Is ADS Securities Truly a Trustworthy Brokerage Firm?
This review is a result of months spent with the brokerage firm, ADS Securities. The review team had performed an exhaustive examination of the firm through the following facets:
- The wide range of the financial services that clients are given access to
- The trading accounts available to its clients
- The trading platforms that are being offered for each account
- The firm’s customer support system
About ADS Securities
Established back in 2011, ADS Securities is a financial investment brokerage firm is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Not like the other brokerage firms that the review team had covered, ADS Securities is being regulated by a Central Bank of the UAE. This is the case as the firm is not just a brokerage but also a financial investment firm that is an intermediary for the management of the buy and sell of currencies and transactions in the money market. ADS Securities also administers financial investment businesses.
The firm is regarded as the most widely-known foreign-exchange trader within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and is connected to central banks, brokerage firms, and hedge funds. The ADS Securities’ most recent data (2019) reported a decline in Forex volumes of $4-5 Billion since its restructuring.
ADS Securities’ operations started with a $400 Million capital from the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce, thus commencing operations in March 2011.
Offers and Services
Accessible Trading Instruments
ADS Securities’ business are actually multi-faceted, making it one of the most noteworthy firms in that it offers the following services:
- Online Trading
- Investment
- Wealth Management
- Asset Management
- Institutional, Private and Retail Service
In addition, ADS Securities also offers markets analysis for foreign investment through the CNBC, Bloomberg, and CNBC Arabiya.
With regard to Foreign Currency Pairs, the ADS Securities offers a total of 56 pairs. Spot Trading for Forex is also available.
Wide ranging, the Contract for Difference (CFDs) provided through the firm amount to 2,200.
Apart from these, ADS Securities also offers Social/Copy-Trading, the trading of Cryptocurrencies as actual assets and as CFDs.
The firm also gives access to Dubai Oil CFD, a local commodity.
The many financial services that ADS Securities offers alongside the array of asset instruments accessible to its clients makes this firm one to watch out for.
Available Trading Accounts
The accounts available to ADS Securities clients range depend on the region they are based in. For instance, in the UAE, the firm offers two types of accounts:
- The Classic Account
As of writing the minimum deposit that the firm requires for this account is only $100, probably one of the most affordable deposit requirement for the more conservative traders. For the EUR/USD pair, the target spreads are at 1.6 pips.
- The Elite Account
The Elite Account is synonymous to a VIP Account from other brokerages. Given its nature, the account requires a total of $200,000. If trading volume is made basis of opening the account, it must reach over $500 Million every month. The Elite account allow for other benefits apart from discounts on spreads.
- The Bullion Account
If one trades within Hong Kong, he or she is allowed to do so with the OREX platform that is available through the Bullion Account. Within this account type, traders are able to add securities and futures in their investment portfolio. The latter can also be accessed through the TREX platform which can be opened through a minimum deposit of $3,000.
Save for the Classic Account, ADS Securities accounts are seen to charge costly fees. And while its clients can benefit much from signing up for any of these in light of the offers, the fee structure is something that the firm can readjust to invite more users.
Offered Trading Platforms
As already made known trough the previous segment, ADS Securities offers its own trading platforms:
- OREX
Surprisingly, ADS Securities’ proprietary platform, OREX has more product offerings compared to industry favourite, MetaTrader 4 (MT4). Despite this, it remains to have an intuitive interface that is of course easy to navigate. While this is the case, the examination of its features rendered yet-to-be finished modules like the economic calendar. The platform is also available through desktop and mobile.
- TREX
As already mentioned, the TREX platform is only available through the Hong Kong accounts and was created to further the firm’s offers to accommodate Futures.
Customer Service
One thing that turned the review team off is ADS Securities’ Customer Service. The numerous tests done for customer service rendered an average time of more than 5 minutes before connection time and a low net promoter score. As this is the case, much is to be desired from the firm’s response.
Trade with ADS Securities Today!
The points discussed surrounding ADS Securities paint the firm into a decent light. The review team had used the term, “decent” primarily because there are still some areas that it could improve upon, namely:
- The fee structures for each account type
- The availability of more account types
- The response time of the firm’s customer service
