It has been an uneasy month for two of the leading US brokers, as both Gain Capital (NYSE: GCAP) and FXCM (NYSE:FXCM) registered a decrease in their retail trading volumes for March. The two brokers recently released data on its financial performances for the previous month and we have compared key figures in both companies’ operating metrics in the table below:
| FX Broker | Retail trading volume (billion) |
Change |
Institutional trading volume (billion) |
Change |
Active accounts |
Change |
| FXCM | $291 | -6% m/m
-11% y/y |
$83 | 57% m/m
26% y/y |
175,736 | 0.1% m/m
3% y/y |
| Gain Capital | $267 | -3.5% m/m
-19.5% y/y |
$169 | -2.8% m/m
-15.4% y/y |
136,559 | -5.0% m/m
37.9% y/y |
FXCM’s reported retail volumes for March 2016 slightly lag behind levels seen in February 2016 and more significantly on a YoY basis, by 11%. The institutional side of the business performed more than well, marking 57% MoM and 26% YoY YoY increase in institutional trading volumes, coming in at $83 billion, continuing the upward trend from previous months.
Earlier this month the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released a report on US forex brokers performance, according to which FXCM retained its leading position in terms of size of client deposits.
As regards FXCM’s main competitor, Gain Capital, who remains solid second on US market, its retail and institutional (GTX) trading volumes saw decrease compared to the levels seen in February 2016, however its active accounts register a rise of 37.9% YoY.
Gain Capital serves both retail and institutional clients under the brands Forex.com, City Index, GTX, and Gain Capital. It is active in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific regions.
Forex Capital Markets, a.k.a. FXCM, offers online trading in currency pairs, CFDs, spread betting and related services. The broker is registered with the relevant regulatory bodies in the US, the UK, Germany, Italy and Australia.
