HYCM Review

HYCM is a multi-regulated European brokerage company that has several financial licenses and many years of experience in providing services in the forex currency market. All information is published on a well-designed website that is adapted for many languages, has an intuitive interface, easy navigation, stylish design and a lot of free educational content.

That is, by external signs, HYCM is a reliable international broker to whom you can entrust any deposit. Let’s figure out if the visual picture matches the real state of things. We’ll prepare a review, deal with the main features of HYCM and try to find the shortcomings. After reading the material, you will know what kind of forex broker it is and whether it is possible to work with it.

HYCM is a brokerage site that immediately belongs to a group of financial companies: Henyep Capital Markets Limited (Great Britain), HYCM Ltd (Europe) and HYCM Limited and Henyep Capital Markets Limited (Dubai). The peculiarity of this group of companies is that all activities are supervised by reputable financial regulators: FCA oversees the UK division, CySEC over Europe, and DIFC over Dubai. Plus, there is a separate license that controls all the financial activities of HYCM in the Cayman Islands (CIMA). That is, the broker is equipped with licenses and if any disputes arise, all customers can count on support. If you want to check licenses or look at the list of existing regulators, then open the “About Us” section and select the “Rules and Licenses” category. Now we move on to the analysis of the remaining characteristics.

General information about HYCM

Trading platforms

HYCM broker offers two standard trading terminals that can be downloaded in the desktop and mobile versions for iOS and Android. Look for download links in the “Trade” section → category “MetaTrader 4” or “MetaTrader 5”. There is also an installation manual and an additional plug-in for technical analysis. A web terminal is not specified, but you can connect to it through your account.

Trading Instruments

The following types of tools are available for traders on the HYCM broker website:

1. More than 40 currency pairs that can be used with leverage up to 1: 500.
2. CFD contracts on popular stocks that are traded with leverage up to 1:20.
3. More than 15 largest indices available with leverage up to 1: 200.
4. Five major cryptocurrencies traded with a 1:20 leverage.
5. Many commodity contracts with leverage up to 1: 133.

For an expanded list of available trading instruments, see the “Variety of Markets” section. There will be all updates and detailed specifications.

Fees and charges

The HYCM broker does not take any payments for the operations of replenishment and withdrawal of funds. However, there is a warning on the site that additional payments may be made by banks and those payment systems from which the transfer was made. If there are changes, then all the details can be found in the “About Us” section → the “Deposit and Withdrawal” category.

The company has three types of trading accounts that differ in the minimum deposit and the size of the accrued spread:

1. A fixed account starts at $ 100 and provides for fixed spreads at the level of 1.8 points without additional commissions.
2. The classic account also starts at $ 100, however, the spread is floating here and starts at 1.2 pips. No additional fees.
3. A RAW account starts with $ 200 and a spread of 0.2 points or more – there are $ 4 commissions that are charged for each market entry.

You can see a comparison of the current types of accounts in the section “Trade” → “Types of trading accounts”.

Support

All methods of contacting technical support managers are listed in the About Us section → the Contact Us category. On the page that opens, you will find the email addresses, phone numbers, and headquarters addresses in London, Limassol, Dubai, Kuwait, Hong Kong, and Cayman Island. There are also social networks and online chat for quick messaging – there is support, which is in touch five days a week. 

Educational program

The site has a dedicated “Training” section, which is divided into two categories: “Forex Training” and “Webinars”. “Forex Training” is a detailed theoretical guide, where a novice trader will find all the necessary information to understand the mechanics of the foreign exchange market. “Webinars” are additional events, participation in which allows all practicing traders to reach a new professional level and deal with all problematic topics.

Features

For new customers, a welcome bonus is provided, which allows you to get 10% for the replenishment of the deposit in the amount of up to $ 5000. There are no other offers on the site.

HYCM: advantages and disadvantages

Advantages:

1. Many reputable financial regulators oversee the work of HYCM, which completely excludes the possibility that the fx broker will engage in fraud and deceit of customers. All reporting is under strict control.
2. HYCM standardized the rules of work and brought them into line with the regulatory requirements of the EU Directive (MiFID) – this means that all investors have legal protection and real leverage over the issuer. That is, any dubious actions of the broker can be challenged.
3. All client money is separated from HYCM’s funds and is in segregated accounts with Eurobank and Barclays Bank – if a crisis starts, the broker will not be able to manipulate the capital of investors for personal purposes.
4. In addition to all existing protection measures, the broker has several compensation funds that will be involved in the event of bankruptcy and the inability to satisfy the financial requirements of investors through personal assets. HYCM is a member of the FSCD program, which guarantees payments of up to £ 50,000; HYCM participates in the ICF, which pays compensation in the amount of up to £ 20,000; HYCM is part of the program by Lloyds Brokers insurance company, which is aimed at large investors and pays compensation in the amount of up to $ 1 million – read the details in the About Us section and the Investment Security category.
5. HYCM broker is an open public company that constantly participates in international festivals and fights for the awards “Best Forex Broker”, “Best Trading Platform” and “Best Customer Service”. A list of all awards can be found in the “About Us” section → the “Awards and Media” category. A recent achievement is the best European broker of 2018.

Disadvantages:

1. Technical support operators in touch five days a week. I would like such companies to be able to give out consultations without days off and breaks.
2. There are requirements for a minimum deposit – you will not start trading until you replenish your account with $ 100. In modern companies, this bar is removed and traders can evaluate the capabilities of the trading platform even from $ 1.
3. Unregistered users do not have access to the Webinars section, and after registration, these webinars are available only in English. For the other-speaking audience on the YouTube channel HYCM there is a news section, limited to daily 2-minute videos.
4. A complicated registration procedure requiring the mandatory entry of date of birth and address of residence.
5. The broker has not scattered stocks and loyalty programs. At the time of the review, all offers are limited to a 10% welcome bonus.