Table of contents:
Best Platforms & Brokers
There are lots of CFD brokers and platforms out there for you to choose from. I try to list the best ones to use in New Zealand right here on this website.
We are compensated for referring clients to some of the listed trading providers.
Capital.com
Capital.com is the trusted partner of TradingView and Investing.com. They've got an amazing review score at Trustpilot, which you can see below.
You can trade a huge selection of instruments with this broker. This includes CFDs for over 2,400 shares, a range of indices, over 120 cryptocurrencies, and 40 commodities.
Capital.com Reviews
Platforms
- Capital.com CFD trading app: This is claimed to be the most beautiful CFD trading platform ever designed for a mobile device. It is available for both iOS and Android.
- Capital.com web trading platform: This web platform won an award for "The Best Online Trading Platform 2020".
- TradingView: You can connect Capital.com to TradingView which is an amazing charting tool.
Demo: Try trading with a demo account free of risk.
Risk warning: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 78.77% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Visit Capital.comCMC Markets
CMC Markets offers a trading platform with access to 10,000 financial instruments you can trade with up to 30x leverage.
This includes over 300 currency pairs, popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, over 9,000 shares (including 1,000 ETFs), a selection of commodities, and more.
CMC Markets Reviews
Platforms
- Next Generation: Choose between the advanced and the standard version.
- Apps: Trade with the iPhone, iPad, or Android app.
- MetaTrader 4: One of the most popular trading platforms.
Demo: Try trading with a demo account free of risk.
Risk warning: 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider.
Visit CMC MarketsPlus500
With the Plus500 trading platform, you can trade over 2,000 CFD instruments on stocks, indices, currencies, commodities, and crypto. They've got CFDs for all of the most popular cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Stellar, Bitcoin Cash, and Cardano.
Plus500 Reviews
The leverage in each category of CFD instruments on the Plus500 platform is as it follows:
- Crypto: up to 1:2
- Indices: up to 1:20
- Forex: up to 1:30
- Commodities: up to 1:20
- Shares: up to 1:5
- Options: up to 1:5
- ETFs: up to 1:5
Demo: Try trading with a demo account free of risk.
Risk warning: 77% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Plus500AU Pty Ltd (ACN 153301681), licensed by: ASIC in Australia, AFSL #417727, FMA in New Zealand, FSP #486026; Authorised Financial Services Provider in South Africa, FSP #47546. You do not own or have any rights to the underlying assets. Please refer to the Disclosure documents available on the website.
Visit Plus500IG
IG claims to be the world's leading CFD provider. They very well might be. I can at least let you know that they are one of the most popular ones according to website traffic statistics by Alexa.
With IG you can trade over 17,000 markets. This includes forex, indices, cryptocurrencies, shares, and commodities.
As I write this, they offer trading of 6 different cryptos: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar, and NEO.
IG Reviews
Platforms
- IG's own: This has won several awards. The latest one in 2020.
- Apps: They offer a feature-rich Android app and a specially designed mobile web platform for iOS.
- MetaTrader 4: One of the most popular trading platforms.
- ProRealTime: For easy algorithm building.
Demo: Try trading with a demo account free of risk.
Risk warning: 75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
Visit IGSaxo Bank
Saxo Bank offers CFD trading for over 9,000 instruments. You can trade stocks, indices, forex, commodities, options, and bonds.
You can also trade cryptocurrency with Saxo Bank. They offer two different products. One is called Crypto FX which allows traders to take advantage of short-term volatility. And then there is an unleveraged instrument called Crypto ETPs for long-term investing.
Saxo Bank Reviews
Platforms
- SaxoTraderGO: Award-winning trading platform.
- SaxoTraderPRO: Platform with advanced customization features.
Demo: Try trading with a demo account free of risk.
Risk warning: 70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
Visit Saxo BankWhat is a CFD?
CFDs are financial instruments that can be used for short-term trading. It is not suitable for long-term investing. There are fees for holding on to a position with CFDs over time. For instance overnight. Make sure you learn how it all works before trading substantial funds. CFDs often come with high leverage enabling bigger results from smaller investments. Both to the downside and to the upside.
CFD trading advantages
There are advantages to CFD trading compared with buying stocks and other financial instruments directly. You can, for instance, trade with leverage and you can also often trade a wide range of all sorts of underlying instruments with the same CFD broker. This includes shares, cryptocurrencies, and commodities in most cases. You can also go short just as easily as you can go long with CFDs which can be a big advantage.
CFD trading risks
As you can see from the risk warning all CFD brokers are required to put on their websites, there are risks involved with online trading, and maybe CFD trading in particular. The main reason for this might be that there is built in a lot of leverage into CFDs. This can be a benefit if you know what you are doing. However, it can be terrifying to see a position move against you really heavily just because of a small drop in price on the underlying asset. CFDs also are subject to other rules as set by the brokers.