Trade Nation boasts a user-friendly and innovative platform suite, making it an enticing option for newcomers diving into forex and CFD trading. However, for seasoned traders, Trade Nation falls short in delivering the sophisticated features prevalent in top-notch trading platforms.

Operating without a banking arm and lacking public trading status, Trade Nation has secured approval from regulators across three tiers—two at the highest level, one at the second, and one at the third. Regulatory bodies such as the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have given Trade Nation the green light.

Trading Instruments at Trade Nation

With a total of 601 tradeable symbols, Trade Nation offers a mix of commodities, metals, bonds, indices, 33 spot forex pairs, 102 U.K. shares, and 423 U.S. shares.

Cryptocurrency: Limited availability for trading cryptocurrencies exists on Trade Nation’s web platform, exclusively for customers registered under Trade Nation’s Bahamas entity.

• Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) Yes
• Tradeable Symbols (Total) 601
• Forex Pairs (Total) 33
• U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) No
• Int’l Stock Trading (Non CFD) No
• Social Trading / Copy Trading No
• Cryptocurrency (Physical) No
• Cryptocurrency (CFD) Yes

Fees and Commissions

Trade Nation claims competitive fixed-spread pricing across all tradeable symbols. However, its fixed spread range remains unchanged even during price fluctuations, making it less favorable compared to brokers offering variable pricing. Additionally, during the daily rollover period, spreads widen considerably for about an hour.

Fixed spreads: While Trade Nation advertises a fixed spread of 0.6 pips for the EUR/USD pair, the reality shows occasional spread widening during rollover periods, bringing the actual average closer to 1 pip.

• Minimum Deposit $0
• Average Spread EUR/USD – Standard 0.6
• All-in Cost EUR/USD – Active 0.6
• Active Trader or VIP Discounts No
• ACH or SEPA Transfers No
• PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) No
• Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) Yes
• Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) Yes
• Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) Yes

Apps for mobile trading

The Trade Nation mobile app scores well in terms of ease of use but lacks the advanced features commonly found in leading trading apps.

• App Overview: Trade Nation customers can access MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and the Trade Nation mobile app directly through Google Play and Apple App Stores for Android and iOS devices, respectively.
• User Experience: The mobile app mirrors the website’s simplicity and functionality, featuring distinctive elements like the Smart News section showcasing curated tweets and headlines. This simplicity earned Trade Nation a Best in Class rating for usability in 2023.
• Trading Tools: Beyond the curated Tweets within the Smart News module, Trade Nation’s web platform lacks integrated market research and news headlines. There’s ample unutilized space where additional trading tools were expected. Nevertheless, the inclusion of Acuity Trading-powered trading signals, easily accessible for users with live accounts, was a positive find.

Trading Platforms

The Trade Nation website’s interface feels overly simplistic, leaving critical gaps in its offerings. Integration of existing research from the client portal and mobile app could uplift Trade Nation’s web platform to match leaders like Saxo Bank, IG, and CMC Markets.

Trade Nation offers varied order types, including guaranteed stop-loss. However, compared to CMC Markets or IG, the cost to add a guaranteed stop-loss order stands high at 3 pips. Nevertheless, the competitive fixed spread from Trade Nation has its pricing advantages.

Market Research

Trade Nation falls slightly behind the industry average in research offerings. The mobile app does provide curated Tweets, headlines, and weekly articles. However, the web platform lacks news headlines and research options, except for the Smart News module. Nevertheless, the addition of the Signal Centre, offering FCA-regulated trading signals within the web platform, is a welcome move.

Research Overview: Trade Nation’s research primarily resides on its website, official YouTube channel, and Smart News module on mobile and web platforms. Enhancing the user experience might involve integrating news headlines from reputable sources and adding an economic calendar.

Market News and Analysis: Trade Nation’s YouTube channel hosts an expanding library of content, including analysis videos like Trading Insights and TRADERCAST series. However, while most videos concentrate on technical and fundamental analysis, there’s a notable lack of research-oriented content. Leading brokers offer a more extensive range of research content, releasing videos more frequently each day.

Education at Trade Nation

Even its advanced content primarily caters to beginners, leaving much to be desired for advanced traders. The merging of educational materials and market news within the same section makes navigation challenging. Yet, Trade Nation is gradually expanding this area, such as the introduction of the Experts Explain series addressing typical research queries.

Educational Facility: Trade Nation’s Beginner Guides series, a collection of previous webinars, and various articles in its news and analysis section make up the bulk of its educational content. The No Shortcuts to Success podcast by Trade Nation stands out for its interesting discussions.

Room for Improvement: Trade Nation’s educational content appears to be growing slowly. Clear separation between educational content and research, along with the addition of interactive courses featuring progress tracking, could enhance the educational experience.

Conclusion on Trade Nation

Trade Nation, with its varied regulatory licenses across international entities, has made its mark. It provides a respectable selection of markets through its user-friendly trading platform suite for web and mobile.

However, advanced traders and those seeking more sophisticated tools might find Trade Nation lacking in advanced trading tools, comprehensive research, and educational content.

Under the umbrella of Trade Nation Financial Pty. Ltd., Trade Nation operates under the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) as a Financial Service Provider (FSP) in South Africa. Additionally, Trade Nation holds regulatory status in the Bahamas, Australia, and the United Kingdom.