Plus500

Plus500 is a financial services company providing online trading services in CFDs internationally. You can access more than 2,000 securities and multiple asset. Plus500 has headquarters in Israel and the share of the company is listed in London which is a positive.

Plus500 is regulated by the FCA, the CySEC, ASIC, MAS and ISA which is an obvious positive. The company has subsidiaries in UK, Cyprus, Australia, Singapore and Bulgaria.

(Plus500UK Ltd authorized & regulated by the FCA (#509909). Plus500CY Ltd authorized & regulated by CySEC (#250/14). Plus500SG Pte Ltd, licensed by the MAS (#CMS100648-1) and IE Singapore (#PLUS/CBL/2018). Plus500AU Pty Ltd (ACN 153301681), licensed by: ASIC in Australia, AFSL #417727, FMA in New Zealand, FSP #486026; Authorised Financial Services Provider in South Africa, FSP #47546. You do not own or have any rights to the underlying assets.)

The company was founded in the middle of the financial crisis in 2008.

For a full presentation about the company and ownership please visit the link.

It is a big positive to be able to pull up the company and various details about the company in the Bloomberg system. This shows that the company is transparent.

80.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money

Plus500 provides a clean and simple platform for trading CFDs. You will probably find most assets you wish to trade. The entire feel to the product is straightforward and clean.

Plus500 is well suited for the casual trader that wishes to trade relatively simple strategies and use a system that is user friendly. The more advanced trader will probably be looking for additional features.

Fees are not overly transparent and the broker doesn’t provide any form of research nor fundamental information. The account opening process as well as our interaction with customer support was smooth and professional.

General

Positive

• Simple, straightforward, clean and user friendly platform
• Regulated by several regulators

Negative

• Not for more sophisticated traders
• Light charting tool

Products (Only CFD)

• Shares
• ETFs
• Forex
• Options (limited)
• Indices
• CFDs
• Cryptos
• Commodities

Fee structure

Plus500 offers trading in CFDs only so all “commissions” are the actual spread you pay to trade.

Positive

• Overall ok fees, forex is relatively cheap while stocks are relatively expensive
• Low inactivity fees that are divided into three groups

Negative

• High spreads in stocks
• Not transparent financing costs

The Account and Regulation

Positive

• Regulated by several regulatory authorities: FCA, CySEC, ASIC, MAS, ISA
• Plus500 Ltd is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange
• Negative account balance protection
• Transparent ownership and profitability
• Many base currencies

Negative

• Scalping is prohibited as it is seen as market abuse. Definition of scalping seems unclear.

Trading Platforms

Web Trading Platform

Positive

• Clean, user friendly, simple and straightforward platform for casual trading
• Nice alerts
• Very easy to use

Negative

• Too simple for the more sophisticated trader
• Poor charting experience
• No research
• Poor portfolio and risk management tools, but you can set predetermined stops

Mobile Trading

Positive

• Simple and clean design
• User friendly

Negative

• Light charting functions

Research

No research provided. Negative.

Web Trading Platform

The entire Plus500 platform is simple and straightforward and they deliver the simple platform nicely designed. The platform is best suited for casual trading, or just a system to trade on. It lacks various features the more advanced trader will look for, but is an overall ok system for the straightforward trades.

Below is the start screen. You can quickly chose what asset you wish to view and as you click the name the chart below shows up automatically.

To trade simply click the buy/sell button and specify volume and price etc. There are many preset lists but you can also make your own watchlist.

The left part of the page has quick buttons to view the portfolio, orders, trades etc.

The upper part of the page displays the profit/loss (p/l) as well as the value of the portfolio.

All in all the system shows the most relevant information but nothing more. It is simple and clean, does the job for the casual trader, but lacks any form of more advanced possibilities.

Illustrative prices only

The order window is clear and provides the relevant information but lacks the trading feeling in my opinion.

It gives you various options with regards to stop losses and take profits. You can also choose the trailing stop function as well as the guaranteed stop loss level which are great features.

Illustrative prices only

Charting is basic and provides most tools traders need, but once again, the more advanced tools are not provided. You can draw trendlines and look at indicators, but anything more complex and fancy isn’t provided.

Adding an indicator is easy and smooth. Below the Bitcoin chart with Bollinger Bands. Note the possibility to trade directly via the buy/sell buttons on the chart.

The portfolio overview is clear and informative. The chart images gives the trader a good overview of the portfolio.

Mobile Trading

The mobile trading app is a user friendly, easy to understand app for CFD traders. The menu is basically a replica of the web platform and trading is easily conducted.

The trading window displays relevant information. You can choose to trade from one of the predefined lists or simply search the asset of your choice.

The relevant chart is displayed in the lower part of the screen,

 Illustrative prices only

Trading is smooth. Click the buy/sell button and the order window pops up. Here you can choose how you want to execute your trades. Applying stops or take profits is very easy.

Illustrative prices only

Charting is informative but lacks indicators or any other extra features. It would be nice to have possibilities to add indicators even if applying those on a mobile screen can get a bit messy.

Plus500 is a CFD broker offering a relatively simple platform, but they do it well. The platform is clean and easy to use. The trader that wishes to have a simple but efficient system will benefit from Plus500.

It is not a system for the tech hungry trader and there is practically no research nor education material. Note that scalping is not allowed.

Fees are relatively competitive as an average, forex is cheap while stocks are expensive.

Mobile trading is simple but efficient.

Commissions:

Plus500 is a CFD broker and makes all profit from the spread.

There is a small inactivity fee of 10 USD per quarter if you don’t trade for 3 months as well as small withdrawal fees. Plus500 charges a relatively high overnight financing rate.

Just as Plus500 writes on their page you need to log in to your account in order to see the spread (fee) for the instrument you wish to trade.

For full reading on commissions and fees please visit the link.