Is MT4 used by big instituitons like Hedge Funds?

[[Deleted]]

Is MT4 used by big instituitons like Hedge Funds?

[Илья]

No, I think it's not so. I know definitely, that Intarbank trading contragents use own platforms with special functions and security parametrs. With big money it's important. Probably with hedge funds "history" is the same.

[JC]

sayfuji:
No, I think it's not so.

The lack of other responses to this post pretty much confirms this.

MT4 is a fantastic piece of kit for running automated trading systems, but there's any number of factors which make it unsuitable for institutional use. A small, personal selection goes as follows:

• The backtesting is weak, in a number of ways. Once you ask a question such as "Where's the Sharpe ratio?", all sorts of things about the backtesting start to unravel.
  
• Most, if not all, MT4 brokers pose an unacceptable level of counterparty risk, particularly in the current paranoid climate.
  
• Spreads and/or liquidity aren't optimal.
• Order placement is too slow.
  
• Or, putting the broker issues another way, you can't use MetaTrader to trade through the mainstream prime brokerage houses.

[Larry]

Then the question becomes, why do we bother using it for ourselves if it is not good enough for the masses? What are the alternatives? The only other trading system I am aware of is Trade Station, I tink it is called.

[JC]

LEHayes:
Then the question becomes, why do we bother using it for ourselves if it is not good enough for the masses?

Er, because you and I don't have the $100,000,000+ under management which lets you negotiate institutional services and rates?

I perhaps came across as unintentionally negative in my previous post, so I'll try to address that:

• MT4 is a fantastic piece of kit for running automated trading systems.
  
• It's free.
  
• It's very, very stable.
  
• The spreads offered by most brokers on e.g. EURUSD compare perfectly well with things like the spread on the equivalent futures contract plus normal retail commission.