Admirals (formerly known as Admiral Markets) is one of the most popular low-cost multi-asset brokers.
It focuses mainly on CFDs and forex. However, you can gain limited access to real stocks and ETFs if you use the MetaTrader 5 platform.
With extensive products and platform choices, choosing Admirals is a no-brainer.
To gain more insights, I tried their services and tested their platform.
Read on and find out if they’re a suitable option for you.
Table of Contents
Introduction to Admirals
Admirals, also previously known as Admiral Markets, was founded in 2001 in Estonia by Alexander Tsikhilov.
With Admirals, you can access forex, CFDs on forex, cryptocurrencies and stocks, and direct investment in global stocks.
The company received the Global & Banking Finance Awards as the Best Forex company in Estonia in 2019 and ADVFN International Financial Awards in 2021.
On its 20th anniversary, the company rebranded itself from Admiral Markets to Admirals to become an integrated personal finance hub with an expanded product range and market.
The company has also stated that they’re now green thanks to its sustainable business models. Admirals are proud to announce that they have been Carbon neutral since 2020.
How to Create & Close Your Account at Admirals
To open an account at Admirals, you can head to their website, click the signup button and fill out a registration form.
They will create your dashboard automatically after all the information is provided. The process will take less than 10 minutes.
Then you can choose between the demo account or the live account. Select the trade button on your dashboard to open a demo account and click ‘Try the Demo.’
In demo mode, you can set up your account type, virtual balance, and the currency you want to trade in. Ensure this is as close to your situation as possible for a better understanding.
When opening a live account, fill out the application form and submit the required documents for verification. You only need an ID document and proof of address for individual accounts.
There is a more extensive list of documents for legal entities that you can access from their list on their documents and policy tab.
These are the account options that you can choose from Admirals:
- Trade account
- Zero account
- Invest account
- Professional account
- Islamic account
Product Range
- Stocks and ETFs: You can start with only $0.02 per share on over 45,000 financial instruments from the top 15 exchanges.
- Forex/currencies: There are 40 CFDs on forex pairs, such as major forex pairs, minor forex pairs, exotic forex pairs, and crypto.
- Commodity CFDs: Retail clients can access CFDs trade with just 250 EUR. You can choose 28 commodities: agriculture, commodity futures, energies, and metals.
- Indices: Clients can start trading with just 250 EUR on benchmark indices on the world’s biggest exchanges. You can choose from 43 indices.
- Bonds: With a leverage rate of 1:5, you can get access without additional costs.
- Admirals Copytrader: This feature allows you to copy transactions of successful traders using the MT 5 platform. This is a great feature for beginners who want to start trading the easy way.
Admirals Interface Review
Admirals provide several online trading platforms, such as MT 4, MT 5, MT Webtrader, MetaTrader Supreme Edition (an in-house mobile application), and MetaTrader’s StereoTrader.
- In-house Mobile App: The platform is easy to use, even for beginners. Valuable features include adding financial instruments on watchlists, viewing market analysis materials, searching financial instruments, placing orders, setting price alerts, and keeping track of live prices and charts.
- MT4: One of seasoned traders’ favourite platforms. MT4 has extensive features with a user-friendly interface. The platform is highly customisable, with advanced charting tools and indicators to determine strategies in financial markets.
- MT5: A more updated version of MT4 with a more responsive program execution. It has additional features compared to MT4 and in-house applications, such as social trading, copy trading, and economic calendar.
Research & Education Tools on Admirals
Admirals aim to give real-time advice to their clients via their Research tools, using the MetaTrader platforms and analytics menu on their website.
The MetaTrader platforms have over 90 technical indicators, which is great for experienced traders.
On their website, you can find top movers daily and fundamental data on the Forex calendar.
Regarding education, Admirals is also ahead of the game with a demo account, tutorial videos on trading platforms, webinars, and courses on trading.
If you want a hands-on approach, one of their regular webinars will show you a live trading session with Admirals’ experts. You can then practice what you’ve learned on their demo account.
One of their most popular courses is Forex 101. In this course, you’ll be taught by professional traders and split into stages according to your experience.
Is Admirals Expensive?
Admirals has a comparatively low fee structure, especially for forex transactions. But they have an inactivity fee and withdrawal fee for specific methods.
Here is a more detailed breakdown of their costs.
- Trading fees: CFD and forex trading fees are on par or slightly lower than their peers.
- Inactivity fee: After 24 months of inactivity, they will charge 10 EUR per month.
- Withdrawal fees:
- Bank transfer: 1 free withdrawal/month, then £10 for each withdrawal.
- Visa/Mastercard, PayPal, Skrill, and Neteller: 1 free withdrawal/month, then £1 for each withdrawal, min 1%.
- iDEAL and Klarna: free.
- Currency conversion fee: 0.3%.
How to Withdraw from Your Admirals Account
What’s great about Admirals is that they provide multiple withdrawal methods, such as PayPal, bank transfer, Neteller, Skrill, Credit Cards, Klarna, and iDEAL.
Log in and click withdrawals to withdraw money from your account. Then fill in the amount you want to withdraw and your preferred method. The speed for payment services is instant, but it will take 1-5 days for bank and wire transfers.
Safety & Security
Admirals is regulated by the following authority bodies:
- The UK Financial Conduct Authority
- Estonian Financial Supervision Authority
- The Cyprus Securities and Investment Commission
- The Australian Securities and Investment Commission
- The Jordan Securities Commission
- The Financial Services Authority of Seychelles
UK clients are also under the protection of FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme).
With FSCS protection, you are eligible for up to £85,000 in compensation should the company close down.
Customer Support Review
You can contact Admirals’ team via email, phone, Whatsapp, or live chat.
You can also go to their help centre and click on the menu corresponding to your issues.
I checked their Trustpilot reviews, and they have an excellent standing score of 4.3 out of 5.
Unfortunately, when I scrolled down to see the comments, the recent comments were largely negative. The complaints were about fund performance and withdrawals.
I decided to test the customer support myself. When I contacted them via live chat, they were able to answer within 5 minutes.
Emails were responded to within 5 hours, and phone calls within minutes.
Who Should Use Admirals?
Admirals is a great trading platform for beginner and advanced traders. Beginners can use their extensive educational content to learn the financial market, while advanced traders can use Admirals’ analytical tools.
It’s also suitable for low-cost traders, thanks to its low fees.
Alternatives to Admirals
Here are the best alternatives to Admirals:
- eToro: The platform provides a social trading experience, which means trading in social media mode. With eToro, you’ll be able to see what others are doing or even copy their investment strategy too. You should try this platform to have a more straightforward interface and more interaction with fellow traders.
- Trading 212: A global CFD and forex broker where you can trade stocks and ETFs for free. The company has a simple interface with extensive educational materials. But the platform faced an issue due to the number of clients, so sometimes you might be waitlisted.
- Pepperstone: The company focuses on CFDs across forex, crypto, indices, commodities, and shares. Pepperstone has similar trading platforms, with MT4 and MT5 available on their app. It also offers a similar product line to choose from.
Pros & Cons of Admirals
Pros:
- Excellent range of products
- Educational content is available
- Extensive analytical tools
- CopyTrader feature for beginners
- Options for withdrawal methods
Cons:
- Inactivity fee
Admirals Review – Final Thoughts
Overall, Admirals have successfully fulfilled the needs of beginners and advanced traders with their extensive tools, educational materials, and CopyTrader option.
Their selection of withdrawal methods and competitive pricing is also something to be admired.
It’s a versatile platform that keeps improving to keep up with the market. That’s why I think traders of all levels can try Admirals.
Hopefully, my review has given you some insight into whether or not Admirals is the right trading platform for your needs.
FAQs
How long does it take to withdraw money from Admirals?
Withdrawals from Admirals typically take 1-3 business days.
Is Admirals safe?
Yes, Admirals is considered safe due to its regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).