ACM Forex
Different foreign exchange market brokers have different things to offer; there are advantages and disadvantages of dealing with any given company. The trick for any trader is finding a broker that offers the types of services and features that will help them get the most out of their forex trading experience. ACM Forex is one broker that falls squarely in the middle when it comes to ease of use, the competitiveness of available spreads and the usability of its trading platform. Learn more about ACM Forex – and find out whether it sounds right for you – by reading on below.
About ACM Forex
ACM, or Advanced Currency Markets, was founded in Geneva in 2002. Since then, it has opened offices around the globe and has built up a relatively solid reputation on the crowded forex playing field. As it has grown in size, however, ACM has not necessarily kept entirely abreast of new technologies and hasn’t exactly taken full advantage of the possibilities of the Internet. Still, it is a broker that is known to be quite reliable – especially among seasoned foreign exchange market traders.
In addition to its headquarters in Geneva, ACM has branch offices in New York City, Montevideo, Zurich and Dubai. This gives ACM a fairly strong global reach and allows it to accommodate traders from many different corners of the world. Because its headquarters are in Geneva, though, the vast majority of its customer service and administrative functions are handled there. European traders are more likely to be comfortable using ACM than American traders, or those from elsewhere in the world.
Key Registrations
ACM is compliant with several important regulatory bodies. These include:
- The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA)
- The Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority of Dubai
- Ernst & Young, through regular audits
- ISO 9001 certified
Contact Information At A Glance
When trading with any online broker, it is smart to keep important contact information readily at hand. For your convenience, contact information for ACM Forex is listed below:
- Main Phone Number: +41 58 226 20 00
- Main Fax Number: +41 58 226 22 01
- Dealing Desk: +41 58 226 22 02
- Email Support: dealingdesk@ac-markets.com
- Online Support/Live Chat: Live Chat
Vital Trading Information About ACM Forex
Although ACM Forex offers several different trading platforms to its customers, none of them offer the intuitive and user-friendly pizazz that come along with many other popular online forex brokers. Advanced Trader, for instance, is touted as being highly customizable; many people will find that it falls far short of those big expectations, though. Web Trader allows you to access the platform online from any PC, but the confusing way that it is laid out can create problems for those who aren’t exceptionally careful. Flash Trader is available for those who prefer to use Flash applications. None of these platforms packs the same kind of wallop that many other major brokers’ software does; ACM’s trading platforms simply aren’t a strong selling point.
Beyond the software involved when trading through ACM, however, there are many other important things that you’ll need to know. They are outlined for your convenience below.
Minimum Deposit Amounts
Only serious forex traders are going to want to sign up for a full-fledged account with ACM, because the minimum deposit here is $2,000. This isn’t an insignificant amount for most people, and will probably be prohibitively expensive for many.
Account Set-Up
Due to some sort of strict Swiss regulations and laws, it is impossible to sign up completely through the ACM website. Instead, part of the process can be performed digitally – but hard copies of the signed paperwork must be mailed away. The process is, therefore, quite cumbersome and it really stands out in the lightning-quick world of online foreign exchange market trading.
Demo Accounts
Practice accounts at ACM are free and start off with a balance of $100,000. They offer all of the same capabilities as real, live accounts and are a great way to get to know the ropes at ACM. It is strongly recommended that you sign up for a free demo account to familiarize yourself with ACM and its trading platforms before depositing any real funds with them.
Dealing Desk
ACM offers no express guarantees or promises regarding trading against their own customers. Their dealing desk is fully operational and is available to assist traders as needed. However, the lack of a guarantee does make ACM compare rather unfavorably with several other major brokers.
Leverage Limits
Not surprisingly, the maximum leverage that is allowed at ACM is 100:1. This is quite standard among the major online forex brokers, but using the maximum leverage is generally not recommended. While profits can be large, losses can be huge as well.
Trailing Stops
ACM touts the fact that they offer no slippage on stop orders, which is a definite plus for many traders. Trailing stops are permitted on the ACM trading platform, so traders do not have to miss out on that important feature.
Trading Spreads
Unlike many of the other top forex brokers, ACM does not publish an extensive or easy-to-read list of its trading spreads. That point aside, it does offer an average of three pip spreads for the four most popular currency pairs. Additionally, spreads as low as 0.5 pips are available in some cases. Indeed, competitive spreads seem to be ACM’s biggest selling point and is one of the most popular reasons that experienced forex traders sign up with them.
The Bottom Line
ACM Forex is not for everybody. Inexperienced traders won’t find it very easy to learn the ropes, and those who prefer intuitive interfaces and nice graphics in their trading platforms won’t find them here. However, those with the assets and the experience to handle a more bare-bones forex trading platform will find themselves perfectly at home here. The competitive spreads undoubtedly make up for a multitude of issues; if you can put up with a few aggravations, ACM Forex may be right for you.
March 28th, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Can i get a trader at ACM to handle my account by trading for me
April 5th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
This one seems to be a Fraud, they denied access for me after making profit 3 times.
Dont recommend anyone to start with these guys.
July 16th, 2011 at 2:13 am
This is very good Broker.
August 31st, 2011 at 6:35 am
One of the most professional brokers in recent times, my vote for the company