Exclusive: Admiral Markets cuts small-cap stock CFDs, nixes zero commissions
FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned that global Retail FX and CFDs broker Admiral Markets is making some drastic changes to the Equities portion of its online trading offering.
The changes cover a range of terms in the company’s stock CFDs and equity ETFs offering, including type of instrument offered, portfolio size limits, leverage, and commissions.
Admiral Markets has sent a note to clients (see full text below) indicating that it will not be offering any trading in small-cap stock CFDs. As of today, Admiral Markets will switch to close-only mode any client positions in share CFDs where the market price of the share traded is below a certain level (roughly USD $5 / €5 / £5). As of February 7, it will only offer trading in equity CFDs of companies that have a market cap of USD $1 billion or greater.
Starting from next week (February 7), the maximum exposure limit applicable to a portfolio of stock CFDs and ETF CFDs will be €100,000 for each trading account.
The company’s zero-fee trading offer in the segment of Stock CFDs and ETF CFDs will be discontinued as of February 15.
Admiral Markets is also introducing more strict margin requirements on leveraged equity CFD positions, with different margin required for Retail and Professional traders.
Jens Chrzanowski, Member of the Group Management Board at Admiral Markets Group AS told FNG about the changes:
“We see some brokers even stopped the onboarding of new clients these days, to manage the risks they have. We are ready to welcome you on board at Admiral Markets, as fast as possible, including many free instant payment methods, for your quick start of trading with us.
We are proud to say: We are the quality market leader, we just got in the young year of 2021 an award as “Best CFD Broker 2021” in our core market Germany by the DKI, Deutsches Kundeninstitut. To keep our high-quality standards, we had to move to low commissions for Stock and ETF CFDs now, which are still very competitive as compared to other CFD brokers.”
The full note sent out by Admiral Markets on the matter follows:
Changes in Stock CFDs and ETF CFDs trading terms
February 04, 2021
Dear Traders,
National governments across the globe are applying even more extraordinary measures to prevent an anticipated economic downturn. The unprecedented amount of monetary stimulus not only provides much-needed support to our local communities, but also sends shockwaves through the financial system which in turn create imbalances and volatility breakout stories for the history books.
In response to the challenges that online securities brokerage firms are facing, we decided to do the following changes in the trading terms of our Stock CFDs and ETF CFDs on our Trade.MT4 and Trade.MT5 accounts:
Leveraged trading in penny and low price stock CFDs
We will switch certain CFD instruments into close-only trading mode:
4 February 2021 | 7 February 2021 |
|
|
Exposure limit per each trading account
Starting from 7 February 2021 the maximum exposure limit applicable to a portfolio of stock CFDs and ETF CFDs will be 100,000 EUR per each trading account. If the value of your open positions in these instruments increases above the limit, you will not be able to add more Stock CFDs or ETF CFDs to your CFD account. You are not required to close any of your open positions (unless you wish to do so) if the value of your portfolio of open positions appreciates beyond this limit.
Transaction fees for Stock CFD and ETF CFD
Our zero-fee trading offer in the segment of Stock CFDs and ETF CFDs will be discontinued on 15 February 2021. Starting from this day and going forward, every transaction in these instruments will be subject to a transaction fee as outlined below. Fees will apply to both new and old positions, including those opened prior to 15 February.
Market | Transaction fee | Minimum fee |
USA | 0.02 USD per share | 1 USD |
Germany | 0.1 % of trade value | 1 EUR |
France | 0.1 % of trade value | 1 EUR |
UK / GBP-denominated | 0.1 % of trade value | 1 GBP |
UK / USD-denominated | 0.1 % of trade value | 1 USD |
UK / EUR-denominated | 0.1 % of trade value | 1 EUR |
Other Europe / EUR-denominated | 0.15 % of trade value | 1 EUR |
Other Europe / USD-denominated | 0.15 % of trade value | 1 USD |
Other Europe / DKK-denominated | 0.15 % of trade value | 30 DKK |
Other Europe / NOK-denominated | 0.15 % of trade value | 10 NOK |
Other Europe / SEK-denominated | 0.15 % of trade value | 10 SEK |
Other Europe / CHF-denominated | 0.15 % of trade value | 1 CHF |
Australia | 0.15 % of trade value | 8 AUD |
Japan | 0.15 % of trade value | 1250 JPY |
With Stock and ETF CFDs, you have the great option to go long and short in the market and trade on margin with leverage. Even with these changes, our transaction fees for stock & ETF CFD are still very competitive, which often charge a minimum fee of 10 USD for US stock CFD, for example. Our minimum fee is 10 times lower.
Leverage rate changes for CFDs on Stocks and ETFs
Starting from 15 February 2021 new adjusted leverage rates will be assigned to each particular stock CFD and ETF CFD to reflect liquidity conditions of the underlying security and market capitalization of the underlying stock issuer or assets under management (“AuM”) for ETFs. The general principle is that less liquid stocks of smaller companies will be available with lower leverage. The maximum possible leverage will also depend on your client category.
New higher or lower leverages will apply to all new positions in Stock CFDs and ETF CFDs. Previously established positions remain unaffected only until your next trading action in any of these instruments. When we execute a trading order of any type (including stop-loss orders, take profit orders, automated trade executions by a Robot/EA and partial closes), we will instantly apply new leverage to all your open positions in this instrument.
Here is what to expect:
Underlying security features | New margin requirements | |
Retail Clients | Professional Clients | |
Stocks:
|
20%
(Leverage 5:1) |
5%
(Leverage 20:1)
|
Stocks:
ETFs:
|
20%
(Leverage 5:1) |
10%
(Leverage 10:1) |
Stocks:
ETFs:
|
20%
(Leverage 5:1) |
20%
(Leverage 5:1) |
All other stocks and ETFs not falling into any of groups above | 50%
(Leverage 2:1) |
50%
(Leverage 2:1) |
We are ready to help and ready to onboard you
Challenging times bring about daily opportunities and risks. We see some brokers even stopped onboarding of new clients these days, to manage the risks they have. We are ready to welcome you on board of Admiral Markets, as fast as possible, including many free instant payment methods, for your quick start of trading with us. We are proud to say: We are the quality market leader, we just got in the young year of 2021 an award as “Best CFD Broker 2021” in our core market Germany by the DKI, Deutsches Kundeninstitut.
We are monitoring closely the developments in financial markets as they go through the unchartered territory of the economic development cycle. In high volatile times like now, still trading brings you huge chances – but also risks. It could be a good idea to focus on the high liquid instruments now, as DAX30, DJI30, Gold and EURUSD. These are the most traded instruments at Admiral Markets in 2020, and we give you the best trading condition here as always!
Should you have any questions about how the above-described changes may affect your trading account, please do not hesitate to contact your account manager or our Customer Service team.
Best regards,
Admiral Markets