Interactive Brokers Vs. HF Markets (HFM) - Compare Trustworthiness, Capabilities, Fees and Legitimacy

Interactive Brokers is a global brokerage founded in 1978 that holds 11+ high tier financial licenses and provides discounted electronic trading services in nearly all the globe with access to more than 100,000+ financial instruments.

HF Markets (HFM) is a global broker founded in 2010 under the brand name HotForex that specialises in CFDs trading on currencies, commodities, indices, stocks, ETFs, bonds and futures. Recently they added to their portfolio commission-free real stocks and ETFs.

• Seasoned investors looking for a one-stop shop to cover a variety of needs
• Global investors who seek the most reliable discount service available
• Traders from intermediate to advanced level

• Low volume traders looking for a low minimum deposit, low trade size and competitive spreads
• High volume traders looking for a competitive commission-driven environment through their zero spread account
• Traders looking to copy or provide knowledge via their HFCopy account

• SEC (United States)
• FINRA (United States)
• FCA (United Kingdom)
• ASIC (Australia)
• IIROC (Canada)
• MNB (Hungary)
• BSE (India)
• CBI (Ireland)
• FSA (Japan)
• CSSF (Luxembourg) CSSF
• MAS (Singapore)

• CySec (Cyprus)
• FCA (UK)
• DFSA (United Arab Emirates)
• FSCA (South Africa)
• FSA (Seychelles)
• FSA (St. Vincent and the Grenadines)
• CMA (Kenya)

• High regulation
• Exceptional number of investment instruments (Above 100,000+)
• Competitive discount fees

• Well-structured account offering with options for all types of traders
• Competitive commissions on their Zero Spread and PAMM accounts
• Copy trading via MT4 / 5 offered through their HF Copy account

• Complicated account opening process
• Platforms are not beginner friendly
• Narrow choice of deposit options (Mostly bank transfers)

• Platform offering is limited to MetaTrader 4 and 5
• Asset offering in CFDs is below industry standards with 1,200 CFDs
• Their proprietary mobile app does not offer trading capabilities

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• Valid identity document (Passport, ID Card, etc)
• Valid proof of residence document (Bank statement, utility bills)

All documents must be under the account holder's name.

• Valid identity document (Passport, ID Card, etc)
• Valid proof of residence document (Bank statement, utility bills)

All documents must be under the account holder's name.

• Bank Transfer
• ACH (US only)
• Check (US only)
• Debit Card (US only)
• BPAY (Australia only)

• Visa
• Mastercard
• Neteller
• Skrill
• Sofort
• FasaPay
• WebMoney
• BitPay
• PayRetailers
• PayRedeem
• Bank Transfer

AF, SY, SO, SD, LY, NG, BI.

US, CA, SY, IR.

Yes, $5 monthly after 6 months of inactivity.

One free withdrawal per month, subsequent are $10 per withdrawal or equivalent

Commissions depend on market and residency:

• US residents are eligible for zero commission US stock trading. Else, for US stocks it is $0.005/share with a minimum $1 and maximum 1% of the trade value.
• European stocks have €3 minimum and 0.05% trade value.
• Forex commissions are volume based starting at 0.20 basis points of trade value or $2 minimum per trade, and going low as 0.08 basis points and $1.
• Options start at $0.25 per contract and go as low as $0.15 per contract.
• Futures start at $0.85 per contract and go as low as $0.25 per contract

Yes depending on account type:

• Micro accounts have no commissions.
• Premium accounts have no commissions
• Zero Spread accounts have a minimum commission that varies between $3 to $4 per lot traded
• PAMM (Premium) accounts have no commission
• PAMM (Premium Plus) accounts have a commission of $8 per lot round turn
• HFCopy accounts have no commissions