CMC Invest review for Australia
- Standard brokerage fee
- $0
- Available markets
- ASX, NASDAQ, NYSE, LSE, Euronext, Hong Kong Stock Exchange
- Support
- Phone, Email, Live chat
Our verdict
You can trade global and Australian stocks and ETFs plus cryptocurrencies from the one account with brokerage starting at $0.
CMC Invest has won Finder's 'Best Overall Trading Platform' of the year award for the last 3 years running and for good reason.
It offers both global and Australian (CHESS-sponsored) shares and ETFs at a low cost and has recently add cryptocurrency trading into the mix. It's packed with research tools as well as educational resources and is both feature-rich while easy enough for new investors to navigate. This makes it a great choice for both newer and experienced investors.
On the downside, this broker favours those with slightly higher starting balances on international trades. The minimum deposit of $1,000 for global trades won't suit everyone.
Pros
-
Low brokerage fees. With $0 brokerage on US, UK, Canadian and Japanese markets and on 1 ASX trade per day up to $1,000, CMC Markets offers a competitive service.
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Wide range of trading options. CMC Markets allows you to trade a full suite of investment products from shares to cryptocurrencies and managed funds.
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Cryptocurrency trades. You can trade up to 7 popular cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.
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Research features. CMC Markets Invest offers an impressive range of research tools, including broker stock ratings, ETF and stock filtering tools and technical analysis charts.
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Strong educational resources. The broker offers a range of educational resources including webinars, eBooks, podcasts, videos, training guides and "learn to trade" functions.
Cons
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High minimum trade on global shares. There's a $1,000 minimum trade value for all global markets.
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Hefty phone brokerage fee. CMC Markets charges a sizeable phone trade brokerage fee of around $60.
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High brokerage for some countries. Trading stocks outside of Australia, US, UK, Canada and Japan costs $59.95 or 0.59% in commission.
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Cryptocurrencies are non-transferable. Any crypto traded on CMC Invest can not be transferred onto a wallet or other platform – it must stay on CMC.
Details
Product details
| Type of broker |
Online only |
| ASX products |
Shares Exchange traded options mFunds |
| Available markets |
ASX NASDAQ NYSE LSE Euronext Hong Kong Stock Exchange |
| Standard brokerage | $0 |
| Support |
Phone Live chat |
Important: The standard brokerage fee displayed is the trade cost for new customers to purchase $1,000 of either Australian or US shares. Where a platform charges different fees for both US and Australian shares we show the lower of the two. Where both CHESS sponsored and custodian shares are offered, we display the cheapest option.
What are the features of this account?
| Fees |
★★★★★ 4.4/5 |
$0 brokerage share trading. You can trade stocks from the US, UK, Canada and Japan without paying any commission fees. |
| Trading tools |
★★★★★ 3.5/5 |
Live market data. 20-minute delayed market data is available for free while live data is $0 for ASX. For dynamic data, a $41.25 monthly fee applies but will be rebated if you make more than 30 trades per month. You can also subscribe to live US market data for $11 per month. |
| Research and education |
★★★★★ 4.2/5 |
Strong educational resources - One of the perks for investors with CMC Invest is its wide range of educational resources that can help you regardless of your learning style. These include -videos, articles, podcasts, trading lessons, platform tutorials, webinars, ebooks |
| Available securities |
★★★★★ 5/5 |
Hedge your risks with order types. In addition to being able to place limit and at-market orders, you can place unlimited free conditional orders through your CMC Invest account to reduce your risk. |
| Customer support |
★★★★★ 4/5 |
Trade through multiple channels. Trades can be placed online, over the phone or from a CMC Invest app on your Android or iOS tablet or smartphone. Live chat, phone and email support are also available when you need help. |
| Available countries |
★★★★★ 4/5 |
Trade your way through the international markets including the US, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Denmark with CMC. |
About CMC Invest
CMC Invest was founded in 1989 and is a well-established share, forex and CFD broker.
The broker offers 2 main desktop accounts - CMC Invest and CMC Markets. CMC Invest allows you to buy and sell shares directly while on the CMC Markets platform you trade using CFDs - a riskier product used by experienced traders to speculate on asset prices, typically with leverage.
On mobile, these are 2 different apps - CMC Invest and CMC: CFD Trading.
If you're interested CMC's CFD and forex trading account, you can check out our CMC Markets CFD review.
How does it work?
CMC Invest's platform allows you to trade chess sponsored Australian shares. You can also trade in the US, UK, Japan and Canada, as well as a host of other financial products.
The broker offers investors competitive brokerage fees, incredibly fast ordering processing and an unlimited free conditional orders for all of its clients.
What can I trade with a CMC Invest account?
You can invest in the following products with a CMC Invest account:
- Australian shares. Access companies listed across the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), Sydney Stock Exchange (SSX) and Chi-X.
- International shares. Access 15 major markets including the US, Canadian and UK markets. You can trade both international and domestic shares using the same account.
- Funds and options. Diversify your portfolio by investing in other popular products such as managed funds (mFunds), exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options and more.
You can also trade forex and CFD with the broker. See our comprehensive guide here.
What other features do we get with CMC Invest?
$0 brokerage share trading
One of CMC's strongest features is it offers $0 brokerage. You can trade stocks from the US, UK, Canada and Japan without paying any commission fees.
You can also get $0 brokerage on 1 Australian trade a day if it is under $1,000.
Live market data
CMC offers both live and data on delay depending on what you want to pay for.
For most traders, 20-minute delayed market data is available for free while live data is $0 for ASX. For dynamic data, a $41.25 monthly fee applies but will be rebated if you make more than 30 trades per month. You can also subscribe to live US market data for $11 per month.
Access to a range of research tools
CMC Invest offers top-quality research tools to help you make educated trading decisions. The tools cover company information, market depth, independent research and daily analysis from in-house analysts.
Trade through multiple channels
Trades can be placed online, over the phone or from a CMC Invest app on your Android or iOS tablet or smartphone. Live chat, phone and email support are also available when you need help.
Good selection of order types
In addition to being able to place limit and at-market orders, you can place unlimited free conditional orders through your CMC Invest account to reduce your risk.
Strong educational resources
One of the perks for investors with CMC Invest is its wide range of educational resources that can help you regardless of your learning style. These include -videos, articles, podcasts, trading lessons, platform tutorials, webinars, ebooks
What support and information are available with a CMC Invest account?
If you need assistance with your CMC Invest account, you can contact CMC Invest to speak with an experienced representative. Support options include phone, email and live online chat.
CMC Invest also offers educational resources online such as webinars, trading guides, videos and instructional articles. While many resources are available for free, Premium Trader customers get access to the full range of educational resources.
Customer reviews of CMC Invest
CMC Invest has a high average customer rating on both the App and Play stores.
These reviews were last collected in July 2023.
| Google Play app reviews | 4.4/5 stars based on over 613 reviews |
| Apple App Store app reviews | 4.6/5 stars based on over 956 reviews |
Fees when using a CMC Invest account
You pay $0 brokerage when you trade global stocks on CMC.
Your fees to trade Australian (ASX) shares will depend on which account option you choose to go with, standard or ALPHA:
| Standard account - Trade condition | Brokerage fee |
|---|---|
| First buy order processed on any trading day, up to the value of $1,000 per stock | $0 |
| Second and each subsequent buy order processed on any trading day, up to the value of $1,000 per stock or buy orders exceeding $1,000 per stock | $11 or 0.10% |
| All sell orders | $11 or 0.10% |
| ALPHA account - Trade condition | Brokerage fee |
|---|---|
| First buy order processed on any trading day, up to the value of $1,000 per stock | $0 |
| Second and each subsequent buy order processed on any trading day, up to the value of $1,000 per stock or buy orders exceeding $1,000 per stock | $9.90 or 0.75% |
| All sell orders | $9.90 or 0.75% |
The other fees largely concern access to market data. While live market data is available for free, customers can also choose dynamic data ($41.25 per month). However, as the table above shows, these monthly fees will be rebated if you make a certain number of trades each month and move up through the membership tiers.
Are there any monthly fees?
CMC Invest highlights it is trying to simplify the investing fees. As such, it does not charge investors a monthly fee.
It also does not charge investors a dormancy fee, meaning you do not have to trade with it every month.
How to open an account with CMC Invest
What you'll need
- Your personal details
- Tax file number
- Driver licence or other forms of ID
- A link to your bank account details
Steps to register
- Go to CMC Market's home page and click apply now. You will be securely redirected to an online application form.
- Register your details and verify your account with one of the documents listed above
- Once CMC Invest has verified your identity, you can fund your account by transferring money to your new account. From here you will be able to trade.
Is CMC Invest safe?
CMC Invest is a safe broker.
Due to its sheer size, the broker is in multiple countries. This means it's covered by multiple regulators, including the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).
Retail clients' money is also held on a trust in a segregated bank account, with all money held on behalf of clients distributed across a range of major banks.
The broker highlights that it does not lodge retail clients' money towards margins with its hedging counterparties.
All in all, this makes the broker safe.
Frequently asked questions
Your reviews
Cameron Finder
Writer
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Kylie Purcell Finder
October 23, 2023
Hi David, you’ve reached out to Finder, a financial comparison site. Please contact CMC Invest directly to help with this query.
a
September 27, 2023
I have never invested before so I really don’t know if I should ??
I don’t earn a lot of money and I’m more worried about tax time how much I would have to pay was all this all worked out for me?
Do you use quantum AI?
Mostly I would like to invest mostly to buy a home for myself?
And how long would that take
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Kylie Purcell Finder
September 29, 2023
Hi A,
Your questions in order:
1. We can’t offer personal financial advice. But as a rule of thumb, best practice is to have at least 3-6 months of cash savings set aside before you start investing. It’s also a good idea to pay off any high interest debt, such as a credit card or personal loan. From there, whether it’s a feasible option comes down to your personal circumstances, though it’s worth noting that these days you can start investing from just a few dollars depending on the platform you use.
2. Regarding tax time, you only need to pay tax on any profits you make from your investments. You can find more information on that here: https://www.finder.com.au/share-trading-ato
3. Quantum AI appears to be an unregulated CFD and crypto trading platform which raises serious red flags. Always ensure any trading platform you sign up to is registered with ASIC and holds an AFSL license. That being said, CFDs are a high risk product and only recommended for experienced traders.
4. On investing to buy a home – bear in mind that all investments come with risk because the market fluctuates. Depending on your circumstances, the best approach may be to build up a home deposit in a high interest savings account, instead of through the stock market, especially if you plan on buying a home within a few years.
5. How long it takes to save up for a home deposit depends on many factors – this calculator may help: https://www.finder.com.au/what-home-loan-deposit-do-i-need
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Toni
September 27, 2023
I have some shares and want to cash part of them in, I have never done this before.
Do I join up and then I’m able to cash them in?
Kylie Purcell Finder
September 29, 2023
Hi Toni,
How you sell your shares will depend on how you acquired them in the first place. You can read more on this here: https://www.finder.com.au/how-to-sell-shares
Good luck
Kylie
Matt
September 10, 2023
How do the fees work regarding ETFs?
Kylie Purcell Finder
September 11, 2023
Hey Matt, Brokerage fees for ETFs are the same as stocks with CMC. There are also ETF management fees charged by the ETF itself.
Investor
August 22, 2023
After reviewing your website and was ready to create a CMC trading account. However, I decided to glance through other reviews before proceeding. I have consistently relied on your website as a reliable information hub. Yet, after encountering numerous unfavourable reviews about CMC, I’m curious about the reasons behind this discrepancy. Could you provide insight into this matter?
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Kylie Purcell Finder
August 23, 2023
Hi Investor,
Customer reviews are tricky to navigate. For instance, you’ll notice the most popular stock brokerage accounts such as CommSec, CMC, Stake and IG all get very low review scores on Productreview.com.au. Is this accurate? It’s hard to tell, but I would take some online reviews with a grain of salt. As for Finder, our reviews and star ratings are based on a comprehensive analysis of all 39 brokers available in Australia (at the time of the last review in June). Although we have commercial deals with some online brokers (including CMC), this doesn’t impact the rating or review – for more info, you can check out our methodology here: https://www.finder.com.au/share-trading-rankings. That being said, it’s hard to tell whether you’ll like the broker before signing up. Why not sign up for a demo account first to give it a test drive?
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David
October 18, 2023
I have shares currently residing with the department of Finance in the State of Delaware that I need to transfer to a broker account. Does your firm offer this capability and provide me with a US Broker name, DTC number and account number to facilitate this?