TradeDirect365 Review
As a trading platform that is created for traders by traders, TradeDirect365 is focused on providing a fair and easy-to-use platform for all levels of trader. The broker is a top choice for traders who wish to trade with low commission fees, tight fixed spreads, and transparent pricing models. They provide traders with advanced trading platforms, a responsive client support team, useful trading tools, and a suite of learning resources to help them get the most out of their trades. They broker has a vast selection of financial instruments across different asset classes with a minimum deposit required to start trading of just $1.
Since its launch in 2014, TradeDirect365 (TD365) is an Australian-based CFD broker that has been providing traders with secure access to the global financial markets. To ensure seamless trading of multiple Trading Products, they provide traders with innovative trading platforms, such as the MT4 and CloudTrade platforms. In addition, the broker provides traders with various useful trading tools, educational resources, and the services of a reliable client support team.
TradeDirect365, TD365 for short, offers a vast selection of trading instruments across different asset classes, such as forex, indices, commodities, cryptocurrency, stocks, and more. Their clients can benefit from competitive trading conditions, including tight fixed spreads, single currency trading account, secure funding methods, negative balance protection, demo account, and more. The minimum deposit required to start trading is just $1 and free demo accounts are also available if you want to give them a try without making a financial commitment.
The broker provides traders with a lot of favourable trading conditions; little wonder, it is one of the choicest brokerage firms in Australia. They provide you with a single currency trading account, eliminating the need to pay any currency conversion fees if you are depositing funds in the same currency. You can enjoy rapid trade execution speeds, tight fixed spreads, multiple payment options, and negative balance protection. The broker is also regulated by a reputable financial authority, which assures traders of the safety of their invested funds. Various sophisticated trading platforms and other trading resources help you to get the most out of your trades.
The broker provides traders with various financial instruments across different asset classes, such as indices, forex, commodities, cryptocurrency, stocks, and more. All the available trading instruments can be accessed via any of the provided versatile trading platforms, which are available in desktop, web, and mobile versions. There are tight fixed spreads across all the Trading Products, which ensures pricing transparency that is rarely available anywhere in the financial markets. The instant execution helps to ensure a smooth trading experience. If you want to trade options and bonds, IG are an alternative broker worth consideration.
TradeDirect365 Instruments Summary
| Instruments | TradeDirect365 |
|---|---|
| Forex | ✓ |
| Stocks | ✓ |
| Indices | ✓ |
| Commodities | ✓ |
| Cryptos | ✓ |
| Options | x |
| Bonds | x |
| ETFs | x |
| CFDs | ✓ |
Commission and Spread Fees
Spreads and commissions are some of the trading fees that every trader should be familiar with. It is important always to consider these fees as they help determine the potential return you may make on your trades. While commissions are small transaction fees charged by brokers, spreads are the difference between an instrument’s buy and sell price.
At TradeDirect365, traders are provided with tight fixed spreads. The tight fixed spreads help to ensure a transparent pricing model that is not readily available in the financial markets. Fixed spreads are one of the surest ways to ensure that you will enjoy tight spreads. With fixed spreads, you are assured that you will only trade at the rate that the broker advertises. They are one of a few brokers I have come across that offer fixed spreads, Trade Nation being another broker that do.
Interestingly, the broker does not charge any commission fees on trades, except on Australian stocks, which come with a $5 or 0.07% commission fee on stocks valued above $7,150. There are no commission fees on the other trading instruments.
| Fee | Live Account |
|---|---|
| Commission (per standard lot per side) | $0 and $5 on Australian stocks |
| Fixed spreads from | 0.4 |
Deposit and Withdrawal Fees
The broker does not charge any fees for account deposits and withdrawals. However, there may be some additional fees that you may need to pay, a banking fee or currency conversion fee if your account is in a different currency.
Inactivity Fees
TradeDirect365 does not charge an inactivity fee on dormant accounts. This is impressive as most brokers often charge a fee on clients’ accounts if there has been no activity occurring on your account for a specified period. Once the inactivity has passed the broker’s time frame, you will begin to be charged an inactivity fee every month.
The broker provides traders with a suite of intuitive trading platforms to ensure an enhanced trading experience. The available trading platforms at TD365 include the MT4 platform and a proprietary trading platform that is known as the CloudTrade. These platforms allow users to trade all the available Trading Products with ease. Each trading platform comes with essential benefits, functionalities, pricing, look, feel, and more. Hence, you are expected to carry out extensive research to ascertain the most suitable platform for you. A demo account can be a great risk free way to try the platforms and practice your trading strategies.
MetaTrader 4
Established in 2005 by MetaQuotes, MetaTrader 4 or MT4 is one of the most popular trading platforms among forex and CFD traders. It is developed with optimal functionalities to ensure the seamless trading of various financial assets. The platform is reputed for its extensive range of trading features and capabilities, such as one-click trading, easy-to-use trading interface, enhanced charting package, technical indicators, and the MQL programming language, allowing users to automate their trading strategies using expert advisors.
In addition, traders can use the MT4 trading platform to implement complex strategies, market and pending orders, instant execution, trading from a chart, stop orders and trailing stops, a tick chart, and trading history. The platform also has a fully customizable user interface, allowing traders to tweak it to suit their individual trading needs. There is so much to love about the MT4 trading platform.
The MT4 trading platform is available as a desktop application for Windows and Mac computers, WebTrader, and a mobile app that is compatible with Android and iOS devices. The web version runs directly on modern web browsers, such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge, without the need to download or install additional software. On the other hand, the mobile app can be downloaded from the relevant app stores and used to place trades and check trading positions anytime and from anywhere in the world, provided there is an internet connection.
I have used MT4 for many years and never felt the need to switch over to anything else. That being said, there is a newer version of the platform in MT5, but you will need to choose another broker for that as TD365 do not currently provide it. Admirals are an option as they have both MetaTrader platforms.
Platform features
- Multiple timeframes
- Hedging, scalping, and other trading styles are allowed
- Supports technical analysis on the charts with an abundance of indicators
- MQL4 programming language is available
- Available in desktop, web, and mobile versions
- Thirty inbuilt indicators and analytical tools.
- Offers push alert notifications
- Allows trade automation using expert advisors
- Permits strategy back testing
- Support for one-click trading
- Multiple charts
- Live quotes
- Drawing tools
CloudTrade
This is the broker’s proprietary trading platform. It is built with an exciting interface that is intuitive and clutter-free, allowing traders to carry out their transactions with ease. The platform was designed with efficiency and simplicity in mind to help traders get the most out of their trades. It facilitates trades with razor-sharp execution. The platform also allows traders to trade on thousands of global financial markets in a very intuitive manner. The charting package is powered by ChartIQ, an American-based fintech firm that specializes in HTML charting solutions and general financial software solutions. Over 15 chart styles can be displayed on up to 12 timeframes from 1 minute to 1 month. It comes with over 90 technical indicators and over 30 drawing tools.
With the CloudTrade platform, traders can gain access to low latency live pricing, intuitive feature-rich trading charts, advanced order types, account history, high/low figures from the day, and so much more. It is also worth mentioning that CloudTrade is the only platform that provides Single Currency Trading accounts and fixed spreads. It is available in web and mobile versions and is complemented by mobile and tablet solutions. The web platform runs directly on modern web browsers, eliminating the need to download or install additional software. The mobile app is best suited for traders who wish to access their trading accounts while on the go as long as they are connected to the internet. The trading app can be downloaded from the relevant app store on Android and iOS.
Platform features
- Optimized trading conditions within a highly secure environment.
- Guaranteed stops
- Fixed spreads
- Single Currency Trading
- Zero Balance Protection
- Access to thousands of financial markets
- Easy-to-use trading platform
- Available in web and mobile versions
TradeDirect365 Platforms Summary
| Platform | TradeDirect365 |
|---|---|
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | ✓ |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | x |
| cTrader | x |
| Proprietary (CloudTrade) | ✓ |
| Desktop | ✓ |
| Web | ✓ |
| Mobile | ✓ |
| Social Trading | x |
| Other | x |
User Guides
This section of the broker’s website contains a selection of video guides on how to get started with the broker’s trading platforms. These guides also cover other topics, including ‘how to place a trade,’ customizing charts, using stop loss, and more.
Trading Academy
There is a suite of comprehensive learning courses on the broker’s website. They include beginner and advanced courses that the broker develops in partnership with the world-renowned trader and educator: AL BROOKS. These educational courses are designed to help traders improve their overall trading skills and knowledge.
Trading Glossary
The glossary section can be accessed via the “Learn” section of the broker’s website. It contains various trading terminologies along with their detailed explanations. This is particularly useful for beginner traders who are yet to familiarize themselves with some trading jargon.
FAQ
The Frequently Asked Questions, FAQs for short, are located under the “Support” section at the top of the broker’s website. It contains a comprehensive list of some of the clients’ most common questions and their corresponding answers. It also includes questions on trading in general so traders can learn from the answers given.
TradeDirect365 Research and Education Summary
| Resources | TradeDirect365 |
|---|---|
| Market Analysis | ✓ |
| Guides | ✓ |
| Videos | ✓ |
| Webinars | x |
| Autochartist | x |
| Trading Central | x |
| Economic Calendar | x |
| Other | ✓ |
The broker is focused on providing traders with a good range of secure funding options. Account deposits at TradeDirect365 are seamless. You can simply log into your secure client portal, navigate the payments menu, and click on the “Deposit Funds” tab. Then choose your preferred payment method from the list of available payment options: bank transfer, credit cards, and some online payment processors. They do not currently support crypto payments but FXPRIMUS do if that is something that you are looking for in a broker.
For withdrawals, traders can process their account withdrawal requests through bank wire transfer. The process is similar to making deposits — simply log into your secure client portal and follow the prompts.
The broker asserts that all funds are held in a segregated account with respected banks to help keep your funds secured. A segregated account effectively means that all client funds are kept separately from the broker operating funds, and thus your funds should never be used or accessed by the broker.
It is important to note that due to the strict anti-money laundering regulations enforced by ASIC, TradeDirect365 does not accept funds from any other source than the account holder’s funds. Therefore, the broker can only process refunds to the bank account from which the funds were originally received.
TradeDirect365 Funding Summary
| Payment Method | Deposit | Withdrawal |
|---|---|---|
| Wire Transfer | ✓ | ✓ |
| Credit/debit Card | ✓ | ✓ |
| Electronic Wallets | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cryptos | x | x |
Two main regulatory authorities regulate TD365: The Australian arm of TradeDirect365 is operated by Finsa Pty Ltd and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), while the global entity TD365.com is a registered business name of Trade Nation Ltd, which is authorized and regulated by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB).
These regulations in various jurisdictions provide traders with the assurance and peace of mind that comes with trading in a well-regulated environment, where the safety of clients’ invested funds is guaranteed.
The absence of CFTC is a strong indication that the broker does not offer its services to citizens and residents of the United States of America. If you are located in the USA and looking for a broker, Oanda would be one of my top choices.
TradeDirect365 Regulation Summary
| Regulator | TradeDirect365 |
|---|---|
| ASIC (Australia) | ✓ |
| IIROC (Canada) | x |
| CySEC (Cyprus) | x |
| SFC (Hong Kong) | x |
| JFSA (Japan) | x |
| MAS (Singapore) | x |
| FINMA (Switzerland) | x |
| FCA (UK) | x |
| CFTC (USA) | x |
| Other (SCB) | ✓ |
TradeDirect365 Safety
Having been in operation since 2014, it is safe to say that TD365 has a wealth of experience in the operations of the financial markets. They are regulated in various jurisdictions, which offer an added security to clients’ funds.
Also, the broker provides security for its client’s funds by banking them in segregated accounts separate from the company’s funds. These funds should never be used for hedging purposes or by the broker to run its internal operations. Client money is required to be held to meet margin requirements. However, funds are never transferred out of the segregated bank account to fund open positions, and clients’ money is not used to meet any of TradeDirect365’s margin requirements or business operations. The brand also offers negative balance protection, which helps to ensure that clients do not lose more than the deposits in their accounts.
The broker provides traders with a knowledgeable client support team who are polite and prompt in response. The support team is available 24/5 — Sunday 10 pm to Friday 10 pm (UK time). They are available through the following contact channels: telephone, email, live chat, and the ‘get in touch with us’ form on the broker’s website. I think they could improve by extending support hours to weekend like some competitors including FBS do.
Putting it all together, TradeDirect365 is a reputable retail broker with strict regulations from various top financial authorities, including the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). They provide traders with competitive trading conditions, such as tight fixed spreads, low commissions, rapid trade execution speeds, and more. They offer a vast selection of Trading Products across different asset classes.
The broker provides traders with advanced trading platforms, including the MT4 and CloudTrade trading platforms. In addition, their clients are provided with various useful trading tools, educational resources, and the services of a reliable client support team. It is for this reason that they are one of the most cost-effective brokers in the world. One of the unique features of the broker is the availability of a single currency trading account.
Overall, I think that TD365 can be a good choice of broker for anyone looking to trade online in a regulated environment with very competitive trading conditions. The minimum deposit required to start trading is just $1, so traders are allowed to begin their trading journey with any amount that they can afford. They also have free demo accounts if you want to get a feel for what they can offer without making any financial commitment.
