At InvestinGoal, we adhere to strict standards to ensure an unbiased review process. We conduct our reviews by examining each broker’s offering and performance across 4 key categories. A final rating is produced for each forex broker based on a total of 187 data points. Learn more about our review process and methodology.
We have chosen some of the best DMA forex brokers taking into consideration different factors, which are listed below. All of this is in order to give you the best list of brokers possible.
- DMA features overall
- Minimum deposit requested by the broker
- Assets of the broker
- Spreads charged by the broker
- Platforms offered by the broker
Table of Content
Round-Up
- IC Markets: best DMA execution overall
- XTB: best proprietary platform offer
- IG Markets: best for number of assets
- Forex.com: best forex liquidity
- Admirals: best MetaTrader broker
- FP Markets: best trading costs
- Saxo Bank: best for professional clients
WARNING
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.
Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.
You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money
Review
1. IC Markets
- IC Markets provides an excellent ECN/DMA service thanks to its intricate web of market participants that includes high-level banks and dark pools.
- No minimum deposit required to open an IC account.
- IC provides a huge range of markets including CFDs on indices, commodities, stocks, futures, bonds, and crypto which are all available.
- IC Markets spreads start from 0 pips with very fast execution speeds.
- The platforms available for IC clients are MT4, MT5, and cTrader.
Visit IC Markets
(74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money)
2. XTB
- XTB offers traders some of the best execution speeds available today thanks to the xStation5
- With XTB, it is possible to trade DMA Stock as CFDs.
- XTB imposes no minimum deposit for clients to start using.
- XTB offers an extensive range of assets, 5,200 in total, including 48 forex pairs.
- The spreads charged by XTB are very competitive, starting as low as 0.1 pips on forex.
Visit XTB
79% of retail CFD accounts lose money
3. IG Markets
- Over the years IG Markets has developed a good range of tools for DMA usage
- IG also offers the L2 Dealer platform, a downloadable DMA platform specifically for forex and shares trading, which also offers the ability to automate trades.
- The IG minimum deposit requested is $300.
- There are more than 17,000 IG assets to choose from, including vanilla options, barriers and 80 forex pairs.
- The IG spread remains at excellent value starting from 0.6 pips.
Visit IG Markets
(76% of retail investor accounts lose money)
4. Forex.com
- Forex.com gives a great market access provided by a range of top tier global banks and other liquidity providers to give traders the most accurate prices.
- You need just a $100 minimum deposit to open a Forex.com account.
- With Forex.com, traders can sign up for a DMA Account which can be used on all three of their available platforms, advanced trading, web platform, and mobile.
- Forex.com spreads start from 0.2 pips on forex, and fixed spread only trading is available on commodities.
Visit Forex.com
73% of retail CFD accounts lose money
5. Admirals
- Admirals work extensively with a variety of top liquidity providers to ensure the best possible DMA trading environment for traders.
- Admirals minimum deposit is a very competitive $100.
- Admirals provides a great range of assets, with more than 4,000 assets available that includes bonds, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies.
- Competitive trading costs that start from 0 pips on forex with both MT4 and MT5.
Visit Admirals
76% of retail CFD accounts lose money
6. FP Markets
- FP Markets provides excellent access to the best value pricing through DMA and connection with a number of top liquidity providers.
- The speed of execution with FP Markets is some of the fastest, most efficient of the market.
- Several assets are provided to FP Markets clients, including 10,000+ stocks which can be traded with DMA execution via the IRESS platform.
- FP Markets requests a minimum deposit of $100 in order to start trading.
- FP offers very low trading costs and spreads starting from 0 pips.
Visit FP Markets
74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money
7. Saxo Bank
- Saxo Bank uses its deep DMA liquidity to service institutional clients.
- Saxo Banks provides a wide range of assets for trading that includes bonds, and mutual funds, as well as a massive total of 182 forex pairs.
- The Saxo minimum deposit on these ranges from $2,000, $200,000, and $1,000,000 respectively.
- Saxo costs are competitive with spreads starting at 0.4 pips.
Visit Saxo Bank
72% of retail CFD accounts lose money
What does DMA mean in trading?
DMA stands for Direct Market Access and is an excellent way for traders to gain access to the best possible rates when trading. This is made possible due to the fact that DMA brokers typically have access to a wider range of global banks, and other types of liquidity providers that they can quote from directly to DMA account holders.
It is somewhat similar to STP processing, but again provides access to more extensive sources of liquidity to provide the best quotes similarly to what the top ecn stp forex brokers do. DMA brokers do not control these quotes that they receive in any way.
How does DMA trading work?
The process of DMA is quite simple, and literally allows the trader to access the market and quotes from the liquidity providers in a more direct manner.
The broker collects and provides the best quotes from their liquidity providers that they have access to. The best from these quotes is then passed on to the trader who in turn connects directly with these bid/ask quotes on the open market.
Pros and Cons of DMA forex brokers
Like every form of trading, there are some pros and cons associated with choosing DMA
Pros
- The fact that there is no dealing desk when you use DMA means you have better flexibility and access to the very best price quotes.
- The prices that you receive through DMA are not subject to any further mark-up.
- Slippage is not a factor when you are receiving quotes through DMA.
- Ultimately, the spread through DMA is typically much lower. This makes it good for many traders, scalpers in particular.
Cons
- Due to the fact there are no mark-ups with DMA quotes, it is not uncommon for forex brokers to add or charge a commission on DMA trades.
- Because of the better prices offered, minimum deposits can sometimes be higher when opening a DMA account.
- If an asset is offered through DMA execution, it will always come with a variable spread. Fixed spread on DMA assets is unavailable.
Top 5 Best DMA Forex Brokers UK for 2023
While UK DMA forex brokers happen to be some of the best, there are, unfortunately, plenty of brokers that falsely claim to offer DMA execution.
To make things worse, there are also a number of poorly-informed websites that claim a broker is DMA, but they are just feeding you wrong information. In reality, there are only a handful of true UK DMA forex brokers, and they are hard to come by.
Why look for a UK DMA broker?
Well, not only do they offer some of the best services, they are also regulated by the FCA, one of the most reputable regulators in the world.
Here’s our detailed list of the best UK DMA forex brokers (regulated or authorized by FCA) according to our research:
Top 6 Best DMA Forex Brokers Australia for 2023
If you’re looking for an Australian DMA (Direct Market Access) forex broker, then you already know that DMA CFD brokers in Australia are some of the best.
Not only do they benefit from ASIC regulation, but they also provide some of the best services. Unfortunately, the internet is littered with websites stating which Australian brokers are DMA and which aren’t.
The fact is true DMA forex brokers in Australia are actually hard to come by and you shouldn’t trust the first source you come across. Always do plenty of research when looking into Australian DMA forex brokers!
Here’s our detailed list of the best Australian DMA forex brokers (regulated or authorized by ASIC) according to our research:
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