101investing – Review

101investing.com briefly

The 101investing.com website is operated by FXBFI Broker Financial Invest Ltd, a company that is authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). You can trade over 250 assets such as currency pairs, indices, commodities, stocks and cryptocurrencies through the company’s own developed trading platform and the well-known MetaTrader4 (MT4) terminal.

Regulation

101investing is a trade name of FXBFI Broker Financial Invest Ltd, which is authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) under license number 315/16.

FXBFI Broker Financial Invest Ltd adheres to strict regulations designed to ensure the protection and transparency of its clients, the company claims. The license allows the company to provide investment services such as reception, transmission, and execution of orders on behalf of clients. FXBFI Broker Financial Invest Ltd currently provides its services, on a cross border basis, within the EU member states.

Account Types

There are three types of trading accounts, which differ mainly in the spreads offered and swap discounts (if you intend to keep your position open for a long time).

Silver Account – Silver account was specifically created for beginners, the company says. The average spread for the EUR/USD pair is 2.2 pips.

Gold Account – You can trade CFDs on more than 350 assets with no limits on the opened positions. The average spread for the EUR/USD pair is 1.3 pips and the swap discount is 25%. Trading is commission free. The leverage for professional clients can be up to 1:500.

Platinum Account – It was created for advanced traders and you can trade CFDs on more than 350 assets with no limits on the opened positions. The average spread for the EUR/USD pair is 0.7 pips and the swap discount is 50%. Trading is commission free. The leverage for professional clients can be up to 1:500.

The General Terms and Conditions documents state that the minimum deposit amount is USD250. There is no information on deposit requirements for different types of accounts.

Market Maker or STP Brokerage?

The Order Execution Policy document shows that for the purposes of the orders submitted to the company, FXBFI Broker Financial Invest Ltd does not act as the client’s execution venue; Therefore, the company does not execute client orders on an own account basis as a principal. The company transmits all the client orders or arranges for their execution with a third party. FXBFI Broker Financial Invest Ltd uses a regulated firm, which acts as an execution venue. Currently, the execution venue is CTRL Investment LTD, a company incorporated in New Zealand and registered in Australia. This means that FXBFI Broker Financial Invest Ltd uses the STP model and does not keep the risk to itself and transmit each transaction to the execution venue and the main conflict of interest does not exist.

The same file reveals that all orders are subject to slippage. At the time that an order is presented for execution, the specific price requested by the client may not be available; therefore, the order will be executed close to or a number of pips away from the client’s requested price. Slippage may appear in all types of accounts the company offers and can occur also on all types of pending orders including the stop loss orders. So, the company does not guarantee the execution of the stop loss orders at the price specified but at the next best available market price.

The same document shows that all clients are covered by the negative balance protection, which limits the maximum losses that a client could have. In this respect, the company’s clients can never lose more than the total sum invested for trading in CFDs. The company provides negative balance protection for both retail and professional clients.

Fees

In addition to spreads and swaps, the company may charge a so-called inactivity fee. Accounts without trading activity, open and/or close of any trades, for a consecutive period of 60 days shall be classified as inactive accounts and an inactivity fee within EUR160-EUR500 will be charged depending on the inactivity period.

Deposits and Withdrawals

Deposits can be done by bank transfer, credit/debit cards or by e-wallets such as Neteller, Skrill, Trustly, Safe Charge, etc.

Once approved, the client’s withdrawal request will be processed and sent for execution to the same bank, credit card or other source from which the funds were debited. Note that some banks and credit card companies may take time to process payments especially in currencies where a correspondent bank is involved in the transaction. FXBFI charges a withdrawal fee at an amount equal to EUR50 if there is insignificant (only one single position placed on the trading account) or no trading activity in the client’s trading account prior to the submission of the withdrawal request. In case the client wishes to withdraw less than EUR100, additional fees may apply. and you will be informed in advance accordingly. It should be noted some banks use intermediary banks that charge fees, which are under your responsibility.

Trading Platforms

Trading is available through the widely used MetaTrader 4 (MT4) terminal and the company’s own platform called WebTrader.

MT4 is available as a web-based version, as well as a mobile application for Android and iOS devices. MT4 is one of the most reliable and popular trading platforms that provides the basic tools and resources needed for successful performance in online trading. It has a custom interface that allows retailers to open multiple screens at once with preferred technical indicators without the need to install additional software.

Assets

More than 250 instruments are available for online trading, distributed into the following classes:

Forex – There are 47 major, minor, and exotic currency pairs available for online trading. The minimum spread for the EUR/USD pair depends on account type and is 0.7-2.2 pips. Trading is commission free.

Indices – You can trade CFDs on 15 global indices, such as DJIA, DAX30, FTSE100, etc. The minimum spread for DAX30 is 1 point.  Trading is commission free.

Commodities – 5 precious metals 4 energy products and 8 agricultural products are available for online trading such as Gold, Silver, Oil and Brent. The minimum spread for Oil is USD0.03 and for Gold is USD0.37. Trading is commission free.

Shares – You can trade near 80 CFDs on US shares. The minimum spread for the Apple shares is USD0.21. Trading is commission free.

Cryptocurrencies – 33 CFDs on cryptocurrencies are available for trading including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, etc.

Education Section

The website has a special “Education” section containing articles, e-books, tutorials for the MT4 platform, courses, economic calendar, earnings report calendar and daily market news.

Summary

101investing (FXBFI Broker Financial Invest Ltd) is a brokerage firm regulated by the CySEC that uses the STP model to execute client orders, so there is no major conflict of interest. You can trade currency pairs, commodities, indices, shares and cryptocurrencies through the MT4 terminal, available as a web-based version and as a mobile app. You can deposit by bank transfer, debit/credit cards, and e-wallets. You can start trading with a deposit of at least USD250. Spreads are variable and the one for the EUR/USD pair has a minimum value of 2.2 pips (for the Silver account). All instruments can be traded without commission.