Our Editorial Guidelines & Broker Review Methodology
Trust is the single most valuable asset in financial journalism. At AO Brokers, we maintain rigorous testing protocols to ensure our reviews reflect the real-world trading experience of retail investors.
Core Principles of Our Review Process
1. Real Account Deployment: We deposit real capital to test execution speed, spreads, and withdrawal processing.
2. Objective Data Scoring: Ratings are driven by quantitative data points rather than subjective opinion.
3. Zero Pay-to-Play: Brokerages cannot purchase higher scores, altered ratings, or editorial favoritism.
How We Test and Rate Online Brokers
| Pillar | Weighting | Key Assessment Metrics |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Regulation & Security | 25% | Tier-1 licensing (FCA, ASIC, CySEC, CFTC), segregated client funds, negative balance protection, operational longevity. |
| 2. Fees & Trading Costs | 20% | Raw spreads across EUR/USD, GBP/USD, gold, commission per round-turn lot, overnight financing (swaps), deposit/withdrawal fees. |
| 3. Execution & Infrastructure | 15% | Slippage frequency, execution speed (ms), ECN/STP routing architecture, VPS support, requote incidence. |
| 4. Trading Platforms & Tools | 15% | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, TradingView integration, proprietary mobile apps, custom charting. |
| 5. Deposit & Withdrawal Integrity | 10% | Speed of payout processing, variety of supported funding methods, withdrawal fee transparency, KYC validation. |
| 6. Tradable Asset Variety | 10% | Currency pair depth, international stock CFDs, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, bond instruments. |
| 7. Support & Education | 5% | 24/5 or 24/7 customer service responsiveness, technical knowledge, webinars, market analysis quality. |