Methodology

Over 3000 traders responded to an online survey that was posted from September 8 to October 8, 2010 on four high-traffic FX websites: FXstreet.com, ActionForex, ForexPros and ForexTV. The 25-question survey took approximately 5 minutes to complete. The survey results are tabulated in two parts, this is part one about Traders' Profile, Environment, Resources and Technology.

Key Findings

• Traders are very focused on FX as their asset class of choice, with 63% saying FX is the only instrument that they trade. Of the 37% who do trade other instruments, 71% cited equities, followed by commodities (47%); options (31%) and fixed income (20%).
• While many traders are relatively new to FX - with 77% saying they have been trading from 1 to five years -- a significant number of traders have many years of experience. More than 16% have 5 to 10 years of experience and about 6% have over 10 years of experience.
• Respondents overwhelmingly (91%) describe themselves as “individual” traders. Money managers account for 6% of survey participants and institutions another 2%.
• The vast majority of traders (84%) trade from home, with less than 16% trading outside the home.
• A substantial minority of traders surveyed (40%) trade FX full time. Almost 30% trade more than 15 hours in a given week, with 19% trading between 10 and 15 hours, 30% trading between 5 and 10 hours, and only 22% trading less than 5 hours a week.
• A sizable number - more than 33% -- of traders follow the markets and/or make trades using mobile technology such as iPads or smart phones; this is significant given the relatively short amount of time that mobile applications have been available.
• Approximately 36% of traders said they would rather deal with a bank in trading FX, with 64% expressing a preference for dealing with a broker. Reliability was by far the most important consideration in selecting a platform at 40% of responses, trailed by spread at 29%, ease of use at 16% and speed/latency at 11%.
• Some traders have spent large sums on books, conferences, DVDs and other training aids. More than half (54%) have spent less than $1000 on educational resources. Almost 20% of traders, however, have spent over $5,000 on educational resources, with almost 10% of that number having spent more than $10,000.
• Traders get information from a wide range of sources, with Internet finance sites ranking first at 63%. (Respondents were allowed to choose multiple sources.) Other popular sources of information include online forums at 38%; information provided through a bank or broker at 34%; blogs, at 33%; and the trader's own network of contacts at 26%. Other frequently cited sources include paid services such as Bloomberg and Reuters (19%); newspapers (17%) and magazines (15%).

Download the Survey Results - Part I with Charts