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Introduction
Nowadays, financial instruments such as forex currency pairs, CFDs, commodities, and indices garner high stakes. People are becoming familiar with the high-profit potential of trading these instruments, driving their uptake across the globe. However, the global market for trading forex pairs, CFDs, and other assets is very unpredictable. It is a place where only proactive trade experts can make their earnings independently. For most people, the successful trading of these instruments can be achieved only by partnering with a financial service that brokers their trades.
London Capital Group Overview
Official Website | https://www.lcg.com/ |
Headquarters | UK |
Found in | 1996 |
Regulators | FCA |
Products offered | CFD, Forex, Stocks, Futures |
Minimum Initial Deposit | $10,000 |
Maximum Leverage | Forex(as per tier1 to 4) – 200 to 50(Majors), 100 to 25(Minors), 50 to 5(Exotic) |
Islamic Accounts | Yes |
Demo Account | Yes |
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes |
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No |
Trading Fees | Low |
Inactivity fees | £15 for a month |
Withdrawal fee | No |
Supported currencies | USD, GBP, EUR, or CHF |
Customer Support | Monday to Friday assistance through phone, live chat, & email support |
RISK WARNING: YOUR CAPITAL MIGHT BE AT RISK
London Capital Group (LCG) is among such very few brokers that have helped millions of users buy and sell popular investment products, forex currencies in particular. This London Capital Group review explores the broker and its online operations to disclose how it guides the economic well-being of its clients. The London Capital Group Reviews further studies the plus points as well as the downside of this currency trading broker. Key findings from this LCG trading platform also reveal why no retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.
What is the London Capital Group?
Founded in 1996, London Capital Group has emerged as one of the world’s most competitive online brokerage firms. LCG is an FCA and CySEC-regulated broker also listed on the London Stock Exchange. The LCG group of online brokers has consistently kept pace with the ever-changing landscape of financial trading. In 2016, the London Capital Group rebranded its service by launching the LCG Trader, a web-based application of a white-labeled cTrader platform. This offering is equipped with the widely-used MetaTrader 4 platform. The company also ensured that its LCG Trader product stays a fully-functional mobile app and performs the entire suite of LCG online broker services to the clients. It has more than 20 Years of world-class trading expertise and over $1 Billion in deposits as of now.
Today, LCG trading platform helps its clients access a wide range of CFDs, forex pairs, and spread betting instruments. These instruments are categorized across different asset classes. Barring the U.S. traders, LCG brokers the trades for clients from all parts of the world. The company has designed its services to fit the needs of beginners. All platforms offered by the London Capital Group are simple and functional on basic computing systems and devices. They can be either downloaded or accessed on web browser applications.
Similarly, the company offers mobile trading services, helping its clients choose between a standard account or an electronic communications network (ECN) account. For ECN trading accounts, the London Capital Group takes a minimum deposit of $10,000. These trading accounts vary based on their profit margin requirements and competitive spreads. With London Capital Group can trades directly with market makers, which is why none of its retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. To deposit funds or withdrawing funds, the trader can use credit cards, debit cards, bank transfer, and online payment services Skrill and Neteller. Note that the broker does not accept American Express and some International Visa Electron cards. Moreover, the company optimizes the cost of the spread based on market liquidity. To top all this, London Capital Group provides excellent customer service. All clients associated with LCG traders, including the beginners, are managed efficiently by the broker.
How London Capital Group Works?
The LCG Trader platform offered by the London Capital Group is the key instrument to their success. It is quite a streamlined trading platform and provides stability and ease of access to its clients. Web browser applications such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Windows Edge, and Apple Safari can effectively run this web-based trading platform. Being a flagship offering of London Capital Group, LCG Trader comes with an updated UI, one-click trading features, and fully-integrated cross-platform support. On the grounds of this platform’s working efficiency in catering to the clients of London Capital and Finance, TrustPilot has ranked this broker with a remarkable 4.2 out of 5 stars.
London Capital Group conducts its services with the simple UI of its LCG trader platforms. The easy-to-use tools provided by the broker help clients in creating custom watchlists and analyzing trade charts. The broker actively places trade orders and monitors those orders to have complete control over the clients’ investments. They get access to every instrument’s depth-of-market, which keeps them updated on upcoming market events. The broker runs an economic market calendar that notifies the clients of future trading opportunities. The technical analysis charts generated by the London Capital Group provide a full-screen display of how every trade scores under 70 technical indicators. The broker allows its traders to apply these indicators across multiple time frames and generate reports in the form of tick charts or monthly charts.
London Capital Group(LCG) Account Types
LCG account opening process is speedy. As London Capital Group offer three different account types to choose from:
- Standard(Classic) Account
- ECN Account
- Islamic Account
Here, you can get detailed information about all account features, which one suits you depends on your choice and requirements.
Standard(Classic) Account
- It suits new traders or mid-level traders
- No need to maintain a $10,000 account balance
- Very tight spreads compare to Electronic Communication Account (ECN)
Electronic Communication Account (ECN)
- It suits more advanced traders
- Some traders experience fast execution of orders
- Need to maintain a $10,000 account balance
- Lower charges compared to the standard account
- Low spreads with more transparency through STP execution
Islamic Account
- It suits new clients who follow the Muslim faith and Sharia law
- No overnight financing costs or rollover interest on overnight positions
- Islamic accounts also have the same conditions that apply to the other accounts.
LCG Trading Platforms: A superior trading experience
The LCG broker services primarily operate with the MetaTrader 4 platform. It provides their clients access to thousands of reliable tools to trade their popular instruments. These tools ensure that every trade reaps significant profits and does not impede the growth of the client’s investment portfolio. From trading through charts or using the new order window, users can leverage the power of MetaTrader4 by setting up price-based alerts on their instruments.
London Capital Group also notifies its clients of their email address or phone number. To reach the price objective, it takes great care to protect its clients from losing money rapidly due to high volatility with short-selling. However, it runs a closed system that cannot monitor the financial conduct of its clients across all instruments simultaneously. For advanced traders, the broker incorporates third-party plugins to run analytics and automation of their trading processes. However, the London Capital Group does not integrate these tools directly with the LCG Trader. They are added as an option with the MetaTrader 4 platform.
London Capital Group(LCG) – Types of Trade Order
Four types of orders can be placed with the LCG Trader. The broker offers these options to help their clients make profits and/or avoid losses on their trades.
Market Order
It is the simplest form of trade order where the broker provides signals to the traders indicating the time for executing their trade request at the existing market rate.
Stop Order
This is a pending order made by the trader. The broker sets the entry at a predetermined point of the market, either above or below the existing market rate. The broker indicates the trade’s execution, depending on what’s more profitable – buying or selling. The broker also allows the trader to set an expiration time for this pending order.
Limit Order
This is also pending order similar to the stop order, but the entry is set at a predetermined point below the existing market rate. The trader can also set an expiration time for this order.
Stop-Limit Order
In this pending order, the trader gets to select a tolerance range for execution. With this range, the order gets canceled if the market surpasses the selected rate and tolerance gap. This order can also be set with an expiration time.
Since retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs under volatile market conditions, the most brokers helps them make the stop-loss orders, which curb the high risk of losing money and stop the trailing loss on trades. An additional option is provided by the broker, where the trader can issue a stop-loss order by executing it at the asking rate.
How London Capital Group Conducts its Research & Training?
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This LCG trading platform discovered how the broker helps in trading and educates the users to become experts. Beginners can become seasoned traders by taking advantage of the educational offerings like education resources, market research, research tools provided by the London Capital Group. The broker develops high-quality educational content in the form of basic-level videos and articles to advanced trading materials. Other top forex brokers in the industry do not provide such quality education, which keeps their clients limited to their growth. This broker offers basic as well as advanced training on forex and CFD trading. It helps new investors detect and avoid trades that indicate a high level of risk for losing money due to high volatility. It also provides background information on markets to eliminate instances where retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. By relying on London Capital Group’s education, and gaining insights from the platform users can gradually become proficient in their markets.
London Capital Group has set the production quality of these education videos very high. The material, however, may lack in actual market application to some degree. Even so, the how-to user guides for the LCG Trader platform are very illustrative. Advanced traders may find relatively low content for next-generation trading information. But, their skills can improve when the broker leads them to define new ways to meet their customers’ target.
Research-wise, the London Capital Group delivers a real-time market commentary. It provides articles in the form of the latest news on the website. This research information is accessible to LCG users only, with all rights reserved to the London Capital Group. The broker also offers weekly sessions on market analysis sessions. It is a webinar conducted by London Capital Group’s expert trade analysts. It is scheduled every Monday and contains key takeaways on how traders can prepare for the events in the following week.
The analytical research material developed by the London Capital Group is used to generate insights for traders. These insights are based on industry standards and do not risk the traders’ wealth under any market conditions. The research materials further support educational resources as the broker connects its users with a team of analysts for actionable information. The London Capital Group forex trading platform also develops charts, which can be tested with a demo account to check the efficacy of LCG’s features and services.
London Capital Group – Key Offerings
The majority of features offered by the London Capital Group are integrated into its best online trading platforms. LCG clients can adopt the medium they prefer and experience the benefits of these offerings. The LCG Trader is designed as an entry-level platform that helps beginners with insightful charts. The MetaTrader 4 platform is more flexible. It runs back-testing on trader orders to simulate the outcomes. This allows users to mitigate every high risk of losing money. The automated trading system of MetaTrader 4 serves as a supplemental advantage to traders and helps proficient traders implement customized online trading strategies.
The mobile versions of lcg trader platforms are even more functional. They not only bridge the connection between the desktop and web applications but also provide alerts to the users – which is a critical offering of the London Capital Group. The broker offers authentic charts of market data, which can be easily modified to add indicators. The navigation between every order entry is smooth. Other account features offered by LCG are guaranteed stop loss, low margin requirements, CFDs and spread betting, and useful risk management features.
The web version of LCG Trader is a fast solution to trading. It is easy and has access to a standard trading menu, which also includes a charting section. The changes made on trades are instantaneously translated to the LCG Trader web app. The charts offered by LCG brokers are displayed in full-screen modes for better understanding. However, the web application is unable to integrate the entire suite of LCG offerings. Therefore, the MetaTrader 4 platform is a bit better than the LCG Trader app.
Financial Instruments Supported by London Capital Group
London Capital Group website offers a reliable trading experience across financial markets with access to a comprehensive range of market data and daily analysis for help to continued trading. Broker services provided by London Capital Group are listed in the following categories of financial instruments. Clients can select these instruments across a wide range of multiple asset classes.
- Indices
- Commodities
- Metals (spot)
- ETFs
- CFDs
- Bonds
- Forex Pairs (include minor forex pairs, exotic forex pairs)
- Options
- Individual stock
- Spot metals
The spreads on these instruments, except the individual stocks, are competitively low. All these instruments have tiers of leverage where the broker runs a dynamic leverage model through the trading platforms and automatically adjusts the leverage based on the clients’ trading positions. When the client’s trading volume increases per instrument, the limit for maximum leverage decreases concurrently.
London Capital Group’s Customer Service
LCG customer service is one of the biggest advantages of the group. Since most investors are looking for ways to avoid risk of losing their investments, they tend to reach out to the company frequently. To cater to these needs, London Capital Groups supports its customers via telephonic conversations, live chat, and email support. The customer service of the London Capital Group is available from Monday to Friday, between 0800 hrs and 1900 hrs (BST).
The clients can reach out to the LCG dealing desk, where their queries can be raised and resolved. There are shorter hold times on the live chat and telephonic options. The representatives respond quickly, especially in the live chat windows. There is a section of FAQs that is also equally informative and properly organized to solve our common doubts.
For running responsive customer support, London Capital Group scores high on trust and reliability. The LCG website allows new users to try the demo account and experience these support services in an unsolicited format. Since there are no regional branch offices of the London Capital Group, the entire customer service is conducted online from the London headquarters. To get in-provide service, clients need to visit the LCG headquarters.
Pros and Cons of Trading with London Capital Group
Being one of the top forex brokers globally, the London Capital Group offers several benefits to traders. At the same time, it also holds some shortcomings that impact the user experience.
Pros | Cons |
Top-quality customer service. | No customer service on weekends. |
Strict implementation of best market practices. | Restricts implementing unconventional trading strategies. |
Closely regulated by UK Financial Conduct Authority FCA #182110. | Not available for US clients. |
Invested funds not subjected to risks of regulatory non-compliance. | Minimum deposit required for opening an ECN trading account. |
Funds are stored only at Tier-1 banks. | Feature-based differences between platforms. |
Rebates for high-volume traders. | A monthly fine of £15 for an inactive account. |
Investor protection to clients. | Limited back-testing. |
Trading incentives available. | Incentives only on premium services. |
The above points highlighted by the London Capital Group review are also a factor to LCG being awarded as the best forex broker by leading market regulators in 2020.
How London Capital Group Analyzes Client Portfolio?
London Capital Group’s online trading services generate data from dozens of credible sources. It is a multi asset platform with 100+ tradable assets. Depending on the trading platform being users, LCG offers its traders valuable information on the active market. It displays market positions in real-time, sharing data on profit margins, pricing trends, pip values, and trade times. This information governs the success of the investments of LCG’s clients. They can make informed decisions by understanding this information.
The company, however, does not have its trading journal. It needs to provide user-guides on tax accounting tools for its platforms. The company can help the client improve the portfolio when a custom request is made through the platform. When the client reports the profit-loss details and the net deposits, LCG analyzes the trade balance, processes it every month, and forwards it to tax authorities. This LCG saves its clients from the risk of losing their earnings due to tax defaults. The company’s cTrader brand also offers multiple tools integrated with auditing features that analyze the client’s trading activity and improve its performance over time. These tools have multiple filters that analyze trading performances on different levels, which is very useful to expand the investment portfolios of beginners.
How Much Does LCG Broker Services Cost?
The trading costs at the company are processed under its competitive spread. LCG offers guaranteed stop losses to its clients at an extra charge of 3 pips. The LCG trader account gets charged with the costs when the commission gets processed. While trading ETFs and individual stocks, the company adds commissions to the spread on either side, so that there is no hidden fees. The company’s website advertises that an additional spread will be added to the market ask and deducted from the market bid prices.
For the standard account, the company does not charge any minimum deposit for customers. To open an ECN trading account, a minimum deposit of $10,000 is charged. This cost provides access to the best spreads at highly competitive rates. The company also offers cost-benefit differences between the LCG Trader platform and the MetaTrader 4 platform. For LCG Trader, a $45 commission is charged for every $1,000,000 traded on the platform. For MetaTrader 4, a $10 commission is charged per lot round-trip trade. Hence, the costs for an ECN-enabled MetaTrader 4 user account is greater than that of an ECN-enabled LCG Trader account. The total cost of the ECN-LCG Trader account comes to $45 for a $1,000,000 trade (average spread excluded). Similarly, it costs $100, & the average spread for using an ECN-MetaTrader 4 account to trade one lot of 100,000 trade volumes.
Additional Costs
LCG allows its clients access to premium services if they maintain high account balances. These services include a VIP Analysis tool developed by TSE. It is offered by the company at its discretion. For active traders, there is a rebate program that starts at £4 for trading a million units of trade volumes. This rate goes higher when the trade volume increases significantly. Inactivity for a month costs the clients with a £15 monthly penalty for each account. If the trading activity exceeds 180 days, and the deposits are made from credit card deposits, the company does not charge any additional fees.
Is London Capital Group a Safe Broker for Trading?
The company takes extra care in securing its operations and client information. LCG has implemented robust data protection technologies to protect its transactional data and user information. To ensure that the client funds are not prone to any high risk of trading, all corporate funds maintained by the company are compliant with the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority. The funds are stored in Tier-1 banks only. It helps the company secure its clients’ assets and protect them under any unlikely economic event. Even in the worst-case scenario, LCG never becomes insolvent as it holds these funds across segregated bank account at UK-regulated banks. The clients can also increase their asset protection through the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme, eligible only on funds up to £85,000.
LCG – one of the best forex brokers UK provides negative balance protection for its accounts and protects them from losing money through market pitfalls. The company allows guaranteed stop losses on some instruments. This safety feature depends on market conditions and entails an additional cost for activation. However, the company fails to customize the security of its mobile apps for mobile devices. It is also a concern that LCG has not implemented any additional protection with two-factor authentication or biometric scanning access to its clients.
Final Thoughts on London Capital Group (LCG) Review
This LCG Review rates London Capital Group one of the best online brokers for entry-level forex & CFD trading at competitive pricing. The company in itself is a seamless financial service provider. The trading experience of LCG users has been adjusted to drive its adoption among amateur traders. The group offers its services across a broad selection of spread betting instruments and CFDs. These instruments have been further classified into forex, commodities, indices, ETFs, and other asset classes. The company seems to be well-regulated by top financial authorities in the UK.
For individuals new in the domain of forex and CFD trading, LCG is a great partner and a reliable resource. Its competitive spreads ensure every account reaps high profits in its activities. The London Capital Group broker offers additional benefits to every high-performing and active account. It demonstrates success with functional simplicity, where the client accounts get access to desktop platforms, web apps, and mobile apps. The London Capital Group broker aims to provide its account holders with excellent customer service. It not only manages their trades manually but also keeps things intuitive and feature-rich based on investor preferences. Overall as per the London Capital Group review, the LCG is undoubtedly a viable support system for every new trader in the forex and CFD marketplace.
RISK WARNING: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 78% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. This content is created for information & educational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice or investment recommendation. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts or industry experts before making any investment or trading decisions. All trading involves risk. Only risk capital you’re prepared to lose. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
FAQs
Is London Capital Group regulated?
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Yes, London Capital Group is regulated. Financial Conduct Authority regulates LCG. As a regulatory body controls LCG, it can be said that LCG cannot undertake any wrong or unethical task.
Is LCG a safe broker for trading?
As per our LCG Review, the London Capital Group forex trading platform has implemented robust data protection technologies to protect its transactional data and user information. Also, the funds are stored in Tier-1 banks only. It helps the company secure its clients’ assets and protect them under any unlikely economic event.
What is the minimum investment amount for LCG broker?
LCG FX broker does not have a minimum deposit requirement for a “standard” account, but there is a $10,000 minimum deposit for ECN(Electronic Communications Network) account.
Which instruments can I trade with the London Capital Group forex trading platform?
London Capital Group Broker services provided the following categories of financial instruments: Indices, Commodities, Metals (spot), ETFs, CFDs, Bonds, Forex Pairs, Options & Individual Stock.
Is London Capital Group a good broker?
Yes definitely, LCG forex broker allows new users to try the demo account; user’s invested funds are not subjected to any risks of, trading incentives available, apart from that wide range of assets are available & many such reasons prove that London Capital Group is a good FX broker.