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101Investing Review: Complete Broker Overview

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101Investing is owned and operated by the parent company FXBFI Broker Financial Invest Ltd. This Cyprus-based CFD broker offers access to the world’s financial markets to traders all across Europe.

With terms and conditions that cater to a variety of traders who seek to expand their current income, 101Investing has been growing for several years. That’s all thanks to the excellent user experience when trading through them.

The following review of 101Investing will provide any trader or prospective trader who is considering this broker with all the information needed to make a fully informed decision. In short, we’ll find out of this is a broker who provides a fair trading environment, and whether your deposits are safe with them.

Overview

Page Contents 👉

Founded in 2016, 101Investing is one of a crop of fairly new CFD brokers based in Cyprus. With over 250 CFD products offered on its platform, traders of all stripes should find something to trade among the currencies, commodities, stocks, indices, and cryptocurrencies.

101Investing Awards

An award-winning broker. Image via 101Investing.com

The broker is owned by FXBFI Broker Financial Invest Ltd. and through them are regulated and a member of the Investor Compensation Fund in the EU. The broker also offers such features as demo accounts, professional customer service, leverage in line with ESMA directives, no commissions, and fair trading conditions. Clients also have access to the award-winning MetaTrader 4 trading platform, and to a deep stable of educational materials.

Safety

Being based in Cyprus, 101Investing is fully regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) through its parent company FXBFI Broker Financial Invest Ltd. They hold the license number 315/16 as you can see below. Regulated brokers typically provided the safest trading environment, and can be considered trustworthy and safe. We have rarely heard of issues with regulated brokers.

101Investing License

Proof of licensure and regulation. Image via CySEC website.

Fund safety: Funds deposited with 101Investing are considered safe as this broker ensures client’s funds are segregated from corporate operating accounts and are deposited in first-class and global banking institutions.

Risk management: As previously mentioned, the broker is a member of the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF). This fund was created in order to provide compensation to clients for any potential claims that come about as a result of the broker failing to fulfill financial obligations to its clients.

101Investing SSL

Make Sure that you have an SSL padlock to verify.

User side security: User security is primarily provided by secure password protested access to accounts, and by all the infrastructure related protections. The broker unfortunately does not offer 2FA protection for account log-in.

Communication / Data security: 101Investing has strict firewalls and SSL software in place to ensure the safety of all its client transactions. The SSL certificates help prevent information from being stolen by encrypting the information sent from the user’s browser to the website server. In addition, all servers are located in SAS70 certified data centers and the broker adheres to Level 1 PCI compliance.

Asset Coverage / Instruments

There is a range of over 250 assets available to trade as CFDs at 101Investing. Here’s what you can expect in terms of asset availability:

  • Forex There are more than 45 different currency pairs available as CFDs for trading, including the extremely popular EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and EUR/GBP pairs.
  • Cryptocurrencies – A very solid selection of over 20 popular cryptocurrencies CFDs are available, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
  • Commodities – Choose from CFDs on more than 15 hard and soft commodities including gold, crude oil, and coffee.
  • Stocks – 101Investing let’s clients choose from 75+ well-known global stocks to trade as CFDs, including names such as Amazon, Disney, and Facebook.
  • Indices – Trade CFDs on some of the world’s most well-known indices, including the Dow 30, the FTSE 100 and the Nasdaq 100.
101Investing Assets

This is just a small selection of the assets available. Image via 101Investing.com

Note that 101Investing is strictly a CFD broker and does not offer the actual purchase of any tangible asset, nor do they offer services such as spread betting, options, or other instruments.

Leverage

The leverage available will depend on which asset is being traded, and what type of account is chosen. It also depends on whether the client is a retail client or a professional client. Retail clients can expect to receive maximum leverage as follows:

  • Commodities– 1:20
  • Indices– 1:20
  • Cryptos– 1:2
  • Forex– 1:30
  • Stocks– 1:5

Professional clients, who are defined by meeting two of three investing criteria (more on that later in the review) can take advantage of leverage as high as 1:500 for some assets.

Impact of Leverage

Use caution when you’re using leverage.

The leverage limits are based on European ESMA standards as the broker must comply with these as part of its regulation by CySEC.

Traders should fully understand the risks that come along with the use of leverage. While it can magnify the potential gains from winning trades, it also magnifies the losses from losing trades. Any person who is trading with leverage needs to be particularly careful to use all available risk management tools and techniques at their disposal.

Fees

Brokers have fees and that’s just the plain truth. 101Investing is not different, although they do limit their fees greatly when compared with some other brokers. There are no commissions at 101Investing, so traders will likely be glad to hear that news.

Trading Fees 101Investing

Don’t pay unnecessary trading fees. Image via Medium.com

Really the only fee that a trader has to worry about, and it’s a fee that’s easily avoided, is the inactivity fee charged to accounts that show no activity for 60 days or longer. Once the account inactivity goes beyond 60 days it is flagged as inactive and charged fees as follows:

  • Over 61 days the Inactivity Fee is €80, retroactive for all the dormant period (i.e. after 61 days of inactivity, Client’s account Inactivity Fee will be €160).
  • Over 91 days the Inactivity Fee is €120 per month.
  • Over 181 days the Inactivity Fee is €200 per month.
  • Over 271 days the Inactivity Fee is €500 per month.

Of course the easy fix for this is to trade at least once every 60 days, or to simply withdraw all funds if you aren’t going to trade in that time frame. There are no inactivity fees assessed on accounts that have no funds in them.

Spreads

The spreads at 101Investing aren’t the best we’ve ever seen, but they are quite reasonable in our opinion. On the popular forex pairs spreads start as 0.7 pips on the EUR/USD pair or 0.9 pips on the EUR/GBP pair. Spreads decrease for higher account tiers, so for example the Platinum account has spreads on the EUR/USD that are as low as 0.3 pips.

101Investing Low Spreads

Lower spreads = Potentially bigger profits. Image via 101Investing.com

In the case of metals the spreads are just 0.37 on gold and 0.037 on silver, while crude oil enjoys a low spread of 0.03. Indices will see spreads starting at 1 point.

One other potential cost for trading with 101Investing are the overnight swap fees charged when holding certain assets overnight. These are usual at any CFD broker, and in some cases the swaps can be positive, meaning that they amount to an addition to your account balance.

It is good to see that the broker does avoid any deposit or withdrawal fees.

Because broker fees can and do change, it is possible there will be fees at 101Investing not shown in this review. Please be sure to check their website for any updated fee information before opening an account and beginning to trade.

Account Types

At 101Investing prospective traders will find three retail trading accounts named Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Each offers increasing levels of benefits, such as lower spreads or higher leverage.

In addition to these there is also a professional account upgrade available, as well as swap-free accounts for Islamic traders, and demo accounts for any trader to test the platform before depositing.

Silver Account

  • Minimum Deposit: $250
  • Forex Spreads: From 0.7
  • Max Leverage: 1:30
  • Commissions: None
  • 250+ trading assets

Gold Account

  • Forex Spreads: From 0.5
  • Max Leverage: 1:30
  • Commissions: None
  • 350+ trading assets
  • 25% swap discount

Platinum Account

  • Forex Spreads: From 0.3
  • Max Leverage: 1:400
  • Commissions: None
  • 250+ trading assets
  • 50% swap discount
101Investing Account Types

Several choices for the perfect account. Image via 101Investing.com

In addition all of the accounts allow hedging, and come with a dedicated account manager. They also offer a free VPS on all accounts, as well as investment news and updates.

Professional Account

If you can qualify as a professional client you can get increased leverage of up to 1:500 on some assets, as well as a reduction in margin rates. This allows a trader to increase their use of leverage above the guidelines imposed by ESMA regulation on retail clients. Qualification as a professional trader requires a client to meet two of the three following conditions:

  1. Have a portfolio of greater than $500k (not including property or cash)
  2. Have a verified history of placing significant sized positions (down to broker discretion)
  3. Have worked in the capacity of a professional position related to derivatives / speculation / trading.

Any client who can prove two of those three conditions can qualify as a professional trader, removing the ESMA regulation restrictions.

Islamic Account

101Investing fully supports its clients from all areas of the world, and from all cultural and religious beliefs. With that in mind, Muslim traders are able to take advantage of swap-free trading accounts that are in compliance with Sharia law.

101Investing Shariah Law Traders

Shariah law compliant broker. Image via 101Investing.com

Demo Account

A demo account is always a good thing to see at a broker because it gives prospective traders the chance to check out the broker’s platform before making a deposit. 101Investing has demo accounts available for anyone to give their platform a try. These demo accounts can also be used to test out new trading strategies to ensure profitability before using them with real money.

Registration / KYC

Opening a trading account with 101Investing is a simple process, although getting approved to deposit and trade is made a bit more time-consuming due to the Know-Your-Customer regulations the broker is required to follow.

By clicking the “Open Account” link located at the top right corner of the broker website, and throughout at other locations, you will be taken to a short signup form that asks for your name, email address and phone number. After filling in this form you’ll be taken to a second form asking for additional information such as your address and date of birth.

The third page asks for some information about your trading experience and net worth, as well as the source of your trading funds. All together the three pages take just a few minutes to complete and submit.

101Investing Account Process

5 simple steps to start trading. Image via 101Investing.com

After completing these steps it’s time to choose the type of account you’d like, and to make a deposit if you like. This step can wait, because your account will need to be reviewed by the account team at 101Investing before you can trade. In addition, you will also need to provide them with some additional documents to comply with the KYC and AML regulations. Those documents include an identity document like a drivers license, and a residence document, like a utility bill or similar.

It is imperative to ensure that when you are going through a broker application, you clearly read all of the brokers’ terms, conditions and policies. Only proceed if you fully understand and agree to them.

Deposits / Withdrawals

At 101Investing there are a number of methods for depositing and withdrawing funds, and all of them are completely free from any broker fees. The currently accepted methods include bank wire, credit cards and debit cards, and online e-wallet systems such as Skrill and Neteller.

Note that some methods will only be available in select countries, or may not be available for both deposit and withdrawal. You’ll be able to see which methods are available in your country when you log into the trading platform.

101Investing Banking

Choose your best deposit and withdrawal options

Note too that even though 101Investing is not charging any deposit or withdrawal fees, there could be some fees imposed by the banks or payment processors. These are out of the control of the broker.

In most cases the credit/debit card deposits are instant, while bank wire can take several days to clear. E-wallet transfer typically clear within 24 hours.

In terms of withdrawals, they are processed by the broker the same day, or the next business day if requested after business hours. Withdrawal times will depend on the payment provider, and could take up to 5-7 business days.

Also note that there can be transaction limits and restrictions imposed by the individual payment providers, and these are also out of the broker’s control. In some cases additional verifications may be needed to remove any limits on your account.

101Investing does not accept third-party payments, so all deposits must be made from accounts bearing the same name as the broker account. The same is true for withdrawals.

Accounts can be denominated in a variety of currencies in order to avoid currency conversion fees for clients.

Trading Platform

The trading platform at 101Investing is the popular and well-known MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform, and it is available for desktop, web, and mobile devices. The desktop platform has the greatest functionality, including support for automated trading with the use of the powerful MT4 Expert Advisors.

The Web Trader is also quite powerful in terms of charting and analysis capabilities, and also benefits from not requiring any downloads. Finally, the mobile app is quite good for those who are always on the go as it puts the power of MT4 right in your pocket.

MT4 Trading Platform 101Investing

Excellent trading conditions and analyzing tools

Traders will have full access to all the asset classes offered at 101Investing right in the same trading platform, which is very useful. And MT4 has been regarded as one of the most powerful and best trading platforms for all levels of traders for nearly two decades. It includes pretty much any feature you can think of, and if it doesn’t you can either find it in the MQL Marketplace, or build it yourself using the powerful MQL scripting language.

Some of the key features of MetaTrader include:

  • 30+ analytical tools such as RSI, MACD, Moving Average, Bollinger Bands and much more
  • 9 timeframes: M1, M5, M15, M30, H1, H4, D1, W1, and MN
  • 24 analytical objects including lines, channels, the Gann and Fibonacci tools, shapes, arrows and many more
  • Automated trading with expert advisors (EAs)
  • Multiple order types including instant, limit and pending orders
  • Fully customizable user-friendly interface
  • Strategy tester to back test EAs over historical data
  • MQL editor to create customized trading tools
  • Market place to download additional tools and get trading signals
  • Price alert notifications via email, SMS and platform pop-ups

Mobile

The MT4 mobile app gives traders access to most of the analytical tools and all the trading abilities of the other MT4 platforms. Plus it synchs with the other MT4 instances, allowing a trader to place a trade on the desktop, modify it in the Web Trader, and then close it later in the day in the mobile app.

Mt4 Mobile

The power of MT4 trading right in your pocket. Image via Apple App Store.

Clients will have access to all the order types and executions, 9 different time frames, trading history, charting tools and indicators, and chat support built right into the app. The MT4 mobile app is compatible with both iOS and Android operating systems.

Customer Support

101Investing is following the trend to offer more limited support, and their team can be contacted Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 18:00 GMT. There are at least a number of ways to contact the customer service team, including an online form that is supposed to be delivered directly to management.

Telephone – +357 80092740

Email – support@101investing.com

Online contact forms – Contact Us page or Contact Management page

Live chat – Located on the right-hand side of the website

In some online customer reviews there were some complaints that live chat wait times are longer than at other brokers. We tested this ourselves and received a response in under a minute to some simple questions, which seems totally acceptable. This was on a Friday afternoon, so that could have had an impact on the response times.

However, the response we received was less than acceptable. We asked if trailing stops could be used on the trading platform, which we thought was a pretty basic question. Here’s the response we received:

101Investing Chat

Seriously? I need to talk to an account manager for such a simple question? Image via 101Investing.com

The inability to answer a simple question, which isn’t directly related to trading at all as the support person indicated, but is rather a function of the trading platform being offered, is troubling. It seems that the customer support team might be there as a foil for the account management team.

It was also disturbing that they asked for a trading account number and date of birth with full name. It seems far too much information required to answer a basic question. And also indicates that they are only interested in answering questions from actual clients, not from prospective clients.

Referral Schemes / Bonus Offers

101Investing offers a generous affiliate scheme with payouts as high as $800 per referral, flexible payouts based on the number of trades brought in, and VIP conditions, upgraded payments, and a custom program for partners with the highest performance.

In addition, 101Investing does not offer traders any bonuses or promotions when using the platform, which is in accordance with MiFID regulations.

Trading Tools, Education Additional Resources

Most of the trading tools that are offered by 101Investing are those included in the MetaTrader 4 platform. These are numerous and should be enough for most traders. In addition, there are other tools that can be downloaded from the MQL Marketplace as plugins to the MT4 platform. This marketplace can be accessed from with the platform itself.

101Investing Education

Improve your trading knowledge in the education center. Image via 101Investing.com

Calendars

You will be able to find an economic calendar on the broker website, however it hadn’t been updated since September 7, 2020 when we accessed it in December 2020. There is also a link to an Earnings Report Calendar, which could be quite useful, however we received a 403 – Forbidden error when trying to access it.

Education

There’s also a generous selection of educational materials to choose from that will help inform new and intermediate traders looking to improve their knowledge and trading skills. These include trading articles, webinars, tutorials, videos, eBooks and courses.

These cover a variety of trading topics from trading platforms to trading strategies and more. There’s also a Daily News section that’s updated several times a day and will help keep traders informed on the latest developments in financial markets.

Areas for Improvement

We find that there’s always room for improvement in our own lives, and the same is true for businesses and brokers. At 101Investing we found several areas for improvement.

Why 101Investing

Loads of benefits, but still room for improvement. Image via 101Investing.com

The first area that could be upgraded significantly is the customer support team. We remember when online brokers would have 24/7 support, and the support team was knowledgeable and able to respond to any question. A move back in this direction would not only be helpful for 101Investing, it would be downright refreshing for the industry, which has seemed to move in the same direction as 101Investing in terms of customer support.

Another area for improvement is in the website itself. We mentioned the 403 – Forbidden error received above, but there were a number of areas of the website where links were broker, or redirected to incorrect pages. There are also several instances of conflicting information to be found on the website, and we were even prompted for a reCaptcha on one page where there was no reCaptcha present.

If we had to mention one other area for improvement it would have to be the broker spreads, but as traders we always want lower costs.

Conclusion

Based on our research we think 101Investing is a regulated and trustworthy broker. New traders could flourish here, and more advanced traders would also appreciate the trading conditions offered by the broker. With a good selection of CFD assets, and the MetaTrader 4 platform for trading the broker is set up for successful trading conditions.

Traders can also choose from several account types, customizing their trading to their needs and experience. Adding in a good selection of educational resources allows traders to improve the knowledge and skills. One downside is the customer support, which we found to be sub-par, and the website, which has too many errors in coding and information.

Please do your own research as well, but if you’re looking for a regulated CFD broker with good trading conditions you could do far worse than 101Investing.

Warning ⚡️: Trading CFDs is very risky and you could lose your entire investment. Make sure that you practice adequate risk management

101Investing Ratings

7.8 101Investing Ratings

Pros

  • Regulated
  • Asset Coverage
  • MT4 Platform
  • Mobile

Cons

  • Slow Customer Support
  • Site Issues
  • Spreads

Source: https://www.coinbureau.com/review/101investing/

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