How KenMacro Tests Brokers

Independent methodology. Affiliate partnerships disclosed. Trader-fit verdicts published verbatim, including where a broker is NOT the right choice for a given archetype.

KenMacro earns a commission if you open an account through our links, at no cost to you. Read our methodology.

Our scoring framework

Every KenMacro broker review is scored across eight institutional-trader dimensions, weighted for the macro-trader audience rather than the beginner-broker audience that dominates the rest of the broker-review SERP:

• Regulation Tier-1 = ASIC, FCA, CIMA, FINMA, BaFin, MAS. Tier-2 = CySEC, FSCA. Tier-3 = VFSC, FSC Mauritius, IFSC.
• Trading Costs true cost = headline spread + commission + swap. We cross-reference EUR/USD raw spreads against TwelveData and Yahoo Finance feeds.
• Platforms MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView native, proprietary. Macro-trader weighting prioritises charting depth and EA support.
• Withdrawals fees, processing time, restrictions. Evidence-based via Trustpilot 1,000+ review samples.
• Customer Service channels, hours, response time, dedicated account manager threshold.
• Education + Research depth, currency of content, named-source research vs marketing material.
• Mobile app stability, charting, order types, copy-trade integration.
• Macro-Trader Fit the dimension no other broker review covers. Position-holding economics, swap rates, multi-asset access, news-event execution.

Cross-reference rules

No single-source claims. Every broker fact in our reviews is cross-referenced against at least two of: the broker's own published documentation, ForexBrokers.com, FXEmpire, BrokerChooser, CompareForexBrokers, Trustpilot, the relevant regulator's public register (ASIC, FCA, CIMA databases). Spread numbers are verified against live TwelveData and Yahoo Finance feeds with asset-specific noise bands (FX 5 pips, commodities 0.1%, equities 0.05%, crypto 0.3%) before publication.

Trader-archetype segmentation

Every review and comparison ends with a trader-archetype verdict, not a single overall winner. We segment by:

• Macro trader running multi-session positions
• Scalper / HFT / 100+ trades per day
• UK retail under FCA 30:1 leverage cap
• Australian retail with $100-$10,000 capital
• Beginner with $50 starting capital
• Copy trader
• TradingView die-hard chartist
• Trader who wants institutional macro analyst desk overlay

Affiliate transparency

KenMacro has introducing-broker (IB) and CPA partnerships with Vantage Markets and Blueberry Markets. We earn a commission when a reader opens an account through our affiliate link, at no additional cost to the reader. These partnerships do NOT influence our verdicts. We publish the trader-fit reality, including where each broker is the WRONG choice for a given archetype. We do not have affiliate relationships with the comparison-foil brokers (IC Markets, Pepperstone, FP Markets, etc.) that we name in comparison articles. We disclose this on every review at the top of the article, near the first call-to-action button, in compliance with the FTC's 2026 endorsement guidelines and the FCA's financial-promotion rules.

What we do NOT do

• We do not accept paid placement to alter rankings.
• We do not publish a broker review without verifying current spreads, leverage tiers, and regulatory status.
• We do not give specific trade ideas with entry, stop, and target levels in any KenMacro article. KenMacro is institutional analysis. The MACRO MASTERY desk is where live trade ideas live, and that is a separate product.
• We do not hide negative findings. If a broker has user-complaint patterns we flag them.