Vantage adds support for a variety of social trading platforms, Trading Central-powered content, and a custom mobile app to its suite of MetaTrader platforms. Vantage, however, lags behind industry leaders in crucial fields like research and education.

Vantage, formerly known as Vantage FX and founded in 2009 as MXT Global, is now a part of Vantage Global Prime Pty Ltd. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has granted the Vantage brand an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL).

For institutional clients, the group also has a unit governed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom under the name Vantage Global Prime LLP. Additionally, Vantage has a unit that is recognized as having regulatory status by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC) and the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA).

Trading Instruments Vantage

Whichever entity oversees your account will determine the variety of markets that are accessible at Vantage. The various investment options for Vantage clients are listed in the table below.

Trading in cryptocurrencies is possible at Vantage through both CFDs and trading the underlying asset (such as purchasing Bitcoin). Notably, neither U.K. residents nor retail traders from any broker’s U.K. entity are permitted to trade cryptocurrency CFDs.

• Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) Yes
• Tradeable Symbols (Total) 1000
• Forex Pairs (Total) 49
• U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) No
• Int’l Stock Trading (Non CFD) No
• Social Trading / Copy Trading Yes
• Cryptocurrency (Physical) No
• Cryptocurrency (CFD) Yes
  
  

Vantage Fees and Account Types

The cost of trading at Vantage varies depending on the type of account you open and which Vantage entity specifically holds your account. Vantage offers the spread-only Standard STP account, the commission-based RAW ECN and PRO ECN accounts, and the spread-only Standard STP account. Overall, Vantage’s pricing is largely in line with the industry standard.

Vantage lists typical spreads of 1.22 pip on the EUR/USD (for the month of August 2021) for its spread-only Standard account, which is compared to raw accounts. The average spreads for its Raw account during the same time period were 0.15 pip ($3 per side plus $6 per round turn), for a total of 0.75 pip.

Vantage’s PRO account has affordable pricing, with a $2 per-side commission (or $4 per round turn) for the PRO level. The requirements for opening a PRO ECN account with Vantage vary depending on the organization that oversees it. You must meet certain criteria in order to be categorized as a wholesale client by its Australian entity. You must fund your account with at least $10,000 if you open it through Vantage’s Cayman Islands entity.

Active traders: Depending on your balance and monthly volume, Vantage’s active trader program offers rebates ranging from $2 to as much as $8 per standard lot. The lowest tier requires at least $10,000 in equity, while the highest tier demands at least $300,000. But only the Standard account, which has the highest spreads of all the available account types, offers it.

Apps for mobile trading

Along with the standard MetaTrader mobile app suite, Vantage also provides a proprietary trading app. With its Vantage App, Vantage has created a respectable foundation for a new mobile trading application. 

Overview of apps: Vantage offers the MetaTrader platform suite and its own proprietary Vantage App as two mobile apps. The mobile apps for MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT5), and Vantage are pre-installed by their creator on iOS devices through the Apple App Store and Android devices through Google Play.

Only five time frames, one chart type, and a limited number of indicators and overlays are available for charting at Vantage. The chart does, however, open in a full-screen landscape view when you tap on it, which is a nice touch.

Trading Platforms

By providing a wide variety of additional add-ons and supporting the integration of compatible third-party platforms and tools, like TradingView, Vantage sets itself apart from other MetaTrader-only brokers. Vantage consequently placed among the Best in Class in our list of the top MetaTrader brokers for 2023.

Overview of the platforms: Vantage specializes in MetaTrader trading and offers the full range of desktop and web trading platforms, including MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5).

Charting: In addition to the typical charts on MT4 and MT5, Vantage also provides the fully integrated CHARTS platform from TradingView, which enables you to log in with your MetaTrader account.

Trading tools: Vantage provides the SmartTrader Tools from FX Blue LLP’s collection of platform add-ons for MetaTrader. Furthermore, Vantage’s outstanding MetaTrader offering is rounded out by the direct streaming of forex news headlines from FxWire Pro and FxStreet.

Vantage provides three platforms for social copy trading in addition to the MetaTrader Signals market. ZuluTrade, DupliTrade, and Myfxbook’s AutoTrade are the three auto-trading platforms (although these are unavailable in Australia).

Market research

Vantage’s research mainly comes from outside content providers like Trading Central; it doesn’t contain a lot of original work. Taking into account the caliber and breadth of research made available by the best forex.

An overview of the research is provided by Vantage’s daily market updates on its dedicated YouTube channel. These updates, which are powered by Trading Central, are just ok in my opinion. My only complaint is that each video contains pre-recorded segments of content that are heavily templated. Vantage’s video library of market news and analysis is supplemented by additional interesting videos (also from Trading Central) hidden away in the client portal’s trading tools section.

Market news and analysis: The Pro Trader Tools product, which is available to clients with a deposit of at least $1,000 and is integrated right into the client portal, is also powered by Trading Central. While the Analyst Views feature provides automated analysis, the Featured Ideas tool is useful for traders looking for trading signals and actionable ideas.

Future improvements: Vantage’s collection of research resources is always growing. However, I would like to see a wider variety of its internal content, especially webinars and written content.

Education

Vantage’s Learn Forex Trading section has 37 expandable educational points, but I thought they were a little rudimentary. Vantage offers a library of over 130 videos produced by Trading Central as part of its Pro Trader series in addition to platform tutorials. Short introductory videos for beginners are interspersed with longer videos that cover advanced forex and CFD concepts in a variety of markets, including cryptocurrencies. Many of these Trading Central videos were helpful to me.

Vantage’s YouTube channels each contain hundreds of videos that are niftyly arranged into specific playlists. Each week, Vantage creates and posts a number of webinars, including its “Masterclass” videos that cover a variety of trading-related topics.

Conclusion on Vantage

By providing competitive pricing on its commission-based Raw ECN account and supporting the integration of extra platforms like Zulutrade and DupliTrade, Vantage sets itself apart from other MetaTrader brokers. Additionally, it provides access to its own exclusive Vantage app, a trading platform that exhibits real promise despite the additional distraction of in-app advertisements.

Although Vantage continues to grow its research and educational offerings, it still has a ways to go before it can rival the top brokers in those fields.