London Capital Group (LCG) is an international broker that offers world-class forex trading solutions. The company accepts clients from all over the world except a few jurisdictions, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United States. LCG clients can trade thousands of financial instruments on competitive spreads. The company also provides direct market access with no price re-quotations. In this piece, I take a look at various aspects of the broker in detail.
Overview
Founded in 1996, LCG is a part of London Capital Group Holdings Plc which is a non-listed business concern. The company is registered in England and Wales, having authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under license number 182110. The broker specializes in trading services across multiple financial derivatives, including forex, CFDs, indices, shares, and cryptocurrencies. The company operates through its regional offices in most of the jurisdictions around the world.
| Pros | Cons |
| FSCS fund protection FCA regulation A wide range of assets Multiple deposit and withdrawal methods User-friendly trading platforms | High CFD fees Average mobile trading experience Average customer support ECN accounts require higher minimum deposits |
Who LCG is for?
With easy to use trading platforms, round the clock customer support, and hassle-free sign-up process, LCG may suit novice traders more as compared to seasoned traders. However, low spread rates and ECN trade execution policy might also attract high volume traders. The broker offers demo accounts for both beginner and advanced-level traders. LCG demo accounts come with unlimited expiry. The broker offers instant trade execution, minimum negative slippage and low latency which makes it an ideal platform for scalpers and high-volume traders.
Rating: 4/5
Sign up bonus: The broker offers a signup bonus to qualifying traders.
Is LCG Safe?
LCG holds multiple regulations from the world’s most trusted regulatory bodies, including CySEC and FCA. The broker also adheres to the guidelines of ESMA for providing trading services to European clients. Owing to strict regulatory requirements, the broker keeps clients’ funds in segregation from its capital funds. Similarly, the company also offers negative balance protection.
In case the company goes bankrupt, clients’ funds have insurance coverage under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). LCG employs advanced security protocols for online data transmission, making it impossible for intruders to break into the LCG web servers. To cut it short, LCG is undoubtedly one of the safest forex brokers in the retail forex industry.
Rating: 4/5
| Year founded: | 1996 |
| Publicly traded: | No |
| Licenses: | FCA, CySEC, ESMA |
| Backlist: | Nil |
Offering of Investments
With a broad selection of tradable instruments, the broker allows clients to trade across eight classes of financial derivatives. The product portfolio of the broker includes forex, spot metals, indices, options, bonds, commodities, ETFs, and stocks. Having too many options to trade, clients can select and focus on their most favorite asset class. However, the product range varies from country to country owing to certain geographical and regulatory limitations. Therefore, clients may need to confirm the availability of their desired product before the sign up.
Rating: 4/5
| Forex: Spot Trading | Yes |
| Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs) | 60+ |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | Yes |
| CFDs instruments | Forex, Metals, Stocks, Energies, Indices, Commodities (4700+) |
Commissions & Fees
LCG offers two types of accounts, including Classic and ECN accounts. The company does not offer fixed spread account type. Minimum deposit must be at least $10,000 for an ECN account type.
Classic account holders have to pay an average spread of 1.45 pips on EURUSD, while the spread cost gets significantly reduced to 0.2 pips for ECN account holders. The all-in cost in ECN accounts with an added commission of 0.45 pips remains around 0.65 pips.
Keeping spreads and commissions in view, ECN accounts appear more competitive when compared with the industry average. In addition, ECN accounts have more favorable trading conditions than those offered in the Classic Account.
The broker offers guaranteed stop loss execution in cTrader only for an added cost of three pips. Although the broker offers some premium trading services, however, you need to fund your account with a minimum amount of £25,000 to avail such services. Cash rebate offers between £4 and £9 per lot are also available for high volume traders. Overnight charges and inactivity fees are some extra expenses that clients may need to pay.
Since the broker requires a higher minimum deposit to use its services, so the trading cost might not be a point of concern for traders signing up with the company. However, fees and commissions can make a difference when it comes to profit optimization.
Rating: 3.5/5
| Minimum Initial Deposit | $10,000 for ECN Account |
| Average Spread EUR/USD – Standard | 1.45 Pips |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD – Active | 0.65 pips |
| Minimum withdrawal | Not Specified |
Platforms & Tools
Considering the needs of all stakeholders, the company provides access to the full suite of both cTrader and MetaTrader4 trading platforms. Both trading platforms are compatible with all electronic devices, such as PCs, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. Mobile friendly versions of the platforms are available on android and apple’s application stores.
While MT4 is the industry’s most renowned trading platform, it seems to have fewer features available as compared to the company’s in house-developed cTrader known as LCG Trader. Therefore, I reckon going with the LCG Trader for a better trading experience. However, the LCG trader does not have a desktop version that can be a source of disappointment for some traders.
Since traders do not have the option of using cTrader desktop version, therefore clients looking for automated trading can only use MT4. Metatrader4 offered by LCG provides authentic price feed, charts with no sunday candles and so many advanced level technical indicators.
Rating: 3.5/5
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | No |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes |
| Charting – Indicators / Studies (Total) | 50+ |
| Charting – Drawing Tools (Total) | 30+ |
| Charting – Trade From Chart | Yes |
| Order Type – Trailing Stop | Yes |
Research
Besides all other factors, LCG’s research section is a classic example of so many useful resources under one roof. However, in my opinion the company should have added more tools and content to its research head to make it more appealing to both novice and seasoned traders. The latest news heading features top stories concerning major socio-economical events around the world. The forex calendar helps clients to keep an eye on upcoming economic events. On the other hand, the analysis head offers detailed insights into the market, suggesting expected technical bias and pricing trends of underlying assets. Nonetheless, I don’t see the company is offering any webinars.
Rating: 3.5/5
Education
Unlike the research head, LCG education sections seem to be missing many things when compared with the competitors. Only a few video tutorials, glossary, and FAQs are parts of the company’s educational library. Company’s approach of providing specific content under separate categories for both novice and skilled traders is commendable. However, that doesn’t justify the unavailability of more educational resources, such as trading guides, webinars, one-on-one trading sessions, or pre-recorded lectures covering various aspects of forex trading.
The broker should consider adding more resources to its education corner. Live webinars boost traders’ confidence and help them learn real-time education concerning different domains of forex trading. Even the recorded video sessions can be a part of archived content.
Rating: 2.5/5
Mobile Trading
LCG clients can access cTrader and MT4 trading platforms on their mobile phones. With a user-friendly design and traders oriented features, the LCG’s cTrader takes an edge over the traditional mobile-based version of the MT4 platform. The cTrader mobile app comes with all main features that are present in the web-based trading platform.
Clients can also access the market watchlist that gets automatically synchronized on the mobile app. The mobile platform offers a customized trading interface, enabling traders to experience the power of one-touch trading. Multiple drawing tools and a full suite of technical indicators help clients to undergo detailed technical analysis on their favorite assets.
Rating: 3/5
| Mobile devices | Android & Apple |
| Features | Watchlist, charting tools, negative balance protection, price alerts |
Final Thoughts
After a detailed overview of the broker, I find LCG to be a competitive option for forex and CFD trading. The broker has a wide range of financial assets available for margin-based trading. The broker is authorized and regulated by the FCA – the most powerful regulator in the forex industry. Clients funds are secured with an insurance program. Spreads and commissions are competitive. Both MT4 and cTrader are available on all types of devices. The broker also offers a decent research and education section to educate its clients as well as the general public. The only con I could find is its higher deposit requirement for ECN account type. So I suggest everyone, particularly those who reside in the UK, to at least give LCG a try.
Overall rating: 3.75/5