Planning to split my capital between two brokers for risk management. Need real experiences comparing IC Markets and Pepperstone during news events. How do their spreads on major pairs like GBP/USD hold up when volatility spikes? More importantly, which platform’s spread widening gets offset better by GlobeGain rebates?
IC tighter spreads. Pepperstone faster execution.
Backtested both during Fed announcements last quarter:
IC Markets EUR/USD
- Pre-news: 0.7 pips
- Peak volatility: 2.1 pips
- GlobeGain rebate: $6/lot
Pepperstone
- Pre-news: 1.0 pips
- Peak: 2.8 pips
- Rebate: $4/lot
Net cost during peak:
IC: 2.1 - 0.6 = 1.5 pips
Pepperstone: 2.8 - 0.4 = 2.4 pips
IC better for high volatility if liquidity is stable.
Depends on your trading style.
IC Markets has lower raw spreads but their liquidity drops faster during big news. Pepperstone offers more consistent execution but higher baseline costs.
Use GlobeGain’s comparison tool filtered for high volatility hours. Check the 3-month graphs.
IC usually better. Rebate covers more.
Traded both during NFP events:
IC Markets spreads jumped to 3 pips but rebates softened the blow by 30%.
Pepperstone had 4 pip spikes but their lower rebates only covered 15%.
Now I use IC for news trades and Pepperstone for steady sessions. Track both in different MT5 profiles.