Best Forex Brokers in New Zealand

Are you shopping around for the best forex broker for New Zealand residents? Benzinga covered the local market, key broker considerations and which top brokers accept New Zealand residents as clients. 

Forex brokers often differ quite a bit in the services and products they offer to their clients, so consider your trading requirements carefully before you fund a trading account.

Quick Look: Best Forex Brokers New Zealand

• Best Overall: BlackBull Markets
• Best for Beginners: Plus500
• Best for High Trust Scores: FOREX.com
• Best for Low Commissions: AvaTrade
• Best for New Traders: IG
• Best for Demo Accounts: eToro

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Disclosure: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

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Best Forex Brokers in New Zealand

It’s important to take your individual trading needs into account when you look into the best online brokerage firms that accept clients from New Zealand to deal forex. Each top New Zealand forex broker in the list below also ranks well in the key broker considerations listed in the previous section.

1. Best Overall: BlackBull Markets

BlackBull Markets is a top-performing broker in our assessments for New Zealand residents, largely due to its ECN Standard Account. With a minimum deposit requirement of $0 and competitive spreads starting at 0.8 pips for major forex pairs like the EUR/USD. For those seeking even narrower spreads, the ECN Prime Account offers starting spreads as low as 0.1 pips. With a minimum deposit of USD 2,000, this account is particularly suited for high-volume trading, providing substantial savings on commission costs, with just USD 6.00 round-turn per trading lot.

Beyond its attractive fee structure, BlackBull Markets offers swift execution speeds among all brokers globally. Often outperforming other options, with limit order speeds averaging 72 milliseconds and market orders averaging 90 milliseconds, making it the fastest broker by a significant margin.

2. Best for Beginner and CFD Traders: Plus500

For beginner traders, Plus500 is a great option, primarily for its emphasis on risk management and educational support. Plus500 stands out for its dedication to helping beginners navigate the complexities of forex trading and CFDs, ensuring a more secure and informed introduction to the market.

One standout feature that makes Plus500 an ideal choice for newcomers is its array of comprehensive risk management tools. Notably, Plus500 offers the guaranteed stop-loss (GSLO) order, a premium feature available only through select brokers in NZ. This unique order type allows you to predefine a specific price at which your position will automatically close, safeguarding you against potential losses resulting from market volatility and sudden price gaps.

Plus500 provides an extensive range of educational resources, including detailed guides, tutorials, and webinars, all tailored to enriching your understanding of forex trading.

3. Best for High Trust Scores: FOREX.com

FOREX.com offers a robust platform and a comprehensive range of services tailored to meet the needs of both novice and experienced traders alike. One of the key strengths of FOREX.com is that its platform is highly customizable, allowing you to tailor your trading environment to suit your preferences and trading strategies.

The broker offers advanced charting tools, real-time market data and a range of technical indicators. In addition to its intuitive trading platform, FOREX.com provides access to a wealth of educational resources and market analysis. From comprehensive trading guides and tutorials to regular market commentary and analysis.

4. Best for Low Commissions: AvaTrade

AvaTrade, renowned as one of the most secure brokers in the industry, operates under the regulation of seven regulatory bodies spanning six continents, including Europe, Australia, Japan, the British Virgin Islands, the UAE, and South Africa. This extensive regulatory coverage ensures a high level of trust and security for traders worldwide.

Additionally, traders can access a range of sophisticated trading platforms including MT4, MT5, WebTrader, ZuluTrade Duplitrade and AvaSocial, catering to various trading preferences and strategies.

5. Best for New Traders: IG

IG Group stands out as a highly trusted broker in the industry. With IG, your funds are safeguarded in segregated accounts under trustee arrangements, enhancing security and peace of mind. In addition to its proprietary trading platform, IG facilitates third-party forex platforms such as MetaTrader 4 and ProRealTime, providing flexibility and choice to traders. It supports application programming interface (API) trading, enabling advanced trading strategies and automation.

With a diverse selection of 82 currency pairs, IG offers ample opportunities for forex trading, catering to a wide range of trading preferences and strategies. For prospective traders, IG imposes no minimum deposit for bank transfers, while a minimum deposit of $300 is required for credit/debit cards and PayPal transactions. This accessibility ensures that traders of varying capital levels can engage with the platform.

6. Best for Demo Accounts: eToro

eToro focuses on social trading, making it an ideal choice for beginners as it allows them to replicate the trades of seasoned traders with proven track records. Alongside its world-class social trading network, eToro provides excellent educational resources tailored for forex novices. Their intuitive multi-asset trading platforms and user-friendly apps are accessible to all users, enabling immediate engagement in trading activities.

However, it's worth noting that eToro does not support the popular MetaTrader 4 and 5 (MT4 and MT5) trading platforms. While eToro offers a diverse selection of over 40 currency pairs, it's essential to be aware that they do not provide a specific trading platform. Instead, their focus lies on social trading features and user-friendly interfaces.

About Forex in New Zealand

Traders living in New Zealand are fortunate to be able to choose from a wide range of reputable online brokers who will accept them as clients. Forex trading is legal in New Zealand and the country offers a relatively safe location for traders due to decent local regulation.  

The currency used in New Zealand is the New Zealand dollar (NZD or NZ$) — it’s also referred to as the “kiwi” among forex traders. The NZD is broken down into 100 smaller denominations known as cents. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) ranked the NZD 10^th among the world’s most actively traded currencies in April 2016. The BIS also noted that the NZD participated in 2.1% of the average daily forex market turnover seen that month.

A few key fundamental factors can affect the currency’s value:

• The price of housing and relevant commodities produced in and exported from New Zealand as well as oil and agricultural items like beef, dairy, lamb and wool. 
• Natural events like major earthquakes 
• Trade-related issues like tariffs and trade agreements
• A rise in risk aversion among investors 

Online brokers must be authorized and submit to oversight by New Zealand’s financial regulator known as the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). The FMA began operating in 2011 after the global financial crisis. Trading losses prompted the Financial Markets Bill by New Zealand’s parliament. 

The FMA is also a member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), so it operates under the stricter rules that organization requires. The FMA’s basic responsibility is to enforce regulations that pertain to financial service firms that provide access to markets in New Zealand.

What to Consider Before Choosing a Broker

Choose a reputable broker you feel safe with when you make a margin deposit. You’ll also want to take the following list of key considerations into account. 

Regulatory Authority

One of the more important things you may want to look for in a quality forex broker is how strict its regulatory environment is since the best online brokers will be overseen by a good financial regulator. The regulator should ensure that any broker operating in its jurisdiction keeps client funds separate from its own funds to protect it in case of the broker’s insolvency. 

Maximum Leverage Ratio

A higher leverage ratio means you can control a larger position with a given margin amount. Brokers regulated in the EU and the U.S. generally offer low leverage ratios of 30 to 1 and 50 to 1 respectively, while some brokers regulated in more lenient jurisdictions can offer leverage ratios up to 3,000 to 1 on forex trades. 

Electronic Platform

Forex brokers allow clients to trade using trading software that can include their own proprietary platform and/or those offered by 3rd parties like the very popular MetaTrader 4 or 5 (MT4/5) platforms. Any modern electronic platform should let you draw charts and trade directly from them and have a news feed and a customizable interface. Some platforms like MT4/5 will even let you create custom indicators, backtest strategies and trade automatically based on programmed algorithms. 

Educational and Research Materials

You might need educational resources to help you improve as a trader if you’re new to forex trading. Many brokers offer online courses, e-books, webinars, videos and articles that can help you self-educate. You might also benefit from expert fundamental and technical research from your broker.  

Trade Support

You’ll want to look for fast customer support from your broker to prevent potentially expensive losses from accruing. Virtually all brokers offer prompt support in English via live chat and telephone, although email and fax are usually also options if a matter is not especially urgent. 

Margin Deposits

Brokers vary considerably in the minimum initial margin deposit they require for you to start trading, so check to see if you have the right amount of funds available. Some brokers will accept deposits in NZD but you might need to convert them to a major currency accepted by your broker like euros, U.S. dollars or pounds sterling when you open an account. 

Forex Account Types

Just about all online brokers let you try out their services and practice trading using a free demo account. They also typically have several account types to fit different clients: 

• Micro accounts could be good if you’re a new trader
• Standard accounts are better for medium-sized traders
• VIP accounts are for well-funded traders
• Swap-free Islamic accounts are for Muslim clients who wish to conform to Sharia law

Take the Next Steps to Start Trading Forex

You’ll find that most international brokers will accept you as a client if you’re a New Zealand-based forex broker. The amount of leverage available to you and the minimum deposit required to open an account can vary. 

Select a well-regulated and reputable broker that segregates its funds from its clients and meets your personal needs. 

Frequently Asked Questions