Plus500 Markets Review

In this review of Plus500, we explore this popular international broker’s services from a New Zealander’s perspective. If you’re looking for a CFD broker to trade with from New Zealand, Plus500 likely popped up in your web searches as one of the top choices in New Zealand. This guide aims to help you understand this broker’s features and characteristics and compare it against other brokers active in New Zealand, such as CMC Markets, IG Markets, and BlackBull Markets.
 
Plus500 summary

• Plus500 is an international forex and CFD broker licensed and authorised in numerous financial centres.
• New Zealand residents trading with Plus500 will register with the Australian entity, Plus500AU Pty Ltd, which is a licensed derivatives issuer in New Zealand.
• Traders use the proprietary Plus500 platform exclusively.
• Trade CFDs on forex, indices, shares and ETFs, commodities, treasuries and cryptocurrencies.
• No commissions are charged on any of the products.
• The maximum leverage available is 1:300, although it can be lower on certain products, such as cryptocurrency CFDs.
• Plus500 offers demo accounts which can be operated indefinitely.
• As a company, Plus500 is listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE250 index.

​To help you understand the pros, cons, costs and limitations of Plus500, our guide covers:

• Overview of the Plus500 ​Trading Platform
• Trading Instruments
• ​​Costs to Trade
• Getting Started with Plus500
• Frequently Asked Questions

​
CFD Trading Risk Warning
By writing this review, we do not recommend or even suggest that you should trade forex or CFD instruments. FX and CFD trading are highly leveraged, which can result in rapid losses. For example, Plus500’s European branch warns clients that 76.4% of retail investor accounts incurred losses when trading CFDs.

There are always risks involved in trading financial markets. However, when trading leveraged derivatives like contracts for difference (CFDs), those risks are significantly amplified. If the concept of trading CFDs is new to you, we recommend reading our guides on:

• Forex trading
• CFD trading
• Plus 500 vs CMC Markets vs Blackbull Markets vs IG Review​​

Plus500 is a private company registered in Australia as Plus500AU Pty Ltd with ACN 153 301 681 and authorised by the Australian Securities Exchange Commission (ASIC) with licensed number AFSL #417727. Plus500AU Pty Ltd is registered as a Financial Services Provider with FSP no. FSP486026 and licensed as a Derivatives Issuer with the Financial Markets Authority since December 2016.

​Plus500 was founded in Israel in 2008 by six alumni of the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, the top-ranking university in the Middle East. The six IT experts chose to build a proprietary trading platform instead of leasing the highly popular white label trading platform MT4, developed by MetaQuotes, as many start-up brokers decided to do at the time.
 
Plus500 has been licensed by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority since 2010. Since then, the company obtained licenses in Cyprus (CySEC), Australia (ASIC), New Zealand (FMA), Singapore (MAS), Israel (ISA), South Africa (FSCA) and Seychelles (FSA).
 
In 2013, the company listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) at the London Stock Exchange (LSE) under the ticker ‘PLUS’. In 2018, the company listed on the LSE’s main market.
 
If you’re a sports fan, you may already be familiar with the Plus500 brand. The company regularly displays pitch side ads at football and rugby events. It is the shirt-sponsor of some high-profile European football teams like Bergamo’s Atalanta B.C., Madrid’s Atlético de Madrid, and Bern’s BSC Young Boys.
 
In 2020, the company claimed to have more than 430,000 active clients and processed order flow exceeding US$1.7 trillion. As Plus500 is a public company, these numbers are likely to be authentic.

Important: One of the novel features of Plus500 is that the broker doesn’t offer MetaTrader 4, nor any of the other most popular forex trading platforms, such as cTrader or MT5. Plus500 is in an exclusive club of forex and CFD brokers with an in-house designed and developed proprietary trading platform.
 
Plus500 is commonly recommended for learners or beginners as the trading platform has a minimalist design, making it easier to grasp the main functions.

Application and Use:

• The platform is available to install as a native application on the Windows operating system or a web application to access via popular web browsers, such as Chrome, Firefox or Safari, or on your mobile device as an iOS or Android application. The style and layout are consistent across devices, making it straightforward to switch. 
• Unlike many other leading online trading platforms, the Plus500 trading platform has gone for a simplistic approach. The platform is uncluttered, thus making it easier to find the core functions. The interface lacks customisation options, making it somewhat of a one-size-fits-all solution. In many cases, less-is-more, no criticisms are being made towards this simplicity of this trading application.

Plus500 is a CFD broker. All products listed on the companies website are contracts for difference. The nature of a CFD means all positions are settled in cash, and there is never an opportunity to take physical delivery of the underlying instrument. 

Forex
Plus500 offers more than 70 foreign exchange currency pairs; it doesn’t mean there are 70 different currencies available to trade, as each one currency can appear in multiple pairs. Consider the following six currency pairs consist of just four currencies: EUR/USD, GBP/USD, EUR/GBP, NZD/USD, EUR/NZD, GBP/NZD.

Indices
You can trade 26 stock market and sector indices. From the stock market indices, you can expect to see the usual listings, such as the Dow Jones 30, S&P 500, ASX 200, and Nikkei 225. There is the Crypto 10 index, FANG+ index and Real Estate Giants Index in the sector indices category.

Commodities
The range of commodities consists of everything from Brent & WTI, gold & silver, coffee & cacao, and hogs & cattle. In total, there are 23 commodities.

Cryptocurrencies
You can trade 6 different cryptocurrencies against the US dollar with Plus500 and Ethereum versus Bitcoin. Unlike the other asset classes listed on the Plus500 platform, the cryptocurrency products are tradable 24/7. Don’t forget; you’re not buying cryptocurrencies from Plus500; you’re just holding a position. Read our guide on how to buy Bitcoin in New Zealand to know more about popular methods to buy cryptocurrencies.

Shares & ETFs
Plus500 lists almost 2,000 shares and ETFs from major exchanges around the world. When you trade shares using leveraged CFDs you’ll pay overnight fees for each day you hold the position open. The overnight fees can be far greater than the custody fees you’ll pay a stockbroker. Although it can feel like you’re investing in shares, keep in mind that CFDs are derivatives, and you do not own any stocks of the companies you trade.

Options
Options are derivatives that are traded on exchanges, like the Chicago Board of Options Trading (CBOT); Plus500 offers CFDs of options. Essentially meaning they offer derivatives of derivatives. When trading options CFDs, you’re speculating on the price of the underlying option, which is not only related to the option contracts strike price, but the remaining duration of the underlying options contract. Options CFDs are available for various markets.

​Plus500 Leverage
Since the 29th of March 2021, Plus500 and all other Australian licensed forex and CFD brokers have to comply with the commission’s Product Intervention Order - Contracts For Difference (Instrument 2020/986). 

The order states brokers must restrict CFD leverage offered to retail clients to a maximum ratio of:

• 30:1 for CFDs referencing an exchange rate for a major currency pair
• 20:1 for CFDs referencing an exchange rate for a minor currency pair, gold or a major stock market index
• 10:1  for CFDs referencing a commodity (other than gold) or a minor stock market index
• 2:1 for CFDs referencing crypto-assets
• 5:1 for CFDs referencing shares or other assets

Hence, the above bullet points from the product intervention order are the highest amount of leverage Plus500 offers to its retail customers.

Plus500 does not charge commissions but charges fees by increasing the ask (buy) price and lowering the bid (sell) price, ultimately increasing the spread. Besides the spread, other fees are involved when trading with Plus500, such as an overnight fee, conversion fee, and an inactivity fee.

1. Spreads
The spreads charged by Plus500 vary according to the product and are expressed as a per cent. For example, the spread on the USA 500 (S&P500) index is defined as 0.02%. If the ask (buy) price is 3808.1, it implies the bid (sell) price will be 0.7 pips lower, making the quote 3807.4. Naturally, these prices are rounded up or down.
 
The spreads charged by Plus500 vary significantly. Here are some examples:

• Crude oil (WTI/USD) spreads are 0.1%, which equals approximately 6 pips and is the equivalent of US$0.06
  
• Amazon ($AMZN) shares spreads are 0.75%, which equals approximately 23.2 pips and is the equivalent of US$23.20
  
• NZD/USD spreads are 0.03%, which equals approximately 2.2 pips and is the equivalent of US$22.00
  
• AUD/NZD spreads are 0.02%, which equals approximately 2.5 pips and is the equivalent of NZ$25.00

 
Keep in mind that these examples are solely intended to illustrate how spreads are calculated. Since spreads are dynamic, they change according to the value of an asset. The higher the value, the larger the spread becomes.

2. Share trading commission
When you trade shares as CFDs with Plus500, there is a commission charged in addition to the spread. The share trading commission varies depending on the underlying exchange. There is a fixed minimum fee for each trade. If the trade is above a certain size, then a percentage of the order value will be charged instead.
 
For example, if you trade US stocks, there is a minimum fee of US$9 per trade and a commission of 0.09%. The fee is charged once when the position is opened and again when the position is closed. Supposing you trade 1 share of Amazon ($AMZN) and the current market price is US$3,000, the commission would be US$2.70; therefore, the minimum fee of US$9 will be charged.

3. Overnight Fee
The Overnight Fee charged by Plus500 is sometimes known as a swap fee or rollover fee. This fee is calculated as a percentage of the position’s value at 5 pm New York time, which is 11 am Wellington time. The Overnight Fee listed in the symbol information panel inside the trading app. It’s worth paying attention to this fee as it varies depending on the product.

4. Conversion Fee
A Conversion Fee of 0.7% is charged when trading instruments where the base currency (the currency or asset on the left) is different from your trading account currency. For example, if your trading account balance is denominated in NZD and you place a trade for AUD/USD, a conversion takes place, and the fee will be applied.
 
Unlike the Overnight Fee described above, the Conversion Fee is applied to the contract’s settlement value and not the notional value. For example, if you close a trade with a profit of AU$50, a fee of 0.7% will be subtracted from the AUD value before converting to NZD.
 
The fee is calculated based on any profit or loss, commissions, and Overnight Fees. The logic behind this fee is your gains or losses, and fees are calculated in Australian dollars; therefore, they must be converted to NZD.
 
Supposing you trade AUD/USD and make a net profit of AU$50 and the AUD/NZD rate is 1.06, the calculation would be as follows:
 
AU$50 - 0.7% = AU$49.65 *1.06 = NZ$52.63

5. Inactivity Fee
An Inactivity Fee of US$10 per month is charged if you do not sign in to your Plus500 trading account for longer than three months. After three months of inactivity, Plus500 will charge the fee each month until you sign into the account, reset the clock. To prevent the fee from being charged, you do not need to place any trades; all you need to do is sign in. If you do not log in, the fee will continue to be charged until the account balance is depleted.

Getting familiar with Plus500 is the best way to avoid problems, and starting with a demo account means your money is safe. Our view is simple - practice with the tools with a demo account until you are more than confident to progress to real money. MoneyHub has received emails from users who complains about losing $5,000, $10,000 (and more) while using CFD platforms, and these losses were usually incurred in very short periods of time. You can limit the chances of losses by practicing without putting your capital at risk.

​You can effortlessly open a Plus500 demo trading account on the Plus500 website. If you have Google, Facebook or Apple ID, you can open the demo account with a couple of clicks. There is no restriction on how long you can use your Plus500 demo account, and if things don’t go well while demo trading, the account automatically replenishes the balance when it falls below a certain level.

​To apply for a live trading account with Plus500, you should expect to provide evidence of your identity and place of residence. The account opening process is standardised across the industry as brokers follow the same anti-money-laundering rules.
 
The broker may perform enhanced due diligence in situations when they have doubts concerning the details you provided. Also, consider whether they may require you to share proof of your source of funds. This may be asked if you deposit an unusually large amount of money or send funds from a joint bank account.

Previously, Plus500 offered bonuses and rebates to reward, even encourage clients to trade. In March 2021, ASIC introduced sweeping product intervention measures prohibiting brokers from offering incentives to traders. Although Plus500 is licensed by the FSP in New Zealand, where no such prohibitions exist, the company is incorporated in Australia and must follow Australian laws on such matters. 

Formerly, Plus500 offered a bonus when you made your first deposit. The bonus worked like a credit that you can use to trade with but could not be withdrawn until a criterion was met. The minimum you needed to deposit to qualify for the bonus was NZ$400 to get a bonus of NZ$100. The more you deposited, the larger the bonus given. Each bonus tier had an amount of ‘Trader Points’ required to convert the bonus into balance. Every time you trade, you earn these ‘Trader Points’. Once you accumulate enough points, your bonus could be withdrawn, assuming you did not lose it while trading. Rebates were another incentive offered by Plus500. Each time you placed a trade, you could earn rebates.

Regulators are phasing out these types of incentives. The concern is they encourage traders to enter positions when there is not a suitable opportunity in the market. Ultimately, your aim as a trader should be profitable at trading, not be rewarded by promotions.

No, Plus500 does not offer MetaTrader 4. The company only provides a proprietary platform, available exclusively from Plus500. CMC Markets, an alternative platform, offers MetaTrader 4 - our review covers this platform in detail.

The minimum deposit to open a Plus500 live account is NZ$100. ​Keep in mind that effective risk management strategies may require more than the minimum requirement.

No. Plus500 is a CFD broker, which means your trading derivatives of the financial markets they offer. When you close a CFD position in shares, the profit or loss will be settled in cash. There is no ability to buy or invest in stocks with this broker. If you’re looking to invest in shares, read our beginners guide on how to invest in shares.

Due to new regulations introduced by the Australian Securities and Exchange Commission in 2021, Plus500 is limited to how much leverage may be provided to retail traders. The limit is 1:30 on major forex pairs and even lower on other products.