Comprehensive Review dedicated to traders from SA
Pepperstone Review South Africa
Accepts South African Clients
Who is Pepperstone?
Pepperstone is a leading international Forex and CFD broker that allows clients to trade over 1,200 market instruments. The company was launched in 2010 and is currently regulated by several organizations from around the world. Pepperstone is regulated by top regulators including the FCA and the ASIC. Positively, Pepperstone accepts South African clients and offers them a fairly high financial leverage of 1:400.
The Pepperstone minimum deposit is $0 which also, of course, equals to 0 ZAR.
Regulated by:
CMA
Capital Markets Authority, based in Kenya, license number 128.
ASIC
Australian Securities and Investments Commission, based in Australia, license number 147055703.
FCA
Financial Conduct Authority, based in the United Kingdom, license number 684312.
Risk warning: Remember that forex and CFDs available at Pepperstone are leveraged products and can result in the loss of your entire capital.
Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved.
Pros
Cons
01
Trading assets
There is a wide variety of trading instruments available for South African clients to invest in. In total, Pepperstone avails of over 1,200 different assets to trade. These include CFDs on:
- Forex – Here you can trade a wide variety of forex currency pairs. You can trade majors like EURUSD, GBPUSD, and USDCAD, minors like CADJPY and GBPJPY and even exotics like ZARJPY and USDZAR. In total, there are over 60 different currency pairs on this broker site.
- Stocks– A wide range of US, UK, AU and German shares are available on this broker site.
- Indices – Pepperstone offers a wide range of assets in this market. This includes US Tech 100, CANADA 60, US Wall Street 30 and US 2000, just to list a few.
- Commodities – These include gold, silver, oil, cotton, corn, natural gas, and more.
- Cryptocurrencies – Here, Pepperstone supports 21 different cryptocurrency CFDs for clients to invest in.
- ETFs – There is a huge collection of Exchange-traded funds available to invest in on Pepperstone. These come from a variety of markets including Asia and Pacific, North America, Africa, Emerging Markets, and more.
Available Deposit & Withdrawal Methods
A review of Pepperstone supported deposit and withdrawal methods.
Supported Platforms
A review of Pepperstone supported trading platforms.
02
Trading platform of the broker
Clients can trade under a wide variety of trading platforms on the Pepperstone broker site. The company provides four world-class platforms that are customizable and versatile. The lineup of trading platforms includes MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, and TradingView.
The MetaTrader platforms are some of the most popular trading platforms in the world. In fact, for a very long time, MetaTrader 4 has been the industry leader in the number of traders using it. The latest version, MetaTrader 5, became the most popular trading platform among brokers. This is uncoincidental as the MT5 is an even more powerful newer version.
cTrader and TradingView also offer top-notch trading experience and are used by various brokers in the market. In fact, TradingView is one of the most recognized charting and trading platforms in the world. This trading platform is used by over 50 million traders and investors worldwide.
Further, clients have a number of trading tools to assist them in their trading activities. These include two top market analysis tools, Capitalise.ai and Autochartist. It also includes Social trading tools like Myfxbook AutoTrade, MetaTrader Signals, and DupliTrade. The company also provides traders with live news as they roll out so that they can make actionable decisions on time.
Screenshot taken from the official homepage of Pepperstone
03
Review of Pepperstone Trading fees
Pepperstone offers two main account types to clients. Commissions and spreads vary depending on the account a client is on. The two accounts offered by the broker include the Standard account and the Razor account. The Standard account features spreads as low as 1.0 pips on major currencies with no commission paid.
On the other hand, the Razor account has spreads starting from 0.0 pips and a commission applies. The commission charged on this account is €2.6 per side per lot on forex or $3.50 in US Dollars on the MT4 and MT5 platforms. The commission sits at $3 per side per lot for cTrader and TradingView accounts.
For other asset classes, the spreads are similarly low and industry standard. The spreads depend on the instrument a client is trading. For example, Spot Silver has spreads that fall as low as 0.5 pips while Spot Gold on the same asset class has spreads as low as 5.0 pips. On the other hand, spreads on indices fall as low as 0.16 pips for the US Volatility Index (VIX).
Other fees that apply include Swap fees charged for holding positions overnight. The swap rates charged by Pepperstone can be found on the company’s website under the pricing tab. They are updated regularly depending on market conditions and clients should always stay updated to ensure they pay fees they are aware of.
04
Execution Speed and Fill Rate
Brokers with world-class trading platforms usually have some of the fastest execution times in the market. Unsurprisingly, Pepperstone features some of the fastest order execution speed in the market. Clients accessing the company’s services from South Africa enjoy order execution times averaging less than 60 milliseconds. On the other hand, clients of Pepperstone’s Australian branch enjoy order execution speeds averaging less than 30 milliseconds.
On top of the first-rate execution speed, Pepperstone also features a high fill rate. Pepperstone has an impressive 99.94% fill rate on a no-dealing desk intervention model. A higher fill rate shows the efficiency of a forex broker and can lead to better trading conditions. Moreover, it shows that Pepperstone has minimal slippage, if any.
Did you know?
Pepperstone was awarded "Broker of the Year 2022" prize by TradingView.com, a popular trading platform.
05
Educational resources, cashback rebates
Educational material is very important to beginner traders. Tutorials, webinars and other material can help get traders quickly familiarised with the market and trading platforms. They are also important to experienced traders who might need some help developing new strategies and improving existing ones.
Luckily, Pepperstone offers a wide variety of educational resources for new and experienced clients. Under this section, clients can find articles, webinars, and a plethora of educational videos. Clients can easily access specialized education aids, exclusive insights, and tutorials on different trading tools. Further, clients receive high-impact economic event coverage, expert commentary, videos and more market analysis so that they never miss a trading opportunity.
On Pepperstone, traders can earn forex cash rebates as part of the Active Trader program. Here, the rebate that traders enjoy fully depends on their trading volumes. The higher the trading volume, the higher the cash rebate. The cash rebate on Pepperstone is paid daily but depends on how many standard lots a client trades each month. The rebates are paid directly into a client's trading account the day after a position is closed so that they can put them back to use immediately.
There are three tiers that determine the rebate per lot a client receives. Specifically, traders in tier 1 are those who trade over 100 standard lots in a month. These traders receive a cash rebate of 10% per Forex lot. Tier 2 clients are those who trade 200 to 500 standard lots in a month and receive a 15% per forex lot rebate. Tier 3 clients are those that trade more than 500 standard lots. These clients have to contact their premium client manager for more information about rebates. To remain a member of the Active Trader program, traders must meet volume requirements over a 3-month period.
06
Pepperstone Customer Support
Customer support is one of the most important features of a company, especially one that handles people's funds. Clients want to know they can reach a company any time they have an issue. Fortunately, Pepperstone has various channels clients can use to reach the company. For starters, live chat is available 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.
Additionally, clients can contact Pepperstone via the support email, support@pepperstone.com. The company guarantees a response within 24 hours. There is no local line for South African traders to enquire. But clients can reach Pepperstone through the international phone number +44-(800)-0465473. This might change once the company gets the FSCA license.
07
API Trading & Trading Strategies Allowed
Pepperstone offers automated trading via its Application Programming Interface. This tool allows clients looking to link their portfolios to an external automated trading platform or who want to develop their own custom-built systems. As such, this tool allows clients to have an increased ability to see the depth of the market. Additionally, it gives clients access to multiple liquidity providers to ensure they get the best pricing.
- Scalping Allowed - Yes.
- EAs Allowed - Yes
- Hedging Allowed - Yes
Expert's critical opinion
from the author of this Pepperstone Review
Pepperstone is among the most popular and reliable brokers in the market. Though not yet registered in South Africa, this is a matter of time due to their recent application to operate in the country.
Nevertheless, the company is still regulated by 7 regulators, some of which are considered world-renowned such as the FCA and the ASIC. Brokers that are regulated by top-tier organizations always stand out above their peers. This is because such regulators keep companies in check to ensure they provide the best trading conditions for their clients.
To establish the quality and strength of Pepperstone it is necessary we compare it to other major forex players in the South African market. In this case, we will compare it to Exness and Avatrade, which are two very popular forex brokers in South Africa. Pepperstone does not have a minimum deposit requirement, compared to the minimum deposit at Exness which stands at $10 and $100 at Avatrade. On Pepperstone, clients can deposit any amount and start trading a variety of global markets.
When comparing trading platforms, Pepperstone offers MT4, MT5, TradingView, and cTrader trading platforms. It therefore has an edge over Exness and Avatrade which provide fewer trading platforms as they both offer only MT4 and MT5. Nevertheless, MT4 and MT5 are the most popular among traders and will probably still be enough for both experienced and beginner traders.
Spread fees also play a major role for traders when selecting a broker. When comparing spreads, they range at Pepperstone from 1.0 to 1.59 for major currencies whereas Exness has spreads starting from 0.3 and AvaTrade from 0.9 pips on their standard accounts. So here, Exness and AvaTrade both beat Pepperstone regarding spreads on the standard account. However, clients can trade with spreads starting from 0.0 pips on the Razor account and pay a commission. This can allow them to achieve lower trading costs in conjunction with the Active Trader Program.
Peter Cook Ndungo
Editor, Senior Broker Analyst