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Best Forex Brokers for Trading Bonds

BrokerNotes.co

Written by BrokerNotes.co

August 29, 2023

What are Bonds?

A bond represents a loan that a bondholder makes to the issuer of the bond. It embodies the bond issuer’s promise to repay the principal amount on a certain date in the future with periodic interest payments. While stocks represent ownership of an organization, a bond is an IOU agreement that obligates the borrower to make interest payments and repay the principal at maturity. In terms of ownership privilege, a bondholder’s claim is secondary to a stock holder’s claim, however, the risk associated with bonds is lower than with stocks as the issuer has a legal obligation to pay interest and repay the principal.

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74% and 89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Best Forex Brokers for Trading Bonds

  • IG
    - 9.9/10 Overall
  • Saxo Bank - 9.7/10 Overall
  • Interactive Brokers - 9.7/10 Overall
  • CMC Markets - 9.6/10 Overall
  • TD Ameritrade - 9.5/10 Overall
  • FOREX.com
    - 9.3/10 Overall
  • City Index - 9.2/10 Overall
  • XTB - 9/10 Overall
  • eToro - 8.8/10 Overall
IG
9.9/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit£250.00
Tier-1 Licenses8
Tradeable Symbols (Total)19537

Year after year, IG has shown itself to be the best broker in the forex industry and a fantastic choice for forex traders. Highly trusted and regulated across the globe, IG delivers a wide variety of rich features, market research, and powerful trading tools. Fans of copy trading will appreciate IG’s seamless integration of trading signals into its web platform.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
Visit Site

Join 239,000+ traders worldwide.

(Trading forex carries a high level of risk.)

Saxo Bank
9.7/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit€2,000
Tier-1 Licenses7
Tradeable Symbols (Total)70000

Saxo Bank is a highly trusted broker that operates multiple banks and is regulated across the globe. Saxo Bank delivers an incredible cross-platform experience alongside powerful research and a vast selection of more than 60,000 symbols across multiple asset classes. It’s worth noting that minimum deposits at Saxo are steep.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)No
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
Interactive Brokers
9.7/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$0
Tier-1 Licenses9
Tradeable Symbols (Total)8500

Interactive Brokers is a highly trusted broker regulated across the globe that delivers access to over 100 markets, including forex and CFDs. Its Trader Workstation (TWS) platform offers a variety of advanced trading tools for experienced traders, and IBKR's web-based platform is great for beginner forex traders.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)No
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
CMC Markets
9.6/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$0
Tier-1 Licenses5
Tradeable Symbols (Total)12074

CMC Markets is a highly trusted multi-asset broker regulated in multiple Tier-1 jurisdictions. CMC's powerful Next Generation trading platform for web and mobile delivers a huge selection of markets and a fantastic user experience. CMC Markets also ranks highly for its high-quality research and educational content.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
TD Ameritrade
9.5/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$0
Tier-1 Licenses5
Tradeable Symbols (Total)0

TD Ameritrade, part of financial conglomerate Charles Schwab, is a leader in platform technology and trusted by millions of investors globally with trillions in assets under its brands. Available exclusively to U.S. residents, TD Ameritrade's forex offering consists of just over 70 currency pairs, along with powerful research and trading tools.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)No
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
FOREX.com
9.3/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$100
Tier-1 Licenses7
Tradeable Symbols (Total)5500

FOREX.com is a highly trusted brand with a long history of offering forex in the U.S. and across the globe. FOREX.com offers its own flagship trading platforms for web and desktop, as well as the full MetaTrader suite. Though its pricing is higher than average, FOREX.com is a balanced choice for traders of all experience levels.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)Yes
Visit Site

A Global Market Leader!

(Trading forex carries a high level of risk.)

City Index
9.2/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit£100.00
Tier-1 Licenses7
Tradeable Symbols (Total)13500

City Index, part of StoneX Group, is an award-winning, highly trusted broker with a long history of offering forex and CFDs across its global offices. City Index delivers a well-designed mobile trading app and a powerful web platform, as well as a large range of tradeable markets (though pricing is just average).

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
XTB
9/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$0
Tier-1 Licenses2
Tradeable Symbols (Total)6010

XTB is a highly trusted brand with a proprietary platform (xStation 5) that delivers a rich selection of trading tools. XTB also offers CFDs for a wide range of asset classes, including multiple cryptocurrencies. Beginners will appreciate XTB's excellent educational content and the hundreds of lessons that are available via its Trading Academy.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
eToro
8.8/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$10-$10,000
Tier-1 Licenses3
Tradeable Symbols (Total)3479

Best known for its copy trading platform suite, eToro is a highly trusted broker offering a large selection of cryptocurrency products, CFDs, shares, forex pairs, and a wide range of powerful trading tools. It’s worth noting that eToro is not a discount broker (though it offers zero-dollar commissions for U.S. stocks).

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)No
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)No
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No

Bonds can play a critical role in a well-diversified portfolio by offsetting the volatility of stocks and providing a source of steady income through interest payments. The bond market is one of the largest securities markets in the world and provides traders with multiple trading avenues.

UK Bonds Market – markets.ft.com

Bonds Terminology

  • Par Value: Also known as the face value of a bond, it represents the principal amount that is returned to bondholder at the end of maturity period.
  • Coupon Rate: The coupon rate is the rate at which bond issuer promises to pay the bondholder on a periodic basis. For a bond with a par value $100, an annual coupon rate of 5% and maturity 10 years, the bondholder is paid $5 every year for 10 years as coupon payment. At the end of 10 years, the bond matures to pay off the face value of $100.
  • Discount: Bonds do not trade at their par value, they may trade above or below it. If a bond trades at a value below its par value, it is said to be trading at a discount. A bond with a par value of $100 trading at $95 can be considered to be trading at a $5 discount.
  • Premium: Bonds trading at a value greater than their par value are said to be trading at a premium. A bond with a par value of $100 trading at $105 can be considered to be trading at a $5 premium.
  • Bond Credit Rating: The credit rating of a bond is the opinion of an independent rating agency regarding the ability of the issuer to pay the regular interest on the bond and finally repay the principal at maturity. If the payments are not made in full or in time then the issuer is said to have defaulted. Major credit rating agencies such as Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch provide ratings for these bonds which range from the highest down to the ‘junk’ category. As the quality of a bond reduces, the interest on it typically goes up to compensate the trader for the higher risk.

Interest Rates and Bond Prices

Interest rate movements and bond prices follow a negative correlation, i.e. whenever a macroeconomic benchmark interest rate (eg: the repo rate) falls, bond prices increase and vice versa. To take an example, a bond issued last year at a par value of £100 offers an interest rate of 5%, however, due to inflation in the economy, the government increases its benchmark rate (repo rate) in the current year after which market-wide interest rates go up too. So any new bonds issued after the rate hike will carry higher interest in accordance with the increased benchmark interest rate. So a £100 par value bond issued in the current year will offer a higher interest rate, say 5.25%. This makes any of the older bonds less attractive with respect to newly issued bonds and their market price tends to fall. The opposite of this happens when benchmark rates go down and the bonds issued in the past become more attractive thereby increasing their market price. This correlation between interest rate and bond prices is important for traders as it helps them to take an informed stance on price movements.

Types of Bond

Bond issued by federal/central governments: These securities are issued by central treasuries and the money raised through them is used by the government for fiscal spending. The maturity period of these bonds could be 1 year, 10 years or even more. In economically sound countries, these bonds carry the lowest default risk as they are backed by the government’s promise.

Local Government/Municipal bonds: These bonds are typically issued by municipal corporations and state governments to finance public improvement projects. Their interest is mostly exempt from government taxes and sometimes local taxes as well. The credit rating of municipal bonds is often reasonably good.

Corporate Bonds: Corporations borrow from traders through corporate bonds. Independent credit rating agencies rate these bonds and depending on the issuing company their ratings can vary from AAA to junk. Since these bonds carry higher risks than government bonds they often pay higher interest than government bonds.

Bond Funds

Just like stock mutual funds, bond funds invest pooled assets based in a variety of bond instruments. Typically bond funds are of the following types:

Actively Managed Bond Funds: For such funds, the fund managers pick a variety of bonds to include in order to try to outperform bond indexes. These would include mutual funds and closed-end bond funds.

Bond Index ETFs: These funds track the movement of popular bond indexes in the market and their units can be freely traded on an exchange.

Speculative trading – Bond CFDs

Bond CFDs allow traders to speculate on price movements of popular treasury bonds such as US 10-year Treasury notes. They work like a derivative instrument, allowing traders to speculate on bond futures contracts without actually taking the ownership of bond itself. With CFDs, traders can amplify their exposure to relatively small price movements because of the margins at play. Some popular regulated brokers who provide platforms to trade bond CFDs are as below:

  • AvaTrade – CFDs are available on 5 Year US T-Notes, 10 Year US T-Notes, 30 Year US T-Bond, Euro-Bund, Japan Government Bond
  • City Index – CFDs are available for US T-note 5yrs and 10yrs, US –T bonds, UK Long Gilt, Euro Scatz, BTP Italian bonds
  • IG – CFDs are available for US T-note 5years and 10years, German Bund, German Buxl, German Schatz, OAT French govt. bonds

These regulated brokers offer features such as tight spreads, excellent trading platforms, good leverage, actionable trade ideas, anytime-anywhere trading.

Conclusion

Bonds are essentially debt securities that offer periodic interest payments and principal repayment at maturity. They provide an efficient alternative to stocks for those traders who don’t like the risk of equity markets and are looking for a constant source of periodic income. They serve an important role in portfolio design by balancing the overall portfolio risk. Being a widely popular security they have a healthy derivative market growing around them for speculators and traders.

BrokerNotes.co 2023 Overall Rankings

To recap, here are our top forex brokers for 2023, sorted by Overall ranking.

Company Overall Rating Minimum Deposit Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard Trust Score Tradeable Symbols (Total) Read Review Visit Site
IG logoIG 9.9 £250.00 0.86 99 19537 IG Review Visit Site
Saxo Bank logoSaxo Bank 9.7 €2,000 0.9 99 70000 Saxo Bank Review
Interactive Brokers logoInteractive Brokers 9.7 $0 0.6 99 8500 Interactive Brokers Review
CMC Markets logoCMC Markets 9.6 $0 0.51 99 12074 CMC Markets Review
TD Ameritrade logoTD Ameritrade 9.5 $0 1.25 99 0 TD Ameritrade Review
FOREX.com logoFOREX.com 9.3 $100 1.4 99 5500 FOREX.com Review Visit Site
City Index logoCity Index 9.2 £100.00 1.4 99 13500 City Index Review
XTB logoXTB 9 $0 1.07 96 6010 XTB Group Review
eToro logoeToro 8.8 $10-$10,000 1 90 3479 eToro Review
Swissquote logoSwissquote 8.7 $1000 N/A 99 472 Swissquote Review
AvaTrade logoAvaTrade 8.6 $100 0.92 94 1260 AvaTrade Review
FXCM logoFXCM 8.5 Starts from $50 1.38 95 440 FXCM Review Visit Site
Plus500 logoPlus500 8.5 €100 0.8 (August 2021) 99 2800 Plus500 Review
Capital.com logoCapital.com 8.4 $20 0.65 87 3119 Capital.com Review
XM Group logoXM Group 8.4 $5 1.6 88 1429 XM Group Review
Pepperstone logoPepperstone 8.4 $200 0.77 95 2342 Pepperstone Review
OANDA logoOANDA 8.4 $0 1.26 93 124 OANDA Review
Admiral Markets logoAdmiral Markets 8.3 $100 0.8 93 6942 Admiral Markets Review
FP Markets logoFP Markets 8.3 $100 AUD 1.2 87 10000 FP Markets Review
IC Markets logoIC Markets 8.2 $200 0.62 84 3583 IC Markets Review
Markets.com logoMarkets.com 8.2 $100 1.9 96 2179 Markets.com Review
FxPro logoFxPro 8.1 $100 1.51 90 2249 FxPro Review
Tickmill logoTickmill 8.0 $100 0.51 83 725 Tickmill Review
Fineco Bank logoFineco Bank 8.0 $0 N/A 95 126 Fineco Bank Review
BlackBull Markets logoBlackBull Markets 7.9 $0 0.827 77 26000 BlackBull Markets Review
DooPrime logoDooPrime 7.8 $100 N/A 83 10000 DooPrime Review
Vantage logoVantage 7.8 $50 1.30 90 1000 Vantage Review
BDSwiss logoBDSwiss 7.8 $100-$5000 1.6 81 1081 BDSwiss Review
HFM logoHFM 7.8 $0 1.2 86 3500 HFM Review
FlowBank logoFlowBank 7.7 $0 N/A 80 408600 FlowBank Review
HYCM (Henyep Capital Markets) logoHYCM (Henyep Capital Markets) 7.7 $20 0.6 88 1199 HYCM Review
Trading 212 logoTrading 212 7.6 €10 N/A 77 1785 Trading 212 Review
ThinkMarkets logoThinkMarkets 7.6 $0 N/A 88 4000 ThinkMarkets Review
Eightcap logoEightcap 7.6 $100 1.0 85 736 Eightcap Review
Trade Nation logoTrade Nation 7.5 $0 0.6 83 601 Trade Nation Review
Moneta Markets logoMoneta Markets 7.5 $50 1.27 72 1016 Moneta Markets Review
VT Markets logoVT Markets 7.4 $100 1.2 70 1000 VT Markets Review
TMGM logoTMGM 7.8 $100 0.96 83 12000 TMGM Review
ACY Securities logoACY Securities 7.4 $50 1.2 75 1600 ACY Securities Review
easyMarkets logoeasyMarkets 7.3 $50 0.9 80 199 easyMarkets Review
RoboForex (RoboMarkets) logoRoboForex (RoboMarkets) 7.3 $100 1.4 71 12000 Roboforex (RoboMarkets) Review
IronFX logoIronFX 7.2 $50 1.2 84 340 IronFX Review
Exness logoExness 7.2 $1 0.9 68 112 Exness Review
Spreadex logoSpreadex 7.2 $0 N/A 71 2000 Spreadex Review
IFC Markets logoIFC Markets 7.2 $1 1.44 67 630 ATFX Review
Trade360 logoTrade360 7.1 $250 N/A 76 1062 Trade360 Review
Axi logoAxi 7.1 $0 N/A 81 175 Axitrader Review
GKFX logoGKFX 7.1 $0 N/A 65 354 GKFX Review
Vestle logoVestle 7.1 -1 N/A 78 750 Vestle Review
OctaFX logoOctaFX 7 $25 0.9 70 229 OctaFX Review
FXOpen logoFXOpen 7 $100 N/A 80 87 FXOpen Review
TeleTrade logoTeleTrade 7 $100 N/A 71 500 Teletrade Review
FXPrimus logoFXPrimus 6.9 $100 N/A 71 140 FXPrimus Review Visit Site
Forex4you logoForex4you 6.9 $0 N/A 61 150 Forex4you Review
LegacyFX logoLegacyFX 6.9 $500 N/A 67 425 LegacyFX Review
GBE brokers logoGBE brokers 6.8 $500 N/A 71 500 GBE Brokers Review
Alpari logoAlpari 6.8 $20 N/A 68 105 Alpari Review
TopFX logoTopFX 6.7 Depends on payment method N/A 67 655 TopFX Review
Libertex (Forex Club) logoLibertex (Forex Club) 6.7 $10 N/A 73 300 Libertex Review
ATFX logoATFX 6.6 $500 N/A 67 150 ATFX Review
UFX logoUFX 6.6 $100 3 67 619 UFX Review
Xtrade logoXtrade 6.5 $250 N/A 80 142 Xtrade Review
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