Finding the right broker for automated trading depends on a few criteria. If you're looking for such brokers in Australia, here's to name a few.

robit trading

An automated trading system sounds like a great opportunity for new traders. After all, they will have a better chance to profit without managing their trades. This way, automated trading offers flexibility for busy traders, who can stay in the market while still doing their full-time jobs.

If you are an Australian trader, there are a lot of brokers for automated trading you can try.

  1. IC Markets: Offers VPS and low latency trading for less lag during automated trading.
  2. Pepperstone: This broker lets you build and run your EAs using MetaQuotes Language 4 (MQL4).
  3. Admiral: This brokerage is happy to bring you a Virtual Private Server service, or VPS.
  4. XM: Allows traders to work with Expert Advisors and built-in and custom indicators.
  5. OANDA: This broker creates and tests your automated trading strategies using their APIs.

Each broker above has different conditions regarding automated trading. This article will talk more about their automated trading and the supporting features.

 

1. IC Markets

IC Markets is an Australian broker located in Sydney. This broker is under ASIC regulations with license number 335692. They are well known for their raw accounts, which offer competitive spreads for all trades. IC Markets make sure that their raw spreads really start from 0.0 pips.

This CySEC-regulated broker claims to execute orders under 40ms using their low latency fiber optic and Equinix NY4 server to reduce slippage and requote. Of course, they provide VPS to ensure traders have the smoothest trading experience.

If you want more choices of instruments to trade, IC Markets has over 60 products of forex pairs, 1659 products or stocks, and many more. Digital currencies are also available, but right now, this brokerage only gives you access to 10 cryptocurrencies. Funding is very convenient as they offer instant deposits and free commissions.

🌐 Website
www.icmarkets.com
Leverage
1:1000
💼 Regulation
💲 Min Deposit
$200
Year Established
2007

Interest rate on funds
Free education
PAMM
MAM
Segregated accounts
Managed accounts
Islamic accounts available
Compensation scheme
Swap
Low spread eur/usd
VPS
Copy trading
FasaPay
Neteller
PayPal
Skrill
Wire transfer

IC Markets is an online forex broker operating under the company of International Capital Markets Pty Ltd. Traders under the Australian jurisdiction are provided with the trading service of IC Markets AU that is headquartered in Australia and licensed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

On the other hand, non-Australian traders who open an account in this broker are registered under IC Markets SEY that is based in Seychelles, and regulated under the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (SFSA). The dual operation is a result of the relatively new rules from ASIC that prohibit their regulated broker to offer trading services outside Australia.

Classified as an ECN broker, IC Markets provide clients with MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader as platform trading options. This broker also follows market trends to include Cryptocurrencies as one of its products, enriching its already wide selection of trading assets that include Currencies, Indices, Metals, Energies, Softs, Stocks, as well as Bonds.

The minimum deposit in IC Markets is in the middle range compared to other ASIC-regulated brokers, as it reaches $200 for every client. Market analysis materials are also prepared regularly for trading insights on IC Markets's official website, proving their competence to serve their traders with important contents created by market experts that work specifically for them.

For payment methods, IC Markets allows funding and withdrawal via wire transfer, credit card, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, FasaPay, UnionPay, as well as Bitcoin via BitPay. The more interesting aspect from this broker is its multi-base currencies that include USD, AUD, EUR, GBP, SGD, NZD, JPY, CHF, HKD, and CAD.

As the trading technology in IC Markets is highly equipped with co-located servers and extremely low latency (especially on cTrader), the broker is widely known for its capability in hosting traders with the special needs for high-frequency trading as well as scalping.

To sum up, IC Markets is a fitting destination for active traders looking for a well-regulated broker. IC Markets is also flexible in terms of base currency and payment methods, signaling their commitment to welcome traders beyond their home country. As of late 2019, IC Markets provided their website in 18 international languages including English, Korean, Indonesian, French, Spanish, Italian, Malay, German, and Chinese.

 

2. Pepperstone

Pepperstone is a good Australian broker located in Melbourne that also offers automated trading. This broker is under ASIC regulations with license number 414530.

This brokerage provides a lot of automated trading features. One of the most noticeable services is cTrader API Automated. It let lets you backtest and optimize your trading strategies by building automated trading robots and custom indicators. It's quite unique, considering most brokers focus on offering automatic trading on MetaTrader.

In other words, automated trading in Pepperstone allows you to trade the markets 24/5 without any intervention with various payment methods for deposit and withdrawal.

They have fast executions with a 99.9% fill rate and no dealing desk intervention to ensure no slippage can disturb the profit you make with automated trading. They also provide a competitive raw spread called the razor-sharp spread where you can enjoy spread as low as 0.0 pips with deep liquidity and no requotes.

🌐 Website
pepperstone.com
Leverage
1:400
💼 Regulation
💲 Min Deposit
$0
Year Established
2010

Free education
Trading by telephone
PAMM
MAM
Segregated accounts
Affiliate program
Islamic accounts available
Compensation scheme
Negative balance protection
Low spread eur/usd
VPS
Trading via API
Copy trading
Webinar
PayPal
Wire transfer
Neteller
Skrill

Pepperstone was founded in 2010 by a team of experienced traders with a shared commitment to improve the world of online trading. Based in Melbourne, Australia, they grew to become one of the largest forex brokers in the world. If traders want to find a broker that provides low spreads, fast execution, and award-winning support, then the answer is Pepperstone.

Pepperstone has a strong legality guarantee because it has been licensed by the Australian regulator ASIC and FCA. Traders' funds can be deposited in segregated accounts at top Australian banks, one of which is the National Australia Bank (NAB). Therefore, the safety of funds is not a concern if a trader chooses to open an account in Pepperstone.

They succeeded in collaborating with 23 top banks to bring Bid to investors instantly via optical fiber. This allows all orders to be executed 100 percent automatically with low latency up to 0.05 milliseconds, without dealing desk intervention and requotes, as well as with super low trading costs.

Trusted by over 73,000 traders around the world, Pepperstone processes an average of USD12.55 billion of trading volumes every day. Because of that, they have many awards such as:

  • The Best Global Forex ECN Broker 2019 and Best Forex Trading Support-Europe
  • Best Australian Broker and Best Trading Platform 2018 by Compareforexbrokers.com
  • Best Forex ECN Broker, Best Forex Trading Support, and Best Forex Trading Conditions by UK Forex Awards 2018

With the many rewards gained, Pepperstone hopes to attract more and more traders from all over the world. The rising performance of Pepperstone is not only due to the super-tight spreads and fast execution that it provides, but also because many traders are interested in trading with deposits in currencies other than US Dollars.

For this reason, Pepperstone is one of the most market-responsive brokers because it is willing to accept deposits in 10 currencies, which include AUD, USD, EUR, CAD, GBP, CHF, JPY, NZD, SGD, and HKD.

Trading in Pepperstone would allow traders to choose between 11 trading platforms: MT4 for desktop, MT4 Mac, MT4 iPhone, MT4 Android, MT4 iPad/Tablet, MT5, WebTrader, cTrader WebTrader, cTrader cAlgo, and cTrader Mobile. The choice of trading platforms may seem confusing to novice traders, but actually, it is very useful because it has fast execution.

When trading forex, traders can enjoy raw spreads from 0.0 pips on Razor accounts, over 61 currency pairs, and commission-free account funding on a wide range of deposit options. In addition to currency pairs, Pepperstone provides many types of trading instruments, including CFDs for indices and shares, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.

Instruments in commodity trading are pretty much diversified. Not only metal, gold, and silver, but traders can also trade with soft commodities such as cotton, sugar, coffee, cocoa, and orange juice. Pepperstone also provides trading on energy (oil and gas).

There are two types of accounts provided by Pepperstone, namely Razor accounts, and Standard accounts. If you area beginner, it is recommended to choose a Standard account with an average EUR/USD spread of 1.0-1.3 pips and free commission.

Those with particular trading styles such as scalpers and algorithmic traders may enjoy the lower cost setup traditionally seen in a Razor account, with a commission from AUD7 round turn of 100k traded. You can start trading with a minimum lot of 0.01 (micro) and 1:400 leverage.

As a Pepperstone client, a trader can fund and withdraw with alternative methods including Visa, Mastercard, POLi internet banking, bank transfer, BPay, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, and Union Pay.

If you are new to trading or looking to practice your trading strategies in a risk-free environment, you can create Demo Account in Pepperstone. But if you are an experienced trader or prefer to learn by doing, Pepperstone provides a Live Account that allows you to trade with live executions and pricing.

Traders can also follow and copy strategies from popular traders using third-party services while learning how to improve their trading abilities. Pepperstone has partnered with a range of social trading platforms that traders can choose from, such as Myfxbook, ZuluTrade, Mirror Trader, MetaTrader signals, and Duplitrade.

 

3. Admiral Markets

Admiral Markets really deserves to be one of the best Australian brokers for automated trading. This broker is located in Sydney and regulated by ASIC with license number 410681.

You can use MetaTrader 4 & 5 functions clock-round, which include your own EAs and indicators. To make sure you can get the best possible trading experience, this brokerage is happy to bring you a Virtual Private Server service, or VPS to support automated trading.

This decreases the risk of the costly price from high latency. The spread in Admiral Markets is very competitive; you can enjoy spreads as low as 0 pips in both MT4 and MT5. Of course, there is a wide range of instruments to choose from as well, ranging from forex pairs, cryptocurrencies, bonds, stocks, and many more.

🌐 Website
admiralmarkets.com
Leverage
1:500
💼 Regulation
💲 Min Deposit
$1
Year Established
2001

Bonus offers
Trading contests
Free education
Trading by telephone
PAMM
MAM
Segregated accounts
Affiliate program
Islamic accounts available
Compensation scheme
Negative balance protection
Swap
Low spread eur/usd
VPS
Copy Trading
Neteller
PayPal
Skrill
Wire transfer

 

4. XM

Another Australian broker for automated trading you should consider is XM. This Australian broker is regulated by ASIC with license number 443670 and located in Sydney.

This brokerage allows you to work with Expert Advisors for a better automated trading experience. If you don't know how to set your system, they will provide you with built-in help guides for MetaTrader 4 and MetaQuotes Language 4.

XM also provides a low-spread account with a spread as tight as 0.6 pips. However, if you trade fore, there is a chance you might be charged with rollover fees.

🌐 Website
www.xm.com
Leverage
1:1000
💼 Regulation
💲 Min Deposit
$5
Year Established
2009

Bonuses
Personal manager
Segregated accounts
Free education
Trading by phone
Compensation scheme
Negative balance protection
VPS
Affiliate program
Copy trading
Webinar
WebMoney
Skrill
Wire transfer
Neteller
CashU
QIWI
FasaPay

XM Group is a group of regulated brokers and it is owned by Trading Point Holdings Ltd. Entities under XM Group have significant experience as financial services providers worldwide.

Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd was established in 2009 with headquarters in Limassol, Cyprus, Trading Point of Financial Instruments Pty Ltd was established in 2015 with headquarters in Sydney, Australia, XM Global Limited was established in 2017 with headquarters in Belize and Trading Point MENA Limited was established in 2019 with headquarters in Dubai.

XM Group is regulated by the CySEC (Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission) - Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd, FSC (Financial Services Commission) – XM Global Limited, the ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) - Trading Point of Financial Instruments Pty Ltd and DFSA (Dubai Financial Services Authority) - Trading Point MENA Limited.

XM is one of the more experienced brokers in the world of online forex trading today. Since its founding, the broker has experienced a lot of changes, including the addition of the Ultra-Low Account and EN Live Edu that is instructed by 16 global experts.

In terms of trading instruments, XM is a well-known diverse class assets provider, varying from Forex, Crypto, Stock CFDs, Turbo Stocks, Commodities, Equity Indices, Precious Metals, Energies, & Shares. XM prides itself to be the ideal broker in trading execution, offering a stat of 99.35% orders to be executed in less than 1 second. Trading in XM would be also provided with a strict no requotes policy, no virtual dealer plug-in, no rejection of orders, real-time market execution, and the choice for traders to place orders online or by phone.

Spreads on all majors can reach as low as 0.6 pips in Ultra-Low Account, while spreads on other accounts usually start from 1 pip.

To protect the client's fund in the event of extreme volatility, XM presents each account type with Negative Balance Protection. Minimum deposit of $5 applies to Standard, Micro, and also Ultra-Low Accounts. Traders who open accounts in XM are enabled a condition similar to a Cent Account environment in the Micro Account, in which the Contract Size for every lot is only 1,000 units. If it is applied with the smallest lot size in the MetaTrader platform which amounts to 0.01, it means that traders can go as small as 10 units per trade.

For the deposit, XM applies zero-fee deposits in most of its available payment methods. Traders can choose to fund or withdraw their accounts via wire transfer, credit card, as well as the most favorable e-payment choices like Skrill, Neteller, and FasaPay.

To give their clients the best experiment in trading, XM has given access to both MT4 and MT5 platforms, each is available for more than 6 display formats (PC, Mac, Multiterminal, WebTrader, iPad, iPhone, Android, and Android Tablet).

All in all, there is no doubt that XM has gone global with its deep commitment to providing services in more than 30 different languages across the world. Aside from easing traders' experience with mainstream trading platforms and high-quality trading execution, XM is open to various types of traders, from small capital traders to the more experienced ones with big deposits at the ready. Traders are even provided with a Cent Trading environment should they choose to register under Micro Account.

For their global approach, XM has ensured that traders from various countries could access their service easily. This results in the provision of different domains specified for traders in certain jurisdictions. For example, traders from Indonesia could access XM via this link.

 

5. OANDA

OANDA lets you auto-trade using the MT4 plug-in. You can also create and test your own automated trading strategies using their APIs. OANDA also has competitive spreads for all major and minor currency pairs they offer.

This brokerage promotes trading with no requote since market orders will only be rejected if they fall outside the upper or lower bounds that you choose to place to protect against price fluctuations.

OANDA is under ASIC regulations under license number 412981 and is located in Sydney, Australia.

🌐 Website
www.oanda.com
Leverage
1:20
💼 Regulation
💲 Min Deposit
$0
Year Established
1996

Islamic Accounts available
US traders are welcome
Negative balance protection
Segregated accounts
Compensation scheme
VPS Affiliate program
Trading via API
Education
Webinar
Swap
Wire transfer
Skrill
Neteller

Traders looking for brokers with accurate precision, OANDA can be an option. That is because OANDA is a broker that provides quotes with 5-digit accuracy and active price movements that follow market developments. Order execution speed is also faster in this broker.

It provides benefits for novice traders, as they can trade with smaller volumes using the calculation system based on currency value, unlike other brokers adopting the lot system.

Founded in 1996, OANDA was built by Dr. Michael Stumm who is a lecturer in Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto, Canada, along with his colleague, Dr. Richard Olsen of The Olsen Ltd., which is one of the leading econometric research institutes. They have a head office in San Francisco, United States.

OANDA branch offices can be found everywhere. Some of these offices are located in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, and Canada. With this number of offices spread, OANDA has increasingly attracted the attention of clients worldwide.

OANDA's company is registered under several well-known jurisdictions in financial trading. They are regulated by CFTC and NFA in the US, FCA in the UK, ASIC in Australia, and many others. Traders do not need to worry anymore about security when trading in OANDA. However, these advantages make trading rules at OANDA more stringent compared to other brokers.

For example, OANDA only allows maximum leverage of 1:20, because the rules in the US and Japan do not allow leverage above that. Besides, the registration procedure is more complex due to various additional requirements that are not submitted by other forex brokers. On top of that, hedging is not allowed in one trading account as the client must open an additional account to hedge.

Nevertheless, OANDA is known for being a leading broker with many advantages offered. OANDA faces increased market risk during periods of price volatility, such as economic and political news announcements. When market spreads increase or decrease, their pricing engine widens or narrows spreads accordingly. That way, traders can get the latest conditions from price movements in the market more quickly.

Prices move very fast in the market. Especially when news releases have a large impact on market volatility. This condition is often exploited by brokers to take advantage of clients with Requotes. However, traders do not need to worry about additional costs when trading with OANDA.

The company never withdraws Requotes so traders can get maximum profit. When traders are unavailable to monitor open positions, they can set take profit orders to lock in profits and Stop Loss orders to help protect against further losses.

As an experienced and well-known online forex broker, OANDA is committed to maintain an efficient trading environment that reduces latency and provid tools to help clients manage the degree of acceptable slippage.

With a fast & reliable trading platform by OANDA, clients' trades are executed in 0.012 seconds. This suits traders who choose brokers based on execution speed.

Because of this exceptional execution service, it is not surprising that OANDA won many awards, including the winner of the world's Best Retail FX Platform at the prestigious e-FX awards. The broker is also voted number 1 for Consistency of filling trades at quoted prices, Execution speed, and Reliability of platforms.

There is no minimum deposit or minimum balance required to open an OANDA account. Deposit and withdrawal can be done easily. OANDA provides a variety of payment method facilities, including Paypal, Wire Transfer, Credit Card, and Debit. Traders can adjust it to the region where they live.

OANDA provides more than 100 trading instruments, including 71 currency pairs, 16 indices, 8 commodities (Brent Crude Oil, Copper, Corn, Natural Gas, Soybeans, Sugar, etc.), 6 Bonds, and 23 Metals.

The fxTrade and MetaTrader platform are available at OANDA. These platforms can be used for Desktop and Mobile. Another plus is they have an OANDA Technical Analysis that exists in collaboration with a technical analysis provider called Autochartist.

With these platforms, clients can monitor price movements easier and automatically recognize patterns created on charts, as well as receive alerts when the awaited patterns appear. Access to this technology can be enjoyed free of charge.

In conclusion, OANDA is an ideal broker for traders in need of fast execution backed by many years of experience. The company is also a good alternative for those looking for a well-regulated broker with flexible trading and deposit conditions.

 

Features That Support Automated Trading

Some platforms with strategy-building wizards allow traders to build their own automated trading systems. Sometimes, traders are required to work closely with a programmer to develop the system.

There are several factors to consider when you are choosing a broker for automated trading, which are:

  1. VPS hosting: Consider using a Virtual Private Server (VPS) for hosting your automated trading systems. A VPS provides a stable and high-speed connection to the broker's servers, reducing latency caused by factors such as computer hardware, software, or internet interruptions.
  2. Trading platform and API: Evaluate the broker's trading platform and application programming interface (API). The trading platform should be user-friendly, and stable, and offer the necessary tools for automated trading. The API should provide reliable and efficient connectivity for your automated trading systems.
  3. Integration with trading software: If you plan to use specific automated trading software or algorithms like Expert Advisors. Check if the broker supports integration with those tools. Compatibility and ease of integration can streamline your trading process.
  4. Latency: Low latency is crucial for automated trading as it helps ensure the timely execution of trades and minimizes the risk of slippage. You need to check out where the broker's server is coming from as this might affect the latency.

 

Pros and Cons Automated Trading

Pros:

  1. Doesn't Involve Emotions: Controlling your emotions is very important if you want to succeed. A lot of traders make bad decisions because they are panicking or influenced by certain moods. These are the results of not controlling your emotions and trading psychology. However, as automated trading is carried out by a robot, there will be no emotion involved in the process. Everything with be following what the automated system brings to the table.
  2. Trade Anytime You Want: If you still have a full-time job or generally have a very busy schedule, it might be hard to keep watch of your positions. If you are not in the time zone of your preferred market, it might be hard to stay awake to check your positions. Now, with an automated trading system, it's possible to trade while still going about your day like usual.

Cons:

  1. Limited Setup: You often have little to no opportunity to change the automated system. If somehow the market changes or evolves outside the set strategy, there is no way your system can adapt. This might lead to a huge loss if you aren't careful.
  2. No Educational Value: Because you are depending on the software, there is no learning value here. It's almost like you're running on autopilot. This is different from when you trade on your own in the real market that allows you to learn the brutal unpredictability of price action.

 

The Bottom Line

There are a lot of Australian brokers for automated trading that can be a great and safer choice for new traders, especially if they are busy, working full-time jobs, or living in different time zones that make it difficult for them to always stay in the market. Luckily, these Australian brokerages have great features such as low spread, low latency, VPS, and certain things needed to support automated trading.

 

Automated trading has been a controversial issue over the years, yet it still gains more and more users. There are actually more you can learn about advantages and disadvantages of forex automated trading.