Recommended broker
Visit Pacific Financial Derivatives
Pacific Financial Derivatives is a New Zeeland broker that has been in business for more than 20 years and during that time has established itself as a reliable choice for New Zeeland-based clients and non-residents alike. The broker’s website might be less flashy than those of some other well-known broker and does not offer a lot of educational resources other than an economic calendar and a forex glossary but it still contains all the information you might need to start trading. In addition to that, Pacific Financial Derivatives has provided very thorough contact information – not just an address, an email and a few phone numbers depending on the nature of your inquiry but a Skype account and an instant chat service – so you will have zero problems contacting this broker and presenting them with any questions you might have. Pacific Financial Derivatives is a good, old-fashioned broker that does not rely on showy promotions or pretty pictures to catch your attention – instead, they have focused on providing good service and decent terms which is exactly what a broker should do.
Pacific Financial Derivatives REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
Pacific Financial Derivatives is a New Zeeland broker that has existed since 1999. The company was founded in Auckland by an experienced Japanese investor and was initially authorized by the Securities Commission that ceased to exist in 2011. This financial authority had some regulatory powers over forex exchange but the markets remained mostly unregulated and subjected to a few big scam scandals until 2011 when The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) took over. This regulator demands that brokers follow some stern regulations and maintains a register of licensed enterprises. Similarly to requirements in other countries, New Zeeland brokers have to maintain a certain minimum capital – $1 million – to ensure they are well-capitalized enough to survive on the financial markets. Today, New Zeeland is a pretty good forex trading location because of the stable political and economical situation, low crime rates and effective legal system. In the last decade, the FMA has become a more than reliable regulator. The country also has the leverage of being the first country to start the trading day.
As a New Zeeland broker, Pacific Financial Derivatives obtained a license by FMA in 2011.
Working with a licensed broker is vital for the security of your funds. Companies like Pacific Financial Derivatives are reliable because they are answering to a reputable regulator that makes sure they are abiding by the law – if they don’t do things by the book, they risk getting a fine or losing the license they worked so hard to obtain. Pacific Financial Derivatives promises to keep client deposits in segregated bank accounts. This means faster withdrawals on the one hand, and very limited access to your money for the broker on the other. So the broker would definitely not be able to use your investments for their own purposes under any circumstances. Only do business with regulated companies you have checked in the register of the authority providing financial oversight in the specific country or region. This only takes a minute but it is the only way to trade safely and actually turn a profit.
Pacific Financial Derivatives TRADING SOFTWARE
The software Pacific Financial Derivatives uses is the well-known MetaTrader 4. MT4 needs no introduction as it remained the most popular platform in the industry for years before recently being surpassed by the newer MetaTrader 5. The software is more than reliable and functional (while still remaining fairly easy to use even for new traders) which has made it a favorite for many traders over the years. Many still find it hard to give up MT4 for anything else as the platform is more than efficient. It offers a variety of features for a smooth trading experience – like the software’s own Expert Advisors, an array of charting tools and indicators, VPSs you could purchase for around $15 a month and keep EAs operating even when your computer is off. Traders that prefer creating their own trading bots and indicators could do so with the platform’s coding language MQL4. Last but not least, you get access to a trading community where you could share your strategies and bots with others or use theirs, and subscribe to successful traders’ signals for a small monthly fee – usually between $30 and $50.
The software has everything you might need so go and check out what MT4 has to offer in Pacific Financial Derivatives’ demo account.
Pacific Financial Derivatives TRADING CONDITIONS
The trading conditions Pacific Financial Derivatives can offer are more than tempting. There are three main account types – PFDTrader, PFDPro and PFDProPlus. There is no minimum deposit amount with PFDTrader and PFDPro – you are free to invest as much as you want – while the minimum deposit for PFDProPlus is $1000.
The leverage you could reach on PFDTrader and PFDPro is 1:300 which is pretty high considering that many countries have imposed restrictions on this high-risk trading tool – 1:50 for forex majors in the US, 1:30 for the EU, the UK and Australia, 1:25 for Japan and as low as 1:10 for countries like Turkey. Some other countries like New Zeeland and Canada, however, have no leverage restriction for retail clients – that depends solely on the broker you are working with and your own settings. With Pacific Financial Derivatives, you could only reach 1:300 if your equity is below $5000, otherwise you would have to work with up to 1:100. This is also the leverage for the PFDProPlus account.
The spreads for the PFDPro and PFDProPlus are a bit better but there is commission on those account types while PFDTrader is commission-free. The spreads we were promised for PFDTrader were starting from 0.8 pips – we got 0.7 pips when we opened a demo account. This is way lower than the industry-average of 1.5 pips. The spreads for PFDPro and PFDProPlus are supposed to start from 0.5 pips and the round-turn commission is $1 per side per lot ($2 round-turn). So there is no huge difference price-wise between zero commission accounts and those with commission – it all depends on your own preferences. Considering fluctuations in prices though, it might still be a bit more cost-effective to open an account with commission since $1 per side is really not that much – the usual price of a pip per lot being $10.
Account managers and people managing multiple accounts might find an additional advantage in working with Pacific Financial Derivatives. The broker offers MT4 MultiTerminal which allows the possibility for account managers to track and manage multiple account simultaneously.
Another useful feature is the MAM (Multi Account Manager) Forex Account. This account was specifically designed with money managers in mind – so that such people can place block orders under a master account on multiple investor accounts. The manager’s activity is manifested in the master account while investor accounts receive proportionate share of trades. Investors’ deposits and withdrawals are automatically reflected in the master account. You can list the services of a money manager with Pacific Financial Derivatives through email.
Pacific Financial Derivatives DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
Pacific Financial Derivatives offers the choice between a few payment methods – Visa/MasterCard, bank transfer, PayPal and POLi Payments -an Australian-based online payment system. The broker does not cover any deposit or withdrawal fees – those would depend on the payment method you have chosen. The deposit and withdrawal fees via bank transfer would generally depend on your bank but Pacific Financial Derivatives has provided thorough information on how fees are calculated for the other payment methods.
If you are depositing with a Visa/MasterCard, you should be ready to pay a 3% deposit fee but no withdrawal fees.
The fees PayPal charges depend on if you are a domestic New Zeeland client or an international one – 3.4% + fixed $30 fee for domestic clients and 4.4% + $30 fixed fee for international traders. The withdrawal fee is 2% in both cases.
If you are using POLi Payments, there is a 1% transaction fee with the maximum amount that could be charged being 3$. So if you are transferring $10, you would pay 1% of that – $0.10. But if you are transferring $5000, you would only be paying $3.
Pay attention to these details when making payments and consider what would be most cost effective – bank wire transfer fees are usually fixed and might be a better choice that a card or PayPal payment if you are transferring larger amounts of money since the percentage you would have to pay to the payment method provider would be bigger for bigger sums.
BOTTOM LINE
Pacific Financial Derivatives is a decent choice for a broker for both international and New Zeeland-based clients. They are not the broker for traders looking for a lot of promotions, educational resources and a variety of platforms but the sound regulations, low deposit amounts and good terms make them a company worth checking out. Opening a demo account is more than easy so go to the broker’s website and try their services out yourself.
