Invast powered on to the CFD/Forex scene back in 2013, having a rich 50+ year history and being publicly listed in Japan. This Invast broker review will be focused on the Australia operation only as they have one of the lowest DMA CFD rates in Australia.
The company initially launched with Metatrader 4 and a stock broking solution but no share CFDs. As the team grew, they brought in some of the most experienced CFD brokers in Australia and launched a DMA IRESS CFD solution.
Invast focus on the higher end client, providing the most competitive DMA CFD prices in Australia.
The Invast Broker review below has been updated for 2018 and should provide plenty of information to see if Invast has what you need from a CFD/Forex broker.
Invast does not have a proprietary trading platform but instead leverage the power of WebIRESS, MT4, MaxxTrader and FX Inside.
This broker review will focus more on Invast’s IRESS solution as that is the one to trade Australian & Global share CFDs.
Let’s review their trading software in more detail below.
Given their directors have a broad background in offering DMA CFDs in Australia, it stands to reason their Aussie DMA CFD offering is first class.
What started as a passion for offering the best DMA solution to Australian traders, very quickly becoming a global DMA CFD offering.
IRESS is a market leader in online trading solutions, especially for Direct Market Access (DMA).
Invast runs the standard IRESS setup and features, so if you are familiar with IRESS you will know what they have available.
Here are some of the key points about the Invast IRESSTrader platform and offering:
Invast offers the IRESSTrader platform on the iPhone only. On their downloads page, you can download IRESS for the iPhone.
As mentioned in the review above, for the retail trader, Invast have focused exclusively on the IRESSTrader platform.
Invast also offers:
Invast pride themselves as a broker with the best liquidity feeds. So much so that they offer their prime of prime services to other Forex brokers.
This means the Invast Forex, Index and Commodity price feeds are deep enough to supply other leading brokerage firms their liquidity.
You would have to think if other CFD & FX firms are using their liquidity, then it will be more than sufficient for the retail trader.
Invast’s MT4 trading platforms are available across all mobile devices, including:
One of the things to keep in mind with a global DMA broker is each exchange has different brokerage and minimums.
The table below shows their commissions and overnight financing rates for 10 of the exchanges they provide share CFD access to.
One of the things we like the most about their brokerage rates is the ability to trade Australian DMA CFDs from $6 minimums.
That is by far the lowest DMA brokerage rate in Australia. To get access to DMA CFDs at this price is outstanding.
Share CFDs with Invast
Invast provides access to every stock on the Australian market. It is just the margins that differ.
The convenience of getting access to every stock is you can manage your trades all from the one account.
The challenge is you still have to pay interest on the full position, even when you put up 100% of the margin. Perhaps this is something that will change down the track.
Another positive for Invast is they provide the full excel list of share CFDs available. We mentioned our frustration in our CMC Markets review because they do not offer the excel list.
This means you can quickly pull the data into charting platforms like MetaStock or AmiBroker.
Forex CFDs with Invast
Via their MT4 trading platform, Invast provides access to 36 currency pairs (as of Jan 14, 2018).
Your minimum trade size is one micro or $1,000 position. Even though their account opening minimums are higher, it is great they allow trades at the micro level.
Invast pride their Forex offering on the deep liquidity they get access to. Also, they have very low spreads including ‘inverted spreads’. Only their professional platforms provide access to Inverted spreads, whereas their MT4 does not offer this.
Not only that, but this is a professional offering and you need to have $25,000 in your account to get access to these prices.
The main difference with Invast vs. Pepperstone or IC Markets or AxiTrader is that Invast does not have a Pro ECN style account via MT4. You need to trade via MaxxTrader or FX Inside.
Given Invast is a prime broker, their ECN routing allows you to become a price maker in the FX market. That is a unique feature for Forex traders in Australia.
Index CFDs with Invast
When it comes to Index CFDs, Invast is quite competitive with their offering.There is a lot to like about Invast’s Index trading offers. You can trade both the cash and the futures products.
You can trade 10 CFD stock indices via the MT4 platform. Their list of index CFDs is available in the image below.
Some of the other brokers offer a few more index CFDs compared to Invast. But then Invast provide access to 20 DMA Futures CFDs via their IRESSTrader platform.
So CMC Markets and IG Markes both offer the cash and futures index pricing via the one platform. Whereas with Invast you need to trade the cash Indices via MT4 and the DMA Futures CFDs via IRESSTrader.
You’ll need to consider this when looking at the best CFD broker for you.
Commodity CFDs with Invast
Invast keeps things simple when it comes to commodity CFDs.
You get access to:
The image below shows the list of commodity CFDs, the contract size and the margin required for each contract.
Leverage available with Invast
Leverage levels in 2017 have been heading lower around the globe.
Forex traders in Japan cannot trade at greater than 25 to 1 leverage.
Cyprus mandated the default leverage at 1:50 for new FX and CFD traders.
Invast has a maximum leverage on the account set at 100 to 1 on the Forex pairs.
Leverage on share CFDs can be as high as 100 to 1, but only one stock is available at this margin. You can trade Telstra at 3% margin, which is great. The next step is 5% margin or 20 to 1 leverage.
Trading at more than 200 to 1 leverage may seem like a good idea for those who like to gamble their account, but it truly isn’t necessary. Why gamble with your hard earned money. There is no need for it.
Invast Markets offer the full suite of the more traditional markets including:
As mentioned above, Invast caters more to the sophisticated trader with a higher starting account. You will need from $10,000 to $25,000 in your account to access the top features on offer with Invast.
Invast allows you to start with a demo trading account for MT4, but an IRESS demo is only available upon request.
When opening a live CFD or Forex account with Invast, you can open the following accounts:
If you are looking for a reliable broking company to handle your CFD and Forex trades, then Invast has the reputation and history to care for your needs.
The history of Invast dates back to 1960, and the company is listed in Japan, but not on the main exchange. This means their accounts are publicly available and you can see the financial strength of the company easily.
Invast has more recently focused on their higher-end trader, so retail awards are not something they go after.
Having said that, their Japanese office does cater to retail traders and have won numerous awards.
In 2018, we see Peter Fay offering analysis across local and global share CFDs.
Invast were the market leaders in Australia with Forex and CFD education Meetups. Twice a month some of Australia’s best educators and Forex traders would give their thoughts on the market.
Nearly all of these were filmed and are accessible via the Invast YouTube channel.
When making a review of the account opening bonuses available at Invast Australia in 2018, we could not see any offers.
1. You can trade Aussie share CFDs from $6 minimums or 0.06%
Simply a fantastic commission rate for DMA CFDs in Australia.
2. Their liquidity
Invast is a prime broker and provides their liquidity to other brokers in the industry. There is a chance the broker you are currently trading with is using Invast’s liquidity to power their prices.
Invast has spent considerable time compiling the best Forex prime broker feeds from around the world.
3. They cater to the higher-end professional trader
They are positioned as a higher-end CFD and FX broker. Invast doesn’t worry so much about the ‘smaller’ traders, although they are not forgotten.
You can likely open a smaller account with them but get in touch with the support team first.
If you have $10,000 or more (applies to DMA CFD accounts only), then you are good to go. To access their top of the range Forex pricing and Forex liquidity, you need $25,000 in your account.
Conclusion
Invast is the best DMA CFD broker in Australia, providing the lowest brokerage.
They have spent considerable time and resources on the best Forex, Gold and CFD liquidity in the market.
If fast execution and strong liquidity is an important element for you, then give Invast a call to open a trading account.
We’ve covered a lot in this Invast Global Australia Broker review and so now is the time to move forward and open a demo or live trading account.
Jump onboard, test their IRESSTrader platform, check out their spreads and place a few trades. You may find out you like them.
While there are a range of CFD Brokers and Forex Brokers around, the best way to see if a broker is right for you is to download their free demo.
Disclaimer: Trading Contracts for Difference carry risk where you can lose more than what you start with. View our full disclaimer here.