Friedberg Direct Review 2023 - Verified Customer Reviews
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Friedberg Direct Review
Updated August 08, 2023
Risk Warning: CFDs are complex financial instruments that carry a high risk due to leverage trading. The vast majority of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should always consider whether or not you can afford the high risk of completely losing your funds.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Accepts Canadian clients
- Trading technology supplied by FXCM
- Regulated in Canada
- Excellent educational materials
Regulations and Money Protection
5.0
| Entity Name | Licence & Regulation | Client Money Protection | Deposit Compensation Scheme | Negative Balance Protection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friedberg Mercantile Group Ltd (CA) | Canada IIROC Licensing | ✔️ segregated client money |
✔️ up to C$ 1 million |
❌ |
Entity/Regulation
Canadian customers: Friedberg Direct is a division of the Friedberg Mercantile Group Ltd, with head office at 181 Bay St., Suite 250, Toronto, ON M5J 2T3, Canada. Friedberg Mercantile Group Ltd is a registered Securities Dealer company and is regulated by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) to provide investment services in Canada, with licence number 416-364-1171.
Client Money Protection
- Friedberg Direct complies with the highest safety standards for client's funds. For this reason, Friedberg Direct client's funds are kept in top-tier international banks, such as the Bank of America fully segregated from the company's funds.
- Friedberg Direct also complies with the client money handling rules and employs strict policies and procedures regarding the maintenance and operation of these accounts. Friedberg Direct holds client's money separately to the company funds and does not use these funds for any operational expenses or purposes.
Deposit Compensation Scheme
Friedberg Mercantile Group Ltd is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund, an investor protection fund for clients of Canada based companies and its functions are regulated by the IIROC. If Friedberg Mercantile Group Ltd is unable to meet its obligations, clients might be entitled to compensation (up to the value of C$1 million) per claim for all general accounts combined (such as cash accounts, margin accounts and TFSAs).
Negative Balance Protection
For accounts opened via Friedberg Direct there is no negative balance protection to prevent clients from keeping their accounts balance below zero. This means that in extreme market volatility and without an adequate stop loss in place, a losing trading position can cause a negative account balance.
Accounts, Instruments and Platforms
| Accounts | Instruments | Platforms | Social trading | Maximum Leverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✔️Standard ✔️Active Trader ❌PAMM ✔️Islamic Accounts |
✔️Forex ✔️Indices ❌Stocks ❌Futures ❌ETFs ❌Bonds ✔️Commodities ❌Cryptos |
✔️MT 4 ❌MT 5 ❌cTrader ✔️Trading Station ✔️NinjaTrader |
✔️ZuluTrade (via FXCM) |
50:1 Canada |
Account types and currencies
- Friedberg Direct has two types of trading accounts; Standard and Active Trader. Friedberg Direct also offers swap-free accounts for traders of Islamic belief.
- Friedberg Direct also allows for social trading, including copy trading, via Myfxbook and ZuluTrade.
- Friedberg Direct does not have any PAMM accounts alternatives for private money managers.
- Friedberg Direct maximum leverage is 50:1 for Canadian customers.
- Currently, Friedberg Direct trading accounts are only available in CAD and USD.
Financial instruments
Trading with Friedberg Direct can be done via the Metatrader 4, NinjaTrader and FXCM own proprietary platform, the Trading Station. All the trading platforms are available for desktop and mobile trading. Friedberg Direct offers a limited selection of about 60 assets to trade, including Forex, indices and commodities.
- FX market - 39 currency pairs (including Minor and Exotic crosses).
- Indices - 13 world indices including US 30, AUS 200 and GER 30.
- Commodities - 9 commodities CFDs available for trading; 3 metals (Gold, Silver and Copper), 3 energies (UK Oil, US Oil and Nat Gas) and 3 soft commodities (Corn, Wheat and Soybean).
Pricing
4.0
| Pricing/ Account |
Standard | Active Trader |
|---|---|---|
| Spread EUR/USD | from 1.3 pip | from 0.2 pip |
| Commissions (1 lot) | ❌ | from 14 USD |
| Minimum Deposit | 1st deposit from 5,000 USD/CAD - individual account from 10,000 USD/CAD - corporate account following depositsfrom 50 USD/CAD |
1st deposit from 5,000 USD/CAD - individual account from 10,000 USD/CAD - corporate account following deposits from 50 USD/CAD |
Spreads
Friedberg Direct's trading fees are, in general terms, low. But there are two clear and independent fee structures, depending if the trading account type is a Standard or an Active Trader (similar to FXCM).
With a Standard trading account, there are no trading commissions, but the typical spread for the EUR/USD ranges from a minimum of 1.3 pip to an average of 1.6 pip. We consider this spread to be in line when compared with other top brokers.
On the other hand, the Friedberg Direct Active Trader account (restrictions apply when opening an account) is more competitive, with lower spreads. For the EUR/USD pair the spread starts at 0.0 pip, with a typical spread of 0.3 pip. To get the benefit of the lower spread, Friedberg Direct charges a commission. The standard lot commission for 1 lot (100,000 units) is 14.00 USD (7.00 USD per side, per lot), or the equivalent on the account currency. We consider this commission to be much higher, specially when compared with the much lower FXCM commission of 5 USD per 1 lot traded and when compared with all the other top FX brokers.
With a Standard trading account, there are no trading commissions, but the typical spread for the EUR/USD ranges from a minimum of 1.3 pip to an average of 1.6 pip. We consider this spread to be in line when compared with other top brokers.
On the other hand, the Friedberg Direct Active Trader account (restrictions apply when opening an account) is more competitive, with lower spreads. For the EUR/USD pair the spread starts at 0.0 pip, with a typical spread of 0.3 pip. To get the benefit of the lower spread, Friedberg Direct charges a commission. The standard lot commission for 1 lot (100,000 units) is 14.00 USD (7.00 USD per side, per lot), or the equivalent on the account currency. We consider this commission to be much higher, specially when compared with the much lower FXCM commission of 5 USD per 1 lot traded and when compared with all the other top FX brokers.
Rollover Rates
Regarding swap rates, Friedberg Direct does not publish or let any third-party publish the rates on their behalf (similar to FXCM). The only way to find out the current Friedberg Direct (FXCM) rollover rates is by opening a Demo Account, as stated on the broker's website: “you can see today's rollover rates by Opening a Demo Account”. Friedberg Direct (similarly to FXCM) should transparently declare it's swap rate policy within the corporate website pages. In this case we can't compare if holding a long or short 1 lot EUR/USD with Friedberg Direct is cheaper or more expensive, compared with other brokers.
Deposits/Withdrawals and Other Fees
- Deposit fees - Trading accounts can be opened in 2 different currencies and maintained via 2 different funding methods; credit/debit cards and bank wires. E-payments such as Neteller, Skrill or others are not available. Deposited funds are available almost instantly. It's unclear if Friedberg Direct charges any fees for deposits.
- Withdrawals fees - Friedberg Direct accounts funded via debit or credit card may be subjected to receiving withdrawals (processing times are typically 3-5 working days), via the same debit or credit card. It's unclear if Friedberg Direct charges any fees for withdrawals.
- Inactivity fee - Friedberg Direct also charges a Trading Inactivity fee. A trader will be charged a dormancy account administrative fee every calendar year if there is no client-initiated activity in the 12 months preceding the charge date. The fee is up to 50 units of the account currency or the account balance, whichever is less, debited from the account.
Popularity
3.0
| Forex Education |
Deposit Options |
Deposit/Withdrawals Fees | Non expiring demo account | Customer Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Online Courses Video Tutorials Trading Guides Trading Strategies Fundamental & Technical Analysis FXCM App Store |
Cards Bank Wire E-payments |
N/A | ✔️ | Multi language 24/5 Support Live Chat |
With over 20 years of supplying trading accounts and services to thousands of traders in Canada, Friedberg Direct seems to have their fair market share. At the same time Friedberg Direct fails to capture the attention of new traders as the fierce competition between brokers increases, to new market players entering the Canadian market with more attractive accounts costs and benefits.
Still, Friedberg Direct (via FXCM) is a popular Forex broker with traders for the great variety of trading platforms on offer. Trading assets are available through the more traditional MT4 platform, NinjaTrader and FXCM's own proprietary platform, the Trading Station, available on web terminal version, PC, Mac, Android and iOS.
- Trading accounts - The Friedberg Direct Active Trader account is a popular choice with traders looking to save on trading costs, with a lower spread and a commission of $14.00 per lot traded.
- Forex education - Friedberg Direct (via FXCM) offers a great range of Forex educational tools to help traders succeed. On Friedberg Direct great Education center, traders can find an enroll on a free online live classroom, a video library, trading guides, educational and tutorial videos, trading strategies, daily market fundamental and technical analysis. Friedberg Direct shares the very original FXCM App Store where traders can find custom-made indicators, EAs, scripts and a lot more.
| Funding Methods | Bank Wire and Cards |
|---|---|
| Support Languages | (shared with FXCM) English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Chinese-Mandarin, Italian, and Greek Limited support for Malay, Vietnamese, Chinese-Cantonese, Urdu, Tamil, Hindi, Farsi, Bulgarian, Slovak, Czech, Portuguese, Thai and Russian |
- Minimum deposit - Opening a trading account with Friedberg Direct can take some time. The whole process, from submitting the documents online, can take 1-3 business days. Documents submitted by email will take 5-7 business days to be processed. The minimum deposit requirement with Friedberg Direct is 5,000 USD/CAD for the first deposit when opening an individual account and 10,000 USD/CAD for the first deposit when opening a corporate account. The following minimum deposits are 50 USD/CAD.
- Customer support - Friedberg Direct shares FXCM's multi language customer support. The service is available 24 hours, 5 days a week, in 21 languages. Support is available via local phone call to regional offices (depending on jurisdiction), email and live chat directly from the broker's website.
Broker Profile
Established in 2012 Friedberg Mercantile Group Ltd. is headquartered in Canada. The relationship between Friedberg Direct and FXCM was formed with the purpose to allow Canadian Residents access to FXCM's suite of products. Friedberg Mercantile Group Ltd (FMGL) is the Toronto-based brokerage arm of the Group, operating one of the oldest and largest independent futures and foreign currency brokers in Canada, with full-service and discount divisions in Toronto and New York.
Friedberg Mercantile Group Ltd was the leading clearing broker at the Toronto Exchange and is a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, all Canadian exchanges and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. The group is a manager for currency, global fixed income and global equity portfolios. The company also publishes the Friedberg's Commodity & Currency Comments, which provides analysis and recommendations on financial markets. This highly-respected newsletter has kept clients and subscribers current with the Friedberg Group's investment thinking since 1971.
Friedberg Direct offers direct access to Non-US persons to spot foreign currency, currency options and commodity futures trading through dynamic on-line trading platforms. All accounts are opened by and held with Friedberg Direct, a division of Friedberg Mercantile Group Ltd. and member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC).
All the trading accounts are covered by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. Due to the licensing of FXCM's software technology, Friedberg Direct is proud to offer its clients the FXCM's suite of products, aiming to provide clients with the best pricing available and to get all orders filled at the requested rate. The company offers trading services to customers on a range of financial instruments; FX indices and commodities. Trading can be executed via FXCM's proprietary retail trading platform, the Trading Station, available for desktop, web and mobile devices, the classic MT4 Metatrader and the Ninja Trader platform.
Overall, on our Friedberg Direct review, the broker scores a great 4.0 out of 5 as it is a good choice for Canadian traders looking for a reputable broker with good and strong regulations in place and safety of funds. The exceptional offering of Forex educational materials (via FXCM) is a must for new and seasoned traders. On the downside, the broker fails to capture the attention of new traders, perhaps because of the use of FXCM (4.1 out of 5 on our review) pricing modelling which with Friedberg Direct is also considerably higher.
Data supplied in partnership with CashBackForex - Forex Rebates places Friedberg Direct in the top 20 brokers for popularity with traders opening an account in 2023.
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Friedberg Mercantile Group Ltd was the leading clearing broker at the Toronto Exchange and is a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, all Canadian exchanges and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. The group is a manager for currency, global fixed income and global equity portfolios. The company also publishes the Friedberg's Commodity & Currency Comments, which provides analysis and recommendations on financial markets. This highly-respected newsletter has kept clients and subscribers current with the Friedberg Group's investment thinking since 1971.
Friedberg Direct offers direct access to Non-US persons to spot foreign currency, currency options and commodity futures trading through dynamic on-line trading platforms. All accounts are opened by and held with Friedberg Direct, a division of Friedberg Mercantile Group Ltd. and member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC).
All the trading accounts are covered by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. Due to the licensing of FXCM's software technology, Friedberg Direct is proud to offer its clients the FXCM's suite of products, aiming to provide clients with the best pricing available and to get all orders filled at the requested rate. The company offers trading services to customers on a range of financial instruments; FX indices and commodities. Trading can be executed via FXCM's proprietary retail trading platform, the Trading Station, available for desktop, web and mobile devices, the classic MT4 Metatrader and the Ninja Trader platform.
Overall, on our Friedberg Direct review, the broker scores a great 4.0 out of 5 as it is a good choice for Canadian traders looking for a reputable broker with good and strong regulations in place and safety of funds. The exceptional offering of Forex educational materials (via FXCM) is a must for new and seasoned traders. On the downside, the broker fails to capture the attention of new traders, perhaps because of the use of FXCM (4.1 out of 5 on our review) pricing modelling which with Friedberg Direct is also considerably higher.
Data supplied in partnership with CashBackForex - Forex Rebates places Friedberg Direct in the top 20 brokers for popularity with traders opening an account in 2023.
Was this review helpful? Share it with a friend!
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