FXCM Reviews

Current Employee – been working at FXCM full-time for more than a year

Pros – Nice people, competitive work environment

Cons – Chat support, pay, requires overtime o really advance

Advice to Senior Management – Would like better pay

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at FXCM full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – My thoughts on FXCM the business are extremely positive. Having worked with the firm for some time, I have been witness to significant change and steady growth over the past few years especially. I truly believe the firm is well positioned to continue performing strong and expanding both domestically and globally.

In terms of the “sales role”, I will say that it is a solid career opportunity for the right person. I have seen success with sales here and can say without hesitation that I enjoy what I do. Having come from other “jobs” where this was not the case, I like to think I have found a career. I work in a fast-paced, self-driven, challenging sales environment that offers not only competition but camaraderie. My understanding of the financial markets and their infrastructure has increased tremendously in this role.

Speaking from the sales perspective, the FXCM culture is to reward employees on performance and not for simply coming to work. This is a key benefit in my opinion. When it comes to compensation, the entry level salary is a bit low by industry standards, I guess. But, the average individual coming into the FX Sales position is going to have a steep learning curve to start – I can surely admit I did. With that said, increases to the annual salary and bonuses can be fairly generous, especially for top performers. This is where it comes down to work ethic and self-determination. Much of your day to day is self-managed and, as such, your potential and your future are in your hands. Having pushed myself over the years to expand my knowledge and understanding, I have been able to translate that into success in sales and this has been seen and rewarded.

Overall, I say with confidence that I would recommend FXCM to a close friend or acquaintance. The pay is fair, benefits (medical, vacation, holiday, etc.) are excellent, and I feel confident in the firm’s future in the industry. I have interacted personally with the top senior management, including Drew Niv, CEO, and have the confidence in their ability to lead.

Cons – As with any company, there are always some areas to improve. “Sales” is definitely a position where you are recognized on performance. Any successful sales person will be extremely driven to do all he/she can to surpass last quarter’s numbers. This does bring imbalance to work/life. While not easy to resolve, finding a way to bring more balance back into the picture so as to keep your top salespeople from burning out to quickly would be ideal.

Flow of communication both from management and interdepartmental is not always consistent. As FXCM has grown at such a rapid pace, expanding into various jurisdictions/regions globally, these plans, policies and changes have not always been well communicated from other departments and management. This can lead to confusion and frustration within at times.

Advice to Senior Management – My advice to all management would be fairly simple – stay in tune with what is happening day to day. This does not apply across the board, but there are instances where managers get involved in their own projects and roles that they lose track of the day to day operations and main objectives of their team’s core business objective. I simply suggest that management stay a bit more in touch with their team and interact with them regularly on the challenges they face. I am in no way suggesting an environment of “micro-management” but Laissez-Faire leadership is not ideal either. Feeding their team information about company initiatives and policy changes as well as sharing with other departments and management the themes and challenges that their teams are facing is what I would see as a key focus.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at FXCM full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – - As many reviews have already indicated this before, there is a high amount of growth you will experience here. FXCM is a fast-paced company with limitless potential. Its employees are given a high level of responsibility much quicker than could be expected at other, more bureaucratic financial firms.
- The Partners and top executivies are very involved in the day to day and care about the employees. They know their staff, by name, and take the time to visit all of the offices. How many people can say at the associate level they individually met with the CEO and COO in one quarter? And for many, this is a weekly occurence.
- You are working for and with very intelligent people, starting from the top. The CEO, Drew, is brilliant and the entire executive team are very savvy businesspeople. Just look at the astounding growth the company has experienced in the past 14 years. The first to go public in its industry, adapting to the industry and regulatory changes; incomparable to its competitors.
- The product, education and service is the best in the industry; the business model is mutually beneficial to the client. You will work for the best firm in the FX market here.
- The energy is high. Employees are excited about the product and company vision. In an ever-changing environment, there is something new everyday; definintely makes you want to come in to work everyday.
- Entry base salary can lag the market, but this mirrors the performance-driven culture. Excellent performance is rewarded in the form of generous bonuses and annual increases. Raises tend to be from 8-15% for average to top performers. Definitely beats the standard 3% you will be stuck with anywhere else.
- Medical plan is great; vitually full coverage on most events (no deductibles!). If you are healthy and participate in the wellness plan, you will pay only $50 a month for employee only. Can't beat that...

Cons – - Because of the fast-paced nature of the company, responsibility level is high, the company could work on bringing work-life balance to the employees.
- The firm is still young and growing. Many managers were "home-grown" and could use some leadership development. Bringing in more experienced management from the outside will help bring perspective.
- Again, the company is fast-growing. At sometimes staffing falls short of current needs due to a lack of forecasting in many areas. The firm could use to implement a talent strategy to avoid straining current resources... hence the work-life balance issue.

Advice to Senior Management – As FXCM continues to undergo growth and change, continue to communicate and be transparent with your employees. Communication of the vision is the number one way to instill buy-in from your workforce. Top management should encourage trickle-down communication from middle management to the employees to ensure high morale and camaraderie.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at FXCM

Pros – Learned how to use a Bloomberg Terminal and work with a great team of market analysts

Cons – None that I can think of

Current Employee – been working at FXCM full-time for less than a year

Pros – CULTURE:
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- Every single person in this company is extremely intelligent
- The entire company is completely meritocratic, with little to no focus on prestige, seniority, or tenure; it's all about what you can produce
- Unsiloed culture; everyone talks to everyone, and there isn't a sense that you can't just get up and walk over to another department to hang out
- I'm 22 years old, and most of the people I work with are under 30. There's a lot of really good energy here
- I can walk in to the office with two huge bags of snacks, and a giant jungle plant, and eat all day while I work
- Drew Niv, our CEO, is a cunning businessman with a RUTHLESS taste for acquiring other brokers and businesses at a bargain-bottom price. He is shrewd and efficient, with a sharp and hilarious sense of humor. He's laid back and relatively calm, but equal parts inspiring and intimidating in person. His voice is entertaining to listen to, as well.
- Benefits/insurance are super cheap and good quality. Deep discounts if you're healthy (the company is fairly young, as well, so it's not like we need to worry about a ton of health issues)
- My direct boss is the COOLEST CAT I've met. I get along extremely well and love the people I work with.

THE WORK:
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- My job is the "FX Sales Broker", which means I'm in Sales. I have Series 3 and 34 licenses. I traded FX in the retail world before I came to work here, and I absolutely love trading the markets. I make a profit, too -- I have a great opportunity to hone my trading skills with my coworkers while I'm on the job
- Most of the day-to-day is spent sending emails and calling prospective clients, to solicit new accounts with FXCM on the basis of our quality education, execution, and customer service
- Though I came into the job unsure of FXCM due to recent NFA actions, as a current industry insider I've come to see that - while no company's history is perfect - we are BY FAR the best of the bunch, when it comes to retail FX brokers. If you're even considering working at FXDD or Gain or something; there's no comparison whatsoever.
- As I said before, everything is meritocratic. If you do your job and do it well, you will get paid far and above what the "posted" salary is. I am earning $120k, even though the base salary is $40k. Come on, it's a sales job. It's all about the bonuses! Top three sales reps every month get paid something extra, and as the volatility comes back to the FX market, the quarterly bonuses are steadily growing.
- Upward movement is totally based on merit. Promotion of the top sales reps happens often, within 1 - maybe, 2 - years of employment. Salary raises, bonuses, and additional freedoms are given based on how well you do and how hard you work

CONCLUSIONS:
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- Now is the time to come to FXCM. Go pull up a chart of the FX VIX and compare it with our stock price. We have weathered a long storm of central bank-induced depression of market movement, and come out on top of the industry. Now that volatility has returned, we are making bank.
- Hone your trading skills among similarly-minded, passionate people who love financial markets

Cons – - Working hard sometimes means long hours. Best thing to do is to live close by, to eliminate unnecessary commuting time, giving you extra time at home with loved ones. 9, 10, 11 hour days if you have the energy for it
- All of the executives I've met are very professional and very good at their jobs. Most of them are great to talk to. However, not everyone is down to earth and willing to relate to you or talk with you on a personal level. I don't know why I'd expect directors at a financial institute to be "warm" people, but hey, can't hurt to wish for it.
- The office isn't very "nice"; no perks like espresso machine, catered lunches, wooden desks or anything like that. The place could do with some beautification. Take this with a grain of salt, as I have not been to the NYC or Dallas offices yet

Advice to Senior Management – - Continue to reward hard workers with additional responsibility
- I'm a happy guy by nature, and this is a fun job, but I think it would do well for middle and upper management to put more effort into keeping employees happy; turnover is "moderate", but could be "low" by jumping on the bandwagon of companies that give their workers more freedom and attention
- Have a sense of humor
- Overall, keep up the good work, and take us toward more profits in the future

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at FXCM full-time

Pros – Fast paced, continuous learning, great team members, challenging work, still feels like mom&pop although have seen some necessary changes. Understand that the culture might not work for everyone and you will ultimately need to decide if you fit the culture and not the other way around.

Cons – Better training, upper managment feedback, address motivation issues, lack of structure.

Advice to Senior Management – Okay to be firm and tough but need to balance with encouragement and positivity as well. Important to connect to employees as they are the voice of the company.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at FXCM as an intern for less than a year

Pros – Laid Back: My Boss was really laid really understood that I had school and worked with me every step of the way.
Location: Was really close to my house and could take DNT to get here
People: They are just regular people doing their work, pretty laid back and fun

Cons – Pay: 10$ for an intern who is in college is not enough
People: They don't really welcome the intern and interns just do they work and bounce
Work: Too redundant and busy work

Advice to Senior Management – Build an Internship Program and then hire interns who want to work in operations or any department that you hire in.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at FXCM full-time for less than a year

Pros – -Team members are friendly enough
-They offer the opportunity for people with little to no experience to get their foot in the door of the financial industry

Cons – -There is no opportunity for growth
-Productivity matrix puts extreme pressure on employees and causes them to make mistakes... then the errors are reported and used against the employees
-Management can't be bothered to even talk to the employees, much less guide them
-Salaries are much lower than the industry standard and bonuses are held over employees' heads
-Quarterly performance reviews for associates that include review of errors and anonymous peer feedback

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at FXCM full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – - It's a good resume builder. But as soon as you have 2 years in, RUN!

Cons – - Favoritism/Nepotism exists at such a high degree that it is an impediment to those who actually try to give input and constructive criticism as to how to improve the product.

- Speaking of Nepotism, you'll find that almost everyone at higher positions are either friends or relatives with the partners.

- Sometimes, the partners actually bring their kids to work! Not that bringing kids to work is a problem but their kids actually run around the desks and near the other employees, becoming a distraction. Kind of funny that we're supposed to maintain a professional environment but I guess company policy does not apply to the partners.

- The company does not realize that what they have of value is the employees. It is the employees, disillusioned as they may be, that make FXCM. How are they treated? With very low salaries.

- Don't even think about asking for a raise because you probably won't get one. Not unless you threaten to quit, which should never have to be the case in the first place.

- Interns get paid $10 an hour and will keep you an intern for as long as you don't bring up the topic of going full time. Start ruffling some feathers about going full time and you're met with a lot of resistance. And most of the time, they won't give you the full time position unless someone else from your team quits. Management are notoriously cheap.

- The company's iPO might be doing well but I want you to understand that in order for the company to create some type of "profit" to appease the investors, they have to maintain this illusion by keeping salaries very low and cutting out things such as holiday parties and outings. Things that keep morale high.

- After Hurricane Sandy, FXCM decided to not have a holiday party citing "costs" brought upon by the hurricane. Funny thing is that they received federal aid through FEMA. So of course the excuse that FXCM gave was bull. It is just another plot devised by FXCM to not spend any money on its employees.

- MICROMANAGEMENT is really bad here. Everyone and their dogs like to make decisions that honestly, should not be made by them because they lack the expertise. But because they are managers, they think they know what's best. I'm not going to make a decision about something that I have no knowledge of. Trust the experts in their fields!

- Lack of communication throughout all parties. Not everyone is on the same page because management likes to exclude people from what's going on with projects. This makes it very hard to know what initiative we're undertaking as a whole department.

- Brown nosing. If you want to make it to the top, then you will have to suck up. It is unfortunate because there are many talented individuals at FXCM who don't reach the top by their own merit which is how it should be. Rather, you get to the top by how much butt kissing you do. Gloss your lips and pucker them up!

- Company morale is extremely low. If you were to walk in into our offices, it's like a sea of zombies. People just trying to get by and do what is asked of them rather than having the enthusiasm to make a difference. Blame it on the employees? No. Blame it on management. Management have their heads so far up their asses, they cannot see things for what they really are.

- FXCM actually tells people to write dishonest great reviews on this website. Can you believe that? Management is actually aware of all the negative reviews here and rather than take the negatives and improve on them, they tell employees to essentially bull on here. If that doesn't discourage you from working here, I don't know what will.

- Employees are becoming more aware of how bad the situation is at FXCM and are leaving at an astonishing high rate. The turn over is really high. Departments are smaller than what they used to be about 3 years ago. Of course, this is great for the partners who have to spend less on salaries. But the work load gets heaved by the employees who are still here. They work more but still get paid the same amount.

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to your employees and have some respect for them! Stop taking advantage of them because they're the ones who are making you rich. Karma will come to bite you.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at FXCM full-time

Pros – -Good place to start, you can gain valuable experience
-Starting pay is competitive

Cons – -low raises
-bonuses have shrunk since they went public
-high turnover
-everyone is dispensable

Advice to Senior Management – Take value in your current workforce, 50% of your entire staff has changed in the last 6 months which has hurt your customer service and overall company atmosphere.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company