HFM review: account types, Kenyan and South African licences

Four licences matter here. HF Markets (UK) Ltd holds FCA number 801701, HF Markets SA (PTY) Ltd is authorised in South Africa as FSP 46632, HFM Investments Ltd holds licence 155 from Kenya's Capital Markets Authority, and HF Markets (Seychelles) Ltd holds SD015. Published reviews also count a further offshore arm in St. Vincent.

See the HFM minimum deposit and HFM withdrawal pages for exact limits, and is HFM legit for its licences.

Traders in Kenya and South Africa have the strongest local position, since their regulator sits in their own country. Clients in Nigeria or Ghana should expect an offshore company, with a far weaker complaint route.

HFM reports that about 71% of retail CFD accounts lose money. Look at the company name on your agreement, then look up that company on its regulator's site.

HFM's account list starts with Cent, Zero and Premium, each with no broker minimum, and Pro at USD 100. Cent and Premium quote from 1.4 pips, Pro from 0.6 pips, and Zero from 0 pips with a commission. Review testing measured Pro at an average of 1.8 pips on EUR/USD, about USD 18 per standard lot.

Zero came to about 1.1 pips all-in in the same data, about USD 11 per lot, so it is the cheaper route for regular traders.

Cent is the right starting point for someone learning with real money, because lots are measured in cents and a mistake costs very little. Premium has wider spreads, so it rarely beats Zero. See HFM fees by account for a worked comparison.

A Top-Up Bonus account also exists at 1.4 pips. InfinityX is an offshore account with a USD 500 deposit and advertised unlimited leverage, and independent reviewers warn that one adverse move there can clear the balance. We would leave that account alone.

Ready to sign up? The HFM registration walkthrough covers documents and your first deposit.

With USD 0 as the listed broker minimum on three accounts, your payment route sets the true floor. HFM says it applies no deposit fees of its own. Published methods include debit and credit cards, bank wires, crypto, Skrill and Neteller, and your country decides which of those appear on the deposit screen.

Bank charges still apply, and they hit small sums hardest. A USD 10 card fee on a USD 50 deposit costs 20%.

An e-wallet route costs less for many traders in Nigeria and Ghana, although fees differ between providers. Check the live currency converter to compare your bank's rate against the mid-market rate before you send anything.

HFM is a MetaTrader broker. MT4 and MT5 run on desktop, web and mobile, enhanced by the FX Blue-powered Premium Trader plugin suite. Its data records 38 chart indicators on the platform, and MQL add-ons extend that. TradingView and cTrader are not part of the offer, so settle that first if you depend on them.

The HFM app adds a lighter way to trade, with two-tap orders once you enable Quick Trading, and a five-button layout. Its charting is modest, so most serious users keep the MT5 app next to it. There is no separate browser-based platform beyond WebTrader access. Compare the setup on the MT4 shortlist.

• Swap-free option
• Cent account
• Demo account
• HFM Copy Trading

Copy trading sits inside the HFM app, so you can browse strategy providers, allocate funds and track results from one place. That integration makes it one of the easier ways to start for a trader who already holds an HFM account. Providers charge their own performance fees, so read each one's terms.

Followers carry the same losses as providers. Start with a small allocation, and watch how a strategy behaved in its worst month. The copy trading shortlist compares HFM with eToro and AvaTrade.

Beginners should also spend a week on a demo first to learn how margin works, so a copied position does not come as a surprise.

Licences by tier 1, 2, 3, 4

2, 3, 0, 2

Tradeable symbols

344

Forex pairs

38

Listed company

No

Bank

No

Android app

Yes

iOS app

Yes

Chart indicators

38

Trading Central

No

Autochartist

Yes

Webinars

Yes

Crypto CFDs

Yes

US shares

No

Global shares

No

HFM counted 344 symbols on MT5 at its St. Vincent entity, its widest list: 157 share CFDs, 38 forex pairs, 12 indices, 12 ETFs, 10 crypto CFDs, 6 metals and 2 energies. That is short against the 2,631 at Pepperstone. Forex traders focused on the majors and gold will manage well enough.

A bigger concern for some is the business terms, which restrict scalping, arbitrage and AI-assisted strategies. System traders should read those rules before funding, since a breach can affect your profits.

Traders running fast strategies will fit better at IC Markets or FP Markets, both of which welcome automation. Research is decent, with an FxStreet news feed and weekly Live Market View briefings.

Minimum deposit

USD 0

Max leverage

1:2000

EUR/USD from

0.0 pips

Raw all-in EUR/USD

1.1 pips

Platforms

4

Founded

2010

HFM and Exness are the closest match, as both hold licences in Kenya and South Africa. HFM's accounts need less to open, and its copy app is live for new users, while Exness has the stronger web tools and more forex pairs.

XM offers wider research and live rooms, and Deriv offers mobile money and Derived Indices under offshore licences only.

The pages below set those numbers side by side. Use them to compare entry cost, spreads and regulation for your own country, then test your first choice on a demo for a few days.

Our HFM review favours small-account traders and followers in Kenya and South Africa, where its local licence adds real comfort. Cent and Zero offer a good ladder: learn on one, then move to the other once you trade regularly. It also suits MetaTrader users who like FX Blue add-ons.

Scalpers and AI-assisted system traders should read the rules twice. Multi-asset investors will find the list too short. If that describes you, return to our forex broker comparison and see the alternatives with broader markets and looser rules.