Interactive Brokers Australia: Major Pros and Cons

One of the most reputable brokers in the world, Interactive Brokers provides high-quality brokerage services to hundreds of thousands of users internationally. Based in the USA, the company has a network of offices in many countries, including Australia. In this article, we explain the basic trading conditions the Australian branch offers its clients and provide a brief review of its major pros and cons.

The basics

Founded in 1977, Interactive Brokers is one of the best options for anyone looking for a secure and user-friendly broker. The diversity of available trading instruments guarantees that you’ll definitely find something suitable. The list of options includes stocks, options, futures, metals, ETFs, etc. Of course, there are a variety of currency pairs, too — but no crypto.

The broker offers you 24/6 access to 130+ markets all around the world and a reliable customer support that works 24/5 to solve all of your trading-related problems. If you are new to trading, the company has a huge database with useful educational materials and a demo account to try your skills without risking real money.

Interactive Brokers Australia, the Australian office of the broker, seems to share the reliability and major features of the main company. It is equally secure and well-regulated, and it has low fees — both trading and non-trading ones. The only notable distinction are certain benefits for Australian traders who buy or sell ASX-listed stocks and options.

Pros

The Australian branch of the broker has many pros, indeed. It is well-regulated and secure, the office has been operating since 1997, and there’s also a deposit insurance system. The variety of trading instruments is really impressive, and the customer support is responsive and speaks many languages, not just English.

No minimum deposit and high leverage make trading more flexible, and the broker allows you to employ many various strategies based on fundamental or technical analysis. There are many available trading platforms, but MetaTrader 4/5 is not supported, which may be seen as a tiny con, especially for newcomers to trading.

Cons

However great the broker may be, there are still a couple of minor cons. The company is US-based — and US-focused: you have to be really patient to find info that applies to Australians and the local market. Some users report on experiencing delays in withdrawals, and there are no passive investment options.