Brokers by percentage of losing accounts

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ph_trader

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honestly, 12 years ago i started trading with this one thought that stuck with me, that only 5% make it in forex trading, giving me this 95% lose percentage. after years i see that number of success going up and i think thats a good sign right?
 
Sharky

Sharky

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AriaS said:
They must publish them according to the regulation.
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Yes, it's an FCA requirement for CFDs and spread bets, and they normally show up in the footer of the website of the broker. I was thinking it might be insightful to keep a track of the statistics here on T2W, so not only get a snapshot on what are they are now; but also see the trend over time. If anyone likes that idea, let me know and I'll look into it further.
 
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joyny

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Sharky said:
Yes, it's an FCA requirement for CFDs and spread bets, and they normally show up in the footer of the website of the broker. I was thinking it might be insightful to keep a track of the statistics here on T2W, so not only get a snapshot on what are they are now; but also see the trend over time. If anyone likes that idea, let me know and I'll look into it further.
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Good idea!

See here from web.archive.org should be possible to get history too

Here darwinex was 76% 3 years back but now 64%:

IMG_20230308_135218.jpg
 
Sharky

Sharky

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I'm working today on compiling the data across all providers. It got me thinking, what do they actually mean when they say 'X% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider'. Has anyone come across a definition anywhere? Might save me some googling. For example does is it based on active accounts lifetime history, the last 12 months, the last month. It'll be interesting to monitor and see how frequently it changes, daily/weekly/monthly.
 
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joyny

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The period of time over which the percentage is calculated can vary between providers, but it is typically based on the lifetime history of active accounts.

Some providers may update this percentage on a daily or weekly basis, while others may update it less frequently.
 
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BigDeal

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joyny said:
The period of time over which the percentage is calculated can vary between providers, but it is typically based on the lifetime history of active accounts.

Some providers may update this percentage on a daily or weekly basis, while others may update it less frequently.
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Actually, the rules are much more specific, otherwise there would be no meaningful comparison;

The ESMA rules are that the % figure must relate to accounts over the last 12 months, and the data must be updated every 3 months.
 
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Sharky

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Fascinating, thanks for the info.. it'll help me dig even further.

Already found a couple of interesting outliers...

(y) Spreadco - Just 50.8% losing accounts, could they be the first broker to claim more winners than losers?!
(n) Trade Nation - Miserable 82.8% of losing accounts 😳
 
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BigDeal

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Sharky said:
(n) Trade Nation - Miserable 82.8% of losing accounts 😳
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It would be interesting to understand why there is a variance between providers. I try to look at the competition v. my current providers fairly regularly, but I don't really take much notice of the % losers.
Maybe it's the less experienced being lured to certain sites?
I've just had an email from my currently favoured CFD provider, that they will be rebranding to Trade Nation soon (who are the parent company) but the % losers at Trade Nation is much higher than my current provider which claim 70%
 
Sharky

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Yeah it's hard to say whether it's just the branding/marketing attracting a certain personality type that translates into a less successful trader; or whether it's a consequence of the platform, the spreads, commissions, slippage etc; or some combination of the two.

I use Interactive Brokers and was unaware they offer cfds and at 69% of losing accounts that's the top quartile based on my research: https://www.interactivebrokers.co.uk/en/trading/products-cfds.php

Research complete. I'll post my findings shortly. I've included only FCA regulated members.
 
Sharky

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Boom! Found a broker that has more winners than losers.. not often you get the odds in your favour!
 
Sharky

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The results are now published and live here:

Broker Comparison

This table shows a list of CFD and spread bet brokers registered with the FCA (UK). It's ranked by % of losing accounts. ESMA rules are that the % figure must relate to accounts over the last 12 months, and the data must be updated every 3 months. Further discussion here...
www.trade2win.com
 
Rufus_Leakey

Rufus_Leakey

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Sharky said:
The results are now published and live here:

Broker Comparison

This table shows a list of CFD and spread bet brokers registered with the FCA (UK). It's ranked by % of losing accounts. ESMA rules are that the % figure must relate to accounts over the last 12 months, and the data must be updated every 3 months. Further discussion here...
www.trade2win.com
Click to expand...
The good news is the median 75% losing accounts is still a little better than gambling at a casino.:LOL:
1678394258219.png
 
Trader333

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Related to all this and in the UK the gambling industry as a whole makes 60% of its profits from only 5% of people who gamble. It would be interesting to know what that percentage is for brokers.
 
Sharky

Sharky

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Sharky said:
I'd take ActivTrades in the UK at 74% (https://www.activtrades.co.uk/) over ActivTrades Global at a stonking 85% (https://www.activtrades.com/). UK versus EU? Slow to update or just human error? It's anyone's guess!
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Got an answer from the horse’s mouth - they have a booth here at the London Trader Show. So the 85% is correct and relates to those trading via their Bahamas entity and the difference is basically because the leverage is much higher.
 
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BigDeal

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Sharky said:
The results are now published and live here:

Broker Comparison

This table shows a list of CFD and spread bet brokers registered with the FCA (UK). It's ranked by % of losing accounts. ESMA rules are that the % figure must relate to accounts over the last 12 months, and the data must be updated every 3 months. Further discussion here...
www.trade2win.com
Click to expand...
Not sure how often you want to update, but OvalX have stopped trading, and the CoreSpreads brand has rebadged as Trade Nation
 
Sharky

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Thanks @BigDeal, now updated. A lot can happen in two weeks! If you come across any more FCA regulated CFD or spreadbetting brokers not listed please do list them out and I'll add them. My goal eventually is to expand this list into a more definitive broker comparison.
 
Sharky

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I've updated the google sheet and split out CFDs and Spread Betting into two separate tabs. I've also reordered by name. Unfortunately a limitation of embedded google sheets is that you can't filter or sort them interactively - I might consider moving to excel on the web as I believe they support this.

Also by way of an experiment, I've shared the underlying google sheet that powers the broker comparison page, so anyone with this link can edit it! Before you go rushing to delete everything, google automatically keeps a history of changes, so I'll review any changes and roll back if needed.

Here's the link to start adding any brokers I've missed, contributions greatily received:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yQZHb-7jF7KVOQkBhwCZ4FsWyD9whpbid5f4Xgfs4n0/edit?usp=sharing
 
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