Vantage Leverage: 1:100 to 1:2000 and the Premium Unlimited Tier

Vantage's Help Centre states that all account types offer leverage options from 1:100 to 1:2000. A separate Premium Unlimited account is eligible for leverage of up to 1:2,000,000,000 on forex and gold while the account is small. Some products have fixed leverage that your account setting doesn't change.

These figures belong to the international entities. Vantage's own notice to UK visitors says the international site isn't subject to FCA leverage restrictions, and clients of its Australian and UK companies trade under the tighter limits those regulators set.

What leverage does to margin

Leverage decides how much of your money is set aside as margin for a trade. Vantage's own example is that 1:500 lets a $1,000 deposit control exposure of up to $500,000. The other way to read it: a $100,000 position needs $200 of margin at 1:500.

Margin falls as leverage rises. The risk of the position doesn't. One lot of EUR/USD gains or loses about $10 per pip at 1:100 and at 1:2000 alike. High leverage is dangerous for a different reason: it allows a small account to open a position far too big for it.

Why 1:2000 can empty an account in minutes

Consider a $100 account at 1:2000. The margin for one standard lot is about $50, so the platform will accept the order. Each pip is worth $10. Stop out arrives when equity falls to 20% of the margin, which is $10. That happens after a loss of $90, or nine pips.

Nine pips is ordinary noise on EUR/USD. The first row is not a trade; it is a coin toss with your whole balance. Row three is the same account and the same leverage, traded at a size that could survive a bad week. Position size made the difference in every case.

Premium Unlimited, explained

Premium Unlimited is a separate account type with dynamic leverage tied to equity. Vantage's Help Centre gives four bands.

The account has a 30% margin call level and a 0% stop out level, plus a 20% discount on swap rates. Leverage is cut temporarily around major news, in the three hours before the Friday close and for 30 minutes after the Monday open on gold, silver, oil, forex and the main US indices. Only positions opened during those windows are affected. Eligibility conditions apply to new accounts.

A 0% stop out means the system doesn't close your trades until equity is gone. Combined with near-infinite leverage, the account lets a few dollars control a very large position, and a small move wipes it out. Vantage states that clients are not liable for negative balances on eligible accounts, which caps the loss at your deposit. It doesn't make the product suitable for learners.

When Vantage changes your leverage

Leverage isn't always what you set. The Help Centre lists four reasons it can be adjusted automatically: account risk management based on your activity or equity, regulatory requirements, product or market conditions, and a change in your account type or status.

It adds that an account at 1:2000 can be moved to 1:1000 or 1:500 if the conditions attached to that level in the client portal aren't met. A drop in leverage raises the margin required on open positions immediately. An account running close to its limits can be pushed into a margin call by the change alone.

How to change your leverage

1. Fund the account; the option appears once it has a balance.
2. In the client portal, open Account, then Live account.
3. Click the gear icon beside the trading account.
4. Select Change leverage and choose a level.
5. Save. In the app, the same setting is under Trades, then Trade settings.

If the option is greyed out, you may already have a change request under review. Vantage disables the feature until that request is processed. Demo account leverage is adjusted separately in the demo section of the portal.

How to choose a level

• Decide what you will risk per trade, for example 1% of the balance.
• Place the stop where the trade idea is wrong and measure the distance in pips.
• Calculate the lot size that loses 1% at that stop.
• Check that the margin for that size is a small part of your equity.
• Select the lowest leverage that still allows the position.

Followed in that order, most retail trades fit comfortably at 1:100. A $500 account risking 1% with a 25-pip stop trades 0.02 lots, which needs about $20 of margin at 1:100. Higher leverage would free up margin you have no good use for.

Bonus credit interacts with leverage as well. Credit raises your equity for margin purposes, so it enlarges what the platform will let you open. Our Vantage bonus guide explains why that is a risk, and the stop out guide shows what happens at 50% and 20%.

Fixed-leverage products deserve a mention. Vantage says certain instruments carry leverage that your account setting doesn't alter. Shares, some indices and other CFDs can need far more margin than a currency pair of the same value. Check the margin requirement in the symbol's specification before you assume your forex setting applies.

Frequently asked

Related reading

• Vantage stop out
• Vantage account types
• Vantage bonus
• Vantage regulation
• Our full Vantage review