GMO Trading Review

GMO Trading Products

GMO Trading offers over 300 tradable assets categorized in five assets classes. There are 50 currency pairs, 16 indices, 33 cryptocurrency pairs, 17 commodities and 194 stock shares. The stock shares comprise of 79 US stocks, 39 Australian stocks and 76 European stocks.

Trading Conditions for GMO Trading

Trade executions are fast and orders are promptly processed with little lags. GMO Trading does not charge commissions. Its trading fees are incorporated into the spread which varies according to account type and market conditions. The maximum leverage is 1:500 for professional clients only and 1:30 for retail clients (forex majors). Rollover fees are charged for accounts that hold a positive position overnight. However, there are discounts of 25% and 50% for Gold and Platinum account holders respectively.

An account without any activity for a period of 60 days is declared dormant and a monthly charge of €80 will be deducted from the account balance. The following subsequent fees are charged:

• Dormant for over 91 days, a fee of €120 per month is applicable.
• Dormant for over 181 days, a fee of €200 per month is applicable.
• Dormant for over 301 days, a fee of €500 per month is applicable.

This amount will be charged monthly until the account becomes empty.

GMO Trading Account Types

The following account types are available:

• Silver account:

This account is offers the highest spread and the least number of features. The spread starts from 2.2 pips. Account holders do not get news alerts and are not provided with dedicated account managers. It is best for beginner traders with limited trading capital. The leverage is capped at 1:200.

• Gold account:

The Gold account is recommended for intermediate traders. It gives access to webinars and videos as educational content. A dedicated account manager is available for guidance. There is a swap discount of 25%. The benchmark EURUSD spread starts from 1.3 pips and the leverage is capped at 1:400.

• Platinum account:

This is the premium account provided by GMO Trading. It features the tightest spread which starts for 0.7 pips for the EURUSD. In addition to all the perks of a Gold account, Platinum account holders are provided a free VPS and news alert. The swap discount offered is 50% and a maximum leverage of 1:500 is obtainable. This account is designed for Professional traders with huge capital and complex trading strategies.

GMO Trading Commissions & Fees

GMO Trading only charges from the spread and no commissions. The spread for the EURUSD currency pair is as low as 0.7pips for Platinum account holders. Though the spread can widen with market conditions, it always hovers within the average of 0.7 pips. This is competitive when compared to other brokers.

GMO Trading does not offer zero accounts, cent accounts or ECN accounts.

GMO Trading Platforms and Tools

The only trading platform offered by GMO Trading is the popular MT4. The platform has worldwide acceptance because of its robust features, speed and versatility. As at today, the MT4 is offered in 39 languages and this number keeps increasing. The platform is suited for newbies, intermediate and professional traders. The interface is simple, intuitive, yet it supports complex trading styles, extensions and sophisticated strategies. It comes preloaded with 30 technical indicators and 24 analytical tools. 3 chart styles can be displayed on 9 timeframes ranging from one minute to one month.

The GMO Trading MT4 is available as a downloadable desktop application, WebTrader and as mobile apps.

Is GMO Trading Mobile Friendly?

The GMO Trading website is optimized for mobile viewing. The menus shrink, pictures resize and the whole website adjusts to fit the small screen when it is accessed with a mobile device.

GMO Trading has its own proprietary mobile app which is available on android and iOS mobile devices. The apps can be downloaded from their respective app stores. From this app, clients can manage their accounts, trade the markets and monitor their account balances. The app interface is colourful and easy to operate.

Here are some functions of the GMO Trading app:

• Monitor live quotes on the go for all the tradable assets.
• Switch between accounts, from live to demo accounts, etc.
• Deposit funds into live accounts, monitor account balances and view account history.
• View the real-time charts of all the instruments in 9 timeframes.
• Enter and exit the market anytime with app’s order and risk management features.The MT4 mobile app is also available for download and installation on an Android or iOS mobile device. The app can be used for technical analysis via charts on different timeframe, indicators and multiple drawing tools. It has advanced order management and can be used to more trades, account balances as well as history
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GMO Trading Promotions

CySEC has banned all broker promotions and GMO has had no choice but to comply. So, there are no promotions.

GMO Trading Deposits & Withdrawals

GMO Trading offers a wide variety of payment methods. Several methods are country dependent because GMO Trading makes it easy for traders to use the convenient payment method prevalent in their region. The minimum deposit accepted on GMO Trading is €250.

The accepted payment options are:

• Debit/Credit cards: Visa card, Mastercard, Carta Si cards and Dankort Cards.
• Bank Payment Solutions: Trustly, Klarna, Nordea, GiroPay, EPS and SEPA.
• ePayment Solutions: Much Better, PostePay, Rapid Transfer, Przelewy 24, iDeal, Neteller and Skrill.

Most of the deposit methods are processed instantly. The minimum withdrawal amount is €100; requests for lesser amounts attract charges. Generally, there are no deposit and withdrawal fees. But, a withdrawal fee of €50 is charged if the trader has made only one trade before requesting a withdrawal. Requests for withdrawals submitted before 9am are processed on the same day. Clients are fully verified before withdrawal requests are approved.

GMO Trading Customer Support

The GMO customer support service is available from 6am on Monday to Friday 7pm GMT every weekday. They can be contacted via the following channels:

• Phone: Toll free number +80050026003
• Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
• Contact form: it is available on the ‘contact us’ page of the website.
• Instant web chat: it can be accessed from all pages of the website.

Support is available to all clients, enquirers and prospective clients. A ‘service desk’ is available to all registered clients. The ‘service desk’ issue tickets to all support requests and keeps track and history of all requests. The chat support representatives respond to chat requests in less than a minute. They are knowledgeable and supportive. Account managers always call to guide a new client. Emails are the slowest support channel as it is replied within a day. The support is only provided in English.

There are no FAQs and glossary, but the education section has MT4 tutorial videos to assist newbies. The customer support is fast and efficient and so it is no surprise that the team has an award to show for it.

GMO Trading Research and Education

GMO trading provides adequate training for new traders in the education section of the website. The training resources are freely accessible on the broker website.

• Videos on Demand (VOD) are categorized and feature a series of short videos introducing new traders to the world of forex/CFD trading.

• Two eBooks are available. The ‘Forex eBook’ introduces forex to newbies and takes the training from basics to an intermediate level. The ‘Advanced eBook’ teaches the techniques and analytical strategies needed to succeed in forex trading.

• ‘Articles’ section of the website consists of over 50 articles explaining various terms, strategies, indicators, markets, etc. These articles are expository with illustrations and detailed explanations.

• ‘Courses’ section has four groups of video lessons. They are the ‘Beginners Course’, CFDs and Stocks, Trading Strategies and Trading Tools. There are a total of 21 video lessons in this section. The videos are full of illustrations, animations and lucid explanations.

• The Tutorials section contains videos that teach newbies how to use the MT4 platform on both mobile and desktop computers. It contains 11 videos.

The research tools provided are the ‘daily reviews’ and the ‘economic calendar’. The daily reviews are financial news headlines are presented in form of a short video from the news studio. The economic calendar shows important events around the world that are likely to have impact on a selected asset.

Noteworthy Points to mention for GMO Trading

Though a new broker, GMO Trading has made a big impact within two years of operations. Virtual Private Server (VPS) services are provided at no cost only to Platinum account holders.

There are not much negative reviews for this broker but there are several reports of constant calls and emails from this broker urging clients to increase deposit or trade more. There are also complains on the exorbitant inactivity fees. Generally, most reviews are good.

Conclusion for GMO Trading

GMO Trading is a relatively new broker that is yet to be fully established as a global brokerage powerhouse. The CySEC regulation goes a long way to add credibility and reliability to the brand. The asset index of over 300 instruments is commendable. The GMO Trading app is perfect for trading on the go. Mobile traders can choose between the MT4 app and GMO Trading app or even use both. Multiple payment options are available and the trading fees are competitive. Traders’ educational suite is available in different forms which is applaudable.