Forex trader Survey

Forex trader

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The CitiFX Pro Forex Trader Survey 2010 was taken by over 3000 forex traders worldwide. With over 3000 individual respondents, this is the first international survey that draws a comprehensive portrait of the individual forex trader. Surprisingly, only 23% of respondents were from the U.S. with the biggest groups of traders thereafter coming from the U.K. and India.

65 percent of those survey said they trade from 1 to 5 pairs of currencies, focusing on a relatively narrow range of currency pairs. About 25 percent trade from 5 to 10 pairs, 6 percent trade 10 to 15 pairs, and only about 5 percent of individuals surveyed trade more than 15 pairs.

The survey found that forex traders vary widely in their use of leverage. Leverage of 50 to 100 times capital invested was the most common range, with another 18 percent employing leverage of more than 100 times capital. Low ratios of 1 to 5 times were also relatively common at 20 percent, with 5-10 times at 13 percent, 10-20 times at 10 percent and 20 to 50 times also at 10 percent.

Below, please find the results of this survey.
Source: CitiFX Pro

1. Do you Trade from:

84.1% Home
15.9% Outside Home

2. Do you Trade Forex:

39.6% Full Time
60.4% Part Time

3. How many hours in a given week?

21.7% Less than 5 hours
29.7% Between 5 and 10 h
18.8% Between 10 and 15 h
29.7% Over 15h

4. Do you follow and/or trade the FX markets using mobile technology (smart phones,
iPads, etc?)

33.2% Yes
66.8% No

5. In trading FX, would you rather deal with:

35.6% A Bank
64.4% A Broker

6. What is most important to you in selecting a trading platform?

28.9% Spread
40.3% Reliability
16.4% Ease of use
3.6% Types of orders
10.8% Speed/latency

7. How much have you invested in educating yourself about FX – conferences, books,
DVD subscriptions, etc?

54.5% Below $1000
26.6% $1,000 - $5,000
9.1% $5,000 - $1,0000
9.8% Above $10,000

8. Where do you get the information on which you trade?

32.9% Blogs
37.7% Forums
62.8% Finance Sites
14.7% Magazines
17.3% Newspapers
19.3% Paid services (e.g. Reuters, Bloomberg, etc.)
25.8% Own network
34.0% Bank or broker

9. Is FX the only asset class you trade?

62.8% Yes
37.2% No

10. If no, what other instruments do you trade?

31.2% Options
47.1% Commodities
70.7% Equities
19.8% Fixed income

11. Why do you trade FX (pick strongest reason)?

34.4% Best potential for return in up and down markets
16.3% Most interesting and intellectually stimulating asset class
15.2% 24 hour market
11.9% Superior liquidity
8.7% High leverage
13.5% Low initial capital requirements

12. How many years have you been trading FX?

77.5% 1-5
16.4% 5-10
3.5% 10-20
2.6% More than 20

13. What kind of FX trader are you?

90.8% Individual
6.2% Money Manager
2.2% Institutional
0.8% Other (please specify)

14. What currency pair do you trade most frequently? What is your favourite
“pair” to trade?

51.37% EUR/USD
17.86% GBP/USD
5.80% AUD/USD
5.54% EUR/JPY
4.96% GBP/JPY
4.37% USD/JPY
1.71% USD/CAD
1.42% USD/CHF
0.91% EUR/GBP
0.87% AUD/JPY
5.18% OTHER

15. How many currency pairs do you trade and/or follow?

66.0% 1-5
23.8% 5-10
5.4% 10-15
4.7% More than 15

16. What is your main purpose in trading currencies?

82.9% Speculation
8.9% Hedging
8.2% Other (please specify)

17. What Country are you from?

22.37% United States
7.98% United Kingdom
7.76% India
3.75% Australia
3.35% Malaysia
3.09% Canada
2.58% Indonesia
2.47% Singapore
2.43% Spain
2.10% Pakistan
42.13% OTHER

18. Which best describes your FX trading strategy:

53.1% Fundamental and Technical
36.1% Technical
8.1% Fundamental
2.6% Other

19. What trading style do you follow?

48.8% Short Term
25.8% Swing
17.4% Scalp
8.0% Long Term

20. What is your average profit [on a trade]?

46.6% Between 0% - 5%
31.9% Between 5% - 10%
21.5% Above 10%

21. What is your average loss?

65.1% Between 0% - 5%
21.4% Between 5% - 10%
13.5% Above 10%

22. What has been your performance in the last 12 months?

26.8% < 0% (Negative Return)
37.5% Between 0% - 25%
15.2% Between 25% - 50%
9.4% Between 50% - 100%
11.1% > 100%

23. What kind of leverage do you employ?

21.2% 1-5x
12.8% 5-10x
9.8% 10-20x
10.3% 20-50x
27.8% 50-100x
18.2% More than 100x

24. What is the average duration of your trades?

43.3% A few minutes to a few hours
48.0% Intraday or a few days
4.6% Several weeks
4.1% May hold for long periods

25. Do you usually trade using hedging, i.e. making the opposite trade of the
one that is currently open?

25.9% Yes
74.1% No