OBR Invest: Review and Guide to Getting Started

Founded in 2012, OBR Invest has been around long enough to demonstrate some stability and longevity in a crowded marketplace. What it hasn’t managed to do is stand out from the crowd.

OBR Invest seems to be a very basic platform with very little to distinguish themselves from any other broker out there. It’s hard to see what’s special about it, and indeed it seems to be deficient in a few key areas. 

They haven’t even seemed to impress their own industry. We’ve found no evidence that they’ve won any awards in all the time they’ve been in business. 

They don’t even do their own research. They outsource it to other providers. 

Nevertheless, to its credit it has a very strong reputation for being an honest, convenient broker with few glitches or problems. It has a proven track record for reliability, which is not something you’ll find with all brokerage platforms. Nevertheless, we’re not sure that reputation on its own is enough, especially when there are other, similar platforms out there with the same sort of strong reputation and track record for reliability. It’s not the worst platform out there by a long shot, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t spend some time contemplating other options. 

Here’s our thorough analysis of this platform, and why you might want to choose one of the many alternatives. 

Account Types Offered

OBR Invest offers four account types. There’s very little difference between the types of accounts other than the spreads and the number of times you can make a free withdrawal on your account.

The Basic account requires a minimum deposit of €250. They have the most expensive spreads, starting as high as 3.6 pips for certain pairs. 

The next account level is a major jump at €25,000. Spreads drop as low as 2.9 pips at this account level, though they can still rise as high as 3.3 pips. 

There are also two professional account types, the Platinum at €100,000 and the VIP at €250,000. The VIP gets spreads as low as 1.8 pips, making them the most competitive, but of course most retail traders won’t get anywhere near those benefits.  Professional accounts allow leverages of up to 1:500. 

Some users do report that opening their accounts was a relatively straightforward, hassle-free process. 

Trade Types Offered

The offerings at OBR Invest are relatively standard. 

OBR Invest allows traders to trade CFDs on major corporations like Apple, Tesla, Netflix, Facebook, and more. You can also trade on commodities like gold, silver, oil, and coffee. Indices are another option, and you can trade on a wide variety, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the DAX 30, the NASDAQ 100, the S&P 500, and more.

You can also trade on popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Polkadot, and Tether. This is a wider variety of cryptocurrencies than many online brokers offer, so might provide a little excitement to crypto enthusiasts. You invest by trading against crypto/currency pairs, such as BTC/USD, and do so using CFD products.

Though they don’t exactly advertise it on their website, a tour of their trading tap does show that they also allow investors to work with popular Forex pairs like EUR/USD and USD/GBP. 

Trading Platforms & Tools

Like most of its competitors, OBR Invest uses MetaTrader 4, including WebTrader. You can also take advantage of the mobile trading platform. As with most MetaTrader4 brokers you’ll be able to get access to a wealth of analysis tools and economic insight tools. You’ll gain access to strategy newsletters and the AI newsdesk known as TC Market Buzz. Again, these features are relatively standard for online brokers. 

You’ll also gain access to Trading Central and TipRanks. OBR Invest also keeps a running ticker showing the price movements of almost every instrument they’re dealing with running across their website on a 24/7 basis. 

It does not look like you’ll gain access to any additional tools or features that aren’t already included with the MT4 trading platform. Nevertheless, MT4 remains a user-friendly choice regardless of the broker that’s offering it, and users should have little trouble engaging with OBR Invest as a result. 

Customer Support

Like most of OBR Invest’s features, customer support doesn’t stand out as anything special. You can access it via the website, it’s available in 7 languages.

The phone number is +3472526 2740 and you can email them at info@obrinvest.com. 

Deposits & Withdrawals

OBR Invest allows retail traders to deposit or withdraw funds with credit cards, e-wallets, or bank wire transfers. To make a bank transfer there’s a minimum withdrawal amount of £80. There’s also a £30 withdrawal fee for bank wires. If you’re withdrawing to a debit card or credit card you can expect a 3.5% withdrawal fee. 

Available eWallets include Neteller, Przelewy24, RapidTransfer, Skrill, Sofort, OB, eps, Euteller, Giropay, iDeal, and MyBank. 

Withdrawal fees depend on the account type you’re holding. Premium account holders enjoy free withdrawals. Basic account holders may only make one free withdrawal per month. Make sure you take this into account when deciding how often to withdraw profits.

OBR Invest processes withdrawal requests within 24 hours, but it may take more time for it to get to you depending on what payment method you choose. 

Spreads, Commissions, & Fees

The spreads at OBR Invest aren’t particularly competitive. Basic account holders have to contend with pretty wide spreads that can start at 3.6 pips for certain Forex pairs, and may go even higher. Spreads don’t tend to go lower than 0.7. 

OBR Invest doesn’t charge commissions, at least, which can help traders manage their profits. 

If your account falls to inactive status you’ll be charged 80 EUR every month until you start trading again. Accounts fall inactive if you go for 30 days without making any trades. Be sure to keep that in mind when planning your trading approach and deciding whether or not OBR Invest is the right broker for you.

Regulation

OBR Invest is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission with license number 217/13. 

While CySEC is getting stricter than it used to be, it’s still not a particularly tough regulatory environment. This can pose a danger to investors when a dispute arises. For example, the Cyprus Investor Compensation Fund only protects client deposits up to €20,000. 

While the ICF might offer sufficient protection for some small traders, this is not exactly going to be an impressive amount for traders who may be coming in with capital that exceeds that figure.

Reputation

Despite its seeming lack in the way of features, website organization, or competitive spreads, it seems like on the whole customers rather like OBR Invest. It’s got a Trustpilot score of 4.0 across 147 reviews, with 63% of those reviews sitting at excellent. 

Many of those who like the platform say that the broker is extremely honest. 

“For me, the main thing is the broker’s honesty. I want fair and fast execution of orders and the same withdrawal of funds. OBR Invest broker has it all. I’ve been trading here for a month and I like everything.” -Isaac Bell

Here’s another example.

“I started trading on my MT4 OBR Invest real account last year. During the trading period there were no cases of account blocking or large slippage. I knew that OBR Invest is an honest broker, and that is why I trade here.” -Michael Starnes

Quite a few of their customers report making profits on the platform. In addition, many of the negative reviews do seem to be from fake reviewers. This is a competitive space and negative reviews are pretty common. In addition, OBR Invest is answering all their reviews, both positive and negative, and does seem to be making an effort to resolve customer issues. We take this as a good sign. 

In addition, we could not find any negative press about OBR Invest. There was nothing to indicate it’s ever run afoul of the laws or given a massive number of customers cause to complain. This, too, was an excellent sign.

Accepted Countries

OBR invest only offers services within the European Economic Area, and Switzerland. It’s not available in Belgium. It is definitely not available in the United States. 

Alternatives

OBR Invest looks remarkably similar to FXTM in almost every way, to the point we started to wonder if there was a relationship between the two. Some of their web pages look identical. Yet the FXTM website remains easier to navigate, and offers a lot more information about their terms, conditions, and trading instruments. 

Compare Forex.com for a highly comprehensive, USA-regulated platform that offers hundreds of trading instruments and an incredible array of tools.

Compare AvaTrade and AXI for brokerages which offer even more comprehensive educational resources for beginning traders. 

Compare eToro for a platform that specializes in crypto and which offers even more cryptocurrency options than OBR Invest does. 

Bonuses & Promos

Per CySEC regulations, OBR Invest is unable to offer any bonuses or promotions of any kind. 

FAQs

Is OBR Invest a safe, legitimate trading platform?

OBR Invest has been around long enough that we’re not worried they’re going to disappear into the night. They’re regulated by CySEC, and while we like to see tougher regulation before we start wholeheartedly recommending platforms, there is, nevertheless, recourse for investors who feel they’ve been treated unfairly.

They also put all the proper warnings on their website, such as noting that the vast majority of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. We appreciate that transparency.

In addition, they’ve secured all their transactions with 128-bit SSL encryption certificates to make sure that all customer information is safe. 

In short, yes, it’s a reasonably safe, legitimate platform. In fact, its customers tend to tout it as one of the most honest platforms out there. It suffers from few complaints in an industry that is rife with them. They have to be given credit for that: they make their customers happy. As long as the company doesn’t undergo any major changes in the near future you can expect to have a smooth, seamless trading experience with them. That doesn’t mean you won’t lose money if you don’t know what you’re doing, but it does mean they’ll play by the rules. 

What is OBR Invest’s minimum deposit? 

You can get started with OBR for €250, though that will only give you access to their  most basic account. At its heart, OBR Invest is really meant for traders with large stashes of capital at their disposal. 

Is OBR Invest good for beginners?

It is not the best platform for beginners. The website isn’t the most navigable we’ve ever seen, and does not thoroughly explain all of its trading instruments or its platform. That alone makes it a “no go” for those who are not experienced traders. For example, third party sites report that OBR Invest has a demo account, but we couldn’t find it on the website. 

We say this in spite of the fact that OBR Invest does offer some free educational resources. There’s a decent eBook library, for example. There are also a few web pages devoted to trading basics, such as this one on Fundamental and Technical Analysis. You can also start a demo account which will give you €100,000 to play with, allowing you to learn the MT4 system and test strategies as you research them. 

We also note that OBR Invest does a good job of explaining each product and the risks associated with it on each of its trading instrument pages. For example, on the indices page they explain exactly what impacts an index’s price, and give novice traders some insights into why they might want to trade on this asset.

“Clear patterns often emerge on the charts when trading on indices. Another benefit of the diversification of an index is it makes them one of the least likely asset classes to suffer from manipulation. There are simply too many assets included in the index for anyone to manipulate the price.” 

Nevertheless, we’d like to see a lot more explanation and support on the front end before we would recommend this service to a new trader. 

In addition, we weren’t thrilled by the account types on offer. As mentioned, €250 to €25,000 is an awfully big jump. Requiring that big of a capital investment before offering any spread breaks or additional features makes OBR Invest seem even less beginner-friendly, as most beginners tend to start with a small amount of capital and then work their way up over time. 

What leverage does OBR Invest offer?

OBR Invest offers leverage up to 1:400. Be careful when using leverage, as it represents a higher degree of risk. You could win big, but you could also end up owing OBR Invest a considerable sum of money. 

Even OBR Invest admits that leverage can be dangerous. For example, on its cryptocurrency CFD page, it says: “There is also leverage involved in CFD trading to consider. With an asset that’s already as volatile as cryptocurrencies, adding leverage can be like pouring gasoline on a fire. Great if it’s in your favor, but disastrous if it goes against you.” 

Who owns OBR Invest? 

OBR Investments Ltd. owns OBR invest. They aren’t offering a lot of information about their leadership team, which makes it difficult to evaluate the professional experience and track record of these individuals.

That’s not something we like to see in the brokers we review either, and makes us even less inclined to recommend the platform as a strong choice.

Is OBR Invest a market maker?

There’s not a lot of information out there about whether OBR Invest is a market maker or not, but we’d guess that they are simply by the way they’re set up. They’re always standing at the ready to buy or sell stocks and they profit off of your losses. Market makers speed up trades and allow for online brokerages such as this one to exist at all, so this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It doesn’t mean, for example, that OBR Invest would be actively working against you at any point, or sabotaging your trades. 

Is OBR Invest right for me?

OBR Invest is an adequate platform for the needs of mid-level to experienced traders. Its people seem to be honest and customer service seems strong. For some traders this might well be more than enough: hidden assets that you can’t find with every company and which more than make up for the spartan website, the lack of features, the lack of in-house research, and the middling customer education offerings.

That said, there are other honest brokers out there who offer a lot more than OBR Invest, and which are regulated by stronger forces than CySEC, including the US based Forex.com. OBR Invest has a long way to go before we could wholeheartedly recommend it to our readers.