered in those countries. This is why investors (e.g. in the UK) are protected against losses caused by broker misconduct with compensation of up to £85,000.
Not bad, right?
Moreover, as I mentioned earlier, it’s listed on the London Stock Exchange, so it has to pass rigorous tests and comply with London stock exchange requirements.
Platform security
Plus500 allows you to log in to its platform using your Facebook or Google account, or you can opt for logging in with any email address you have.
It’s possible to enable 2-step authentication via your mobile phone. In addition to your username and password, Plus500 will require you to confirm your login with a code that will be sent to your phone.
Plus500 Fees and Commissions in Detail
To avoid certain fees with Plus500, you can follow the steps below:
If your account remains inactive for over 3 months, you can resolve this by logging into your platform periodically. Otherwise, a fee of $10 will be charged each month.
Naturally, you might be wondering, where does Plus500 generate its profits?
An excellent question indeed.
Well, being a market maker and buying and selling CFDs from and to its users, the profit, to a large extent, comes from the spread: which is the difference between the buy and sell price (similar to an exchange house buying cheaper currencies and selling them more expensively).
The spreads offered by Plus500 are fairly competitive within the industry. However, it’s worth noting that the methodology for calculating these spreads is not fully disclosed. Plus500 offers both fixed spreads (consistent) and dynamic spreads (adjusting with market conditions).
Here are some real examples of spreads at the time of writing this analysis. Please keep in mind that these spreads may vary. Plus500 features a variety of popular instruments, including:”
| CFDs | Sell | Buy | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nikola Corporation | $21.78 | $21.88 | $0.10 |
| Pfizer | $34.64 | $34.80 | $0.16 |
| Alibaba | $2,.60 | $268.27 | $0.67 |
| AstraZeneca (UK) | $7.42.25 | $7,456.74 | $33.49 |
| Oil | $59.66 | $59.72 | $0.06 |
| Gold | $1,823.46 | $1,825.00 | $1.54 |
| Coffee | $122.32 | $122.52 | $0.20 |
| EUR/USD | $1.21 | $1.21 | $0.00 |
| EUR/GBP | $0.87 | $0.87 | $0.00 |
| EUR/AUD | $1.56 | $1.56 | $0.00 |
| UK 100 | $6,556.50 | $6,558.50 | $2.00 |
| ASX 200 | $6,776.00 | $6,779.00 | $3.00 |
| Germany 30 | $14,062.50 | $14,065.51 | $3.01 |
| USA 30 – Wall Street | $31,417.00 | $31,423.00 | $6.00 |
These buy and sell prices are for February 14th 2023.
Please note that all trades with Plus500 incur a minimum loss initially due to the spread (the difference between the buy or sell price and the actual market price).
Plus500: Available Assets
A quick look at Plus500’s main site reveals that contracts for difference (CFDs) are their speciality. This is because the trading platform is exclusicely designed for trading these types of derivative products (and in some cases, options).
However, it offers a wide variety of markets and different CFDs. Here’s what you can find on Plus500.
Please note that CFDs are complex derivative products. When you trade a CFD on Amazon shares, you’re not purchasing actual shares of this popular e-commerce platform. Instead, you’re entering into a contract that references the price of these shares. In simpler terms, when you trade a CFD on Amazon shares, you’re not acquiring ownership of Amazon shares; you’re dealing with a derivative product that mirrors the price of Amazon shares.
Stock CFDs
Plus500 offers a wide variety of stock CFDs for trading, making it one of the platforms with the most extensive selection available.
While it includes CFDs for popular stocks like Apple, Tesla, Google, and Amazon, Plus500 is noteworthy for providing numerous other trading options as well.
For instance, you can trade CFDs on shares of companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, and Hong Kong.
ETF CFDs
Besides CFDs on shares, you can also trade ETF CFDs. As of the time of writing this Plus500 review, they provide approximately 100 ETFs for trading.
Forex
Currency pairs are among the most popular instruments among traders, and with Plus500, you’ll have access to a wide variety of CFDs based on these pairs.
Specifically, there are over 70 Forex CFDs available, including pairs such as EUR/USD, EUR/GBP, EUR/AUD, GBP/USD, AUD/USD, NZD/USD, USD/JPY, and more.
Indices CFDs
Another popular investment instrument among traders is indices. At Plus500, you can find various types of indices, including country indices like Germany 30, USA 500, Italy 40, Europe 50, and Spain 35.
Plus500 users also have the option to trade 2 CFDs on sector indices, including the NYSE FANG+ Index (comprising technology companies) and the Real Estate Giants Index (representing US real estate companies).
Commodity CFDs
Plus500 offers investors approximately 20 commodity CFDs for trading. Among others, you can trade CFDs on commodities such as oil, silver, gold, sugar, copper, coffee, cocoa, and corn.
Cryptocurrency CFDs
Plus500 has also joined the cryptocurrency trend, allowing you to trade cryptocurrency CFDs (availability subject to regulation).
While their variety isn’t the broadest, with only 8 CFDs available, you can still trade cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, or Stellar. Interestingly, they even offer an Ethereum/Bitcoin pair for trading, subject to regulatory considerations.
Education & Research with Plus500
Having a broker that is well-designed, has hundreds of assets to trade (via CFD), and charges low fees is a trader’s dream.
But the truth is that to be successful with your investments you’ll also need a good system to analyse your investments, and to inform yourself about what is going on in the market.
That’s why I want to take a look at Plus500’s information options, economic calendar, tutorials, technical analysis and charts with you.
News Feed
Plus500 offers a basic news feed on its website. However, it may not be the most impressive feature. For more comprehensive results, I recommend utilizing a news aggregator like Feedly along with news alerts, such as Google Alerts.
Economic Calendar
Plus500 provides a comprehensive economic calendar that includes the dates of significant economic and financial events, such as earnings announcements. This tool is invaluable for considering potential market fluctuations in response to these events, helping you anticipate possible impacts and forecast profits for your portfolio. Keep in mind that this task is not straightforward, as you are competing in the global market.
For instance, in Plus500’s economic calendar, you can discover the events anticipated for the week, including earnings announcements and macroeconomic updates from major countries (e.g., unemployment figures in the US or the UK), among others.
Additionally, this economic calendar features an indicator that displays the anticipated impact of these announcements and identifies the instruments most likely to be affected. This functionality simplifies the process of planning trades and formulating trading strategies.
Educational Resources
On Plus500, you can find well-produced videos that provide concise explanations of fundamental concepts. However, it’s worth noting that there aren’t many available videos, and there is room for improvement in this aspect. Currently, these videos are exclusively in English.
You’ll discover a FAQ section aimed at explaining how Plus500 operates. There are nearly a hundred articles available, with some complemented by explanatory videos.
Plus500 Charts
It’s evident that Plus500 places great emphasis on creating a platform equipped with robust visual tools for analysing investments through charts.
Firstly, Plus500 enables you to visually compare assets side by side, facilitating assessment and analysis of investments and instrument prices. However, it appears that overlaying the prices of other instruments (or indices) on the same chart is not currently supported.
Plus500 offers over 10 chart types, allowing you to select the one that best suits your needs. These include options like candlestick, bar, Renko, Kagi, and more. It’s quite fascinating to discover the variety of chart types available.
Furthermore, Plus500 provides the option to add annotations to charts, adjusting the time frame (ranging from 1 minute to 1 week), making annotations, incorporating elements like shapes (e.g., rectangles), or manually drawing on the charts using the mouse. Naturally, you can save these charts for future reference.
Finally, Plus500 allows you to add financial analysis indicators such as Moving Averages, Bollinger Bands, Balance of Power, and Aroon Oscillator.
Plus500 Alternatives
Plus500 specializes in one area: derivatives, specifically through CFDs. You might not have an interest in investing in these products, or you may be seeking an alternative to Plus500 for various reasons. Let me share with you 3 of the top alternatives to Plus500:
eToro
eToro is a widely recognized investing platform with a substantial marketing and advertising budget. However, what sets it apart are a few unique (or nearly unique) features among investment platforms.
Unlike many other CFD brokers, eToro offers you the choice of trading with or without leverage, a feature that can be attractive to certain users. Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that eToro provides a broader range of investment options, including the ability to purchase stocks, ETFs, and actual cryptocurrencies, in addition to CFDs.
Additionally, eToro offers a unique feature that allows investors to automatically replicate the portfolios of other eToro users. However, it’s important to emphasize that this feature does not eliminate the inherent risks associated with trading. Conversely, I’ve observed that eToro may not offer the most competitive spreads available in the market.
Check out eToroXTB
XTB’s platform, and services, closely resemble those of Plus500. While it primarily serves as a CFD trading broker, it’s worth noting that in certain, XTB allows users to invest in actual shares.
XTB offers competitive commissions. However, a downside is that their demo account is time-limited, unless you are an existing client.
Check out XTBTrading 212
Trading 212 is a brokerage platform offering remarkably low commissions to investors interested in real stocks and ETFs, among other financial products.
Unlike some other brokers, Trading 212 places less emphasis on derivatives trading and, therefore, doesn’t provide the option to trade CFDs in all the countries.
Plus500 Review: Final Thoughts
Plus500 is a platform designed for investors seeking to trade CFDs regularly.
The platform provides competitive spreads, and the account opening process is entirely online, eliminating the need to submit physical documents. Plus500 offers a diverse range of derivative assets (CFDs) for trading, with over 2,800 + instruments available.
Keep in mind that you can’t adjust your trade leverage on Plus500; you must always use the maximum. This limitation might be a drawback for some investors. While Plus500 offers tutorials and learning materials, they could be more comprehensive. The news section is quite basic, but you can find an economic calendar showing important economic and financial event dates.
Plus500 is a regulated broker in several countries and is listed on the London Stock Exchange, so its accounts are public.
82% of retail investor accounts lose money in CFD trading with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take a high risk of losing your money.
* Plus500UK Ltd authorized & regulated by the FCA (#509909). Plus500CY Ltd authorized & regulated by CySEC (#250/14). Plus500SG Pte Ltd, licensed by the MAS (#CMS100648-1) and IE Singapore (#PLUS/CBL/2018). Plus500SEY Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (Licence No. SD039). Plus500AU Pty Ltd (ACN 153301681), licensed by: ASIC in Australia, AFSL #417727, FMA in New Zealand, FSP #486026; Authorised Financial Services Provider in South Africa, FSP #47546. You do not own or have any rights to the underlying assets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Plus500 is a company listed on the London Stock Exchange, allowing anyone to own shares in the company. Here are the largest shareholders of Plus500, including numerous investment funds.
| Investor | % ownership |
|---|---|
| Odey Asset Management LLP | 8.8% |
| Invesco Asset Management Ltd. | 4.7% |
| Acadian Asset Management LLC | 4.4% |
| Ninety One UK Ltd. | 3.7% |
| Vanguard Global Advisers LLC | 3.7% |
| Morgan Stanley Securities Ltd. (Market-Maker) | 3.0% |
| Norges Bank Investment Management | 2.6% |
| Schroder Investment Management Ltd. | 2.5% |
| Rathbone Investment Management Ltd. | 2.3% |
| BlackRock Fund Advisors | 2.3% |
Source: MarketScreeners
To cancel your Plus500 account, please contact the support team.
Unfortunately, if you intend to use an external platform like MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 in combination with Plus500, it’s not feasible.
Yes, Plus500 is a trading platform regulated by several countries. Allow me to provide detailed information on the most significant regulatory authorities:
- UK: Plus500UK Ltd (UK subsidiary), is regulated and authorised by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) – licence #509909.
- Europe: For the European market they operate with the subsidiary Plus500CY Ltd, regulated and authorised by the CySEC (Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission) – licence #250/14.
- Australia: The Australian branch of Plus500’s business is regulated by the ASIC (Australian Securities & Investments Commission) – licence #417727.
- New Zealand: Regulated by FMA (Financial Ahtority Markets) – licence #486026.
- South Africa: Authorised financial services provider by the FSCA – licence #47546
- Etc.
It’s important to note that Plus500 is a publicly traded company listed on the London Stock Exchange, subjecting it to rigorous oversight by financial authorities.
Certainly, Plus500 is a reputable company.
The broker is regulated by multiple financial authorities, including CySEC (Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission) and the UK FCA (Financial Conduct Authority). Additionally, Plus500 is a publicly traded company on the London FTSE, subjecting it to ongoing audits to ensure its financial soundness and legitimacy.
With that said, the decision to trust Plus500 ultimately rests with you, as it’s your money on the line. So, if you don’t feel comfortable using this trading platform, please refrain from doing so.
Certainly, investing in a CFD broker like Plus500 entails many levels of risk. These risks include the potential loss of your investment if the market moves against your positions, the possibility of Plus500 ceasing operations, or the company filing for bankruptcy. CFDs are complex financial products, which means there’s a chance of losing more than anticipated due to leverage.
Having stated that, the cash funds you hold in Plus500 will be deposited in an individual bank account registered under your name. This arrangement should offer a degree of protection for your funds, although there are certain limitations to this protection.
For UK-based customers, it’s reassuring to know that Plus500 is a participant in the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. This scheme provides compensation of up to £85,000 in the unfortunate event of Plus500 facing insolvency. However, let’s hope that none of us will ever have to navigate the complexities of applying for such compensation.
Plus500’s trading hours are contingent on the specific financial asset you wish to trade and your geographic location. For instance, if you’re trading CFDs on American stocks, you’ll follow American trading hours, while CFDs on currencies are available for 24-hour trading.
This is a valid question, and the straightforward answer is that, like any other broker, Plus500 generates revenue by imposing fees and spreads on its users, including you and other investors.
It’s important to clarify that Plus500 doesn’t levy a transaction fee, but there are costs associated with using this CFD broker. Rather than imposing an explicit fee, Plus500 applies a spread, which means they sell you a CFD at a slightly higher price than what they would buy it from you. This practice is widespread among many CFD providers.
However, in addition to spreads, Plus500 applies other fees to generate revenue from its users. Here’s a list of the most notable charges:
- Inactivity fee: Plus500 may impose an inactivity fee if you have an account but don’t use it for an extended period.
- Financing fees: Think of it like borrowing a book from a friend and not returning it promptly; they might request a small fee for each additional day you keep it. Similarly, if you maintain a trade open overnight with Plus500, they charge financing fees because you’re essentially borrowing capital from them for that trade.
- Currency conversion: When trading assets denominated in a different currency than your account, Plus500 applies a nominal fee for currency conversion. Therefore, if you’re trading in USD but your account is in GBP, keep in mind the additional cost involved.
Furthermore, due to its role as a market maker, Plus500 serves as the counterparty in all trades, and they may generate additional revenue as more users experience losses in their trades.
Plus500 asserts that it processes all withdrawal requests within one business day. However, the duration may vary depending on the chosen payment method. For instance, bank transfers typically require an additional minimum of 24 hours, while e-wallet withdrawals are typically instantaneous.
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