Beware! InvestFW is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.
RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Open trading accounts with at least two brokers.
InvestFW is a Cyprus-based forex broker. It is duly licensed, which puts it ahead of most websites we review. But while regulations ensure that there are no scammers behind the InvestFW, the ability to make money using the services of this broker is a separate matter. In terms of service variety and quality, we find InvestFW to be somewhat lacking and not comparable to current industry standards.
INVESTFW REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
InvestFW is one of the brands used by iTrade Global Ltd , a company authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). Since you should never take claims of regulation at face value, we checked the CySEC registry. iTrade Global is indeed licensed by this regulator, and the InvestFW domain is among the officially approved ones:
InvestFW’s website is available in English, Spanish, Italian, German and Portuguese.
Because of its developed financial and legal infrastructure, Cyprus is one of the main bases for brokers operating in the European Union. There are many advantages to working with such brokers because they must comply with all the requirements of the he European Securities and Markets Authority (ЕSМА). They must maintain a minimum net capital of at least EUR 730 000, which guarantees that the company is financially stable and has a serious long-term approach.
Whenever clients deposit money in their trading accounts, it is kept segregated from the broker’s operating funds in separate bank accounts. Thus the clients’ money remains shielded in case of mishaps like a broker’s bankruptcy. All brokers licensed in Cyprus are members of the Investor Compensation Fund, which may cover a maximum of EUR 20,000 per person in the event of broker insolvency. Cypriot forex brokers are required to report their clients’ transactions on a regular basis. This requirement is designed to improve investor protection and promote market integrity and transparency.
INVESTFW TRADING SOFTWARE
The trading software offered by InvestFW is where this broker starts to look bad compared to most of its competitors. While the website promises “trade using popular platforms”, InvestFW actually offers only a web-based platform with a non-standard and not very user friendly interface. We also could not find the option to use Expert Advisor bots promised on the website. Here’s what the InvestFW platform looks like:
While the software has the basic features for placing orders, customizing charts and application of technical indicators, it lacks the more advanced functionality found in the most widely used trading platforms in the industry, MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). These platforms have established themselves as industry standard because they offer a wide range of features, including a variety of options for customization, multiple account usage, designing and implementing custom scripts for automated trading and backtesting trade strategies.
The InvestFW website also does not offer any educational materials or helpful tools such as spread calculators, which can be found at most brokers.
INVESTFW TRADING CONDITIONS
InvestFW offers a respectable number of financial instruments – over 200 currency pairs, CFDs, indices, metals, commodities and stocks. The accounts could be in three base currencies, EURO, USD and GBP.
The website describes four types of trading accounts – Standard, Silver, Gold and Platinum. However, nowhere are the minimum deposits for the different accounts clearly stated. The minimum amount that the deposit menu accepts is 250 units of the account’s base currency. This is not a very competitive level – many brokers nowadays are handing out micro accounts with a minimum deposit of less than 100 USD.
Even less competitive are the spread levels offered by InvestFW. On the website we see a boast that the broker offers tight spreads “from as low as 2.9 pips”. The trading platform shows a spread of 3 pips for the benchmark currency pair EUR/USD when using a Standard account. However, this is not a tight or low spread at all – these levels are at least double the industry average. It’s not hard to find brokers who offer spreads of 1 pip or even lower for EUR/USD.
Gold and Platinum accounts theoretically offer a more competitive spread, but as noted, there is no clear information on what investment these accounts are tied to.
As a regulated broker, InvestFW is required to warn clients of the risks associated with leveraged CFD trading, and to inform the percentage of its retail clients who have lost money. This percentage is always high, around two-thirds, but in InvestFW’s case it is over 82% at the time of writing this review. This shows that it is almost impossible to realise profits under such trading conditions.
The leverage that InvestFW can offer is limited by ЕSМА rules – up to 1:30 for large currency pairs and lower levels for more volatile assets.
InvestFW does not offer ECN type accounts with a raw spread, nor does it offer the option of Islamic accounts without swap – services which can be found at most brokers.
INVESTFW DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
The logos of many popular pay methods can be seen on the main page of the website, including PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, Sofort and Trustly. However, the “payment methods” section only lists credit/debit card, Sofort and Trustly, while the deposit menu itself lists credit card, Trustly and Multibanco:
There is no information on whether the methods available depend on the country in which the trader is located. In any case, such discrepancies are more typical for shady websites than for a licensed broker.
The website claims that there is no deposit fee. However, in the text of the Terms and Conditions we find the disclaimer that “The Company at its discretion may charge a 3% plus 0.25 cents fee per deposit which includes payment service provider and handling fees which will be paid by the Client additionally to the deposited amount”.
With regard to the withdrawal of funds, it is stated that “The Client is charged with any fees/costs/charges related to withdrawals either via bank or payment service provider and is entitled to pay for any conversion charges, if applicable”.
BOTTOM LINE
The only positive thing that can be said about InvestFW is that it is a regulated broker. Uncompetitive trading conditions, limited trading software and lack of clarity on the basic parameters of the service do not make InvestFW a compelling choice.
Jorge Reis
I was “encouraged” to enter investfw through a simple deceptive advertising that even showed a supposed platform with one or two photos of what it would be like to be your iterative website saying that it belonged to the financing of a product as if you were buying shares of it (which join a brokerage).
Despite the amount I deposited (€250) the broker tells me that I have to deposit more. A minimum of €1000 is not impossible to make any kind of profit.
In short: people are being deceived, thinking that they are purchasing a product and end up in a regulated brokerage company, but apparently they are deceived and run the risk of being withdrawn via a bank or payment service provider. and I even doubt that I will be able to recover any kind of investment or profit amount if I hear..
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Fui “aliciado” a entrar na investfw através de uma simples publicidade enganosa que inclusive mostrava uma suposta plataforma com uma ou duas fotos do que seria ser o seu site iterativo dizendo que pertencia ao financiamento de um produto como se comprasse acoês do mesmo ( que não entrar para uma corretora).
Não obstante o valor que depositei(250 €) o corretor me diz que tenho de depositar mais.Um mínimo de 1000 € se não é impossível tirar qualquer tipo de lucro.
Resumindo:as pessoas estão a ser enganadas, pensando que estão a adquirir um produto e acabam numa corretora regulada mas pelo que se vê são enganadas e correm o risco de sofrerem saques via banco ou prestador de serviços de pagamento. e duvido inclusive que consiga consiga reaver qualquer tipo de montante do investimento ou do lucro se ouver..
Miguel Peixoto
I totally agree with everything you said… they use this scheme to scam people… INVESTFW and a bunch of scammers who use false advertising to steal money from people… please report something has to be done so that these scammers start scamming people
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Concordo plenamente com tudo o que disse… usam esse esquema para burlar as pessoas… a INVESTFW e um bando de burlões que usam publicidade enganosa para roubar dinheiro as pessoas… por favor denunciem algo tem de ser feito para que estes burlões partem de enganar as pessoas