Worked example
Practising on HYCM's numbers
This is an exercise sheet, not a review. We are going to take three things that HYCM publishes — a spread, a ladder of account types and a list of licences — and turn each of them into something you can do arithmetic with. By the end you should be able to repeat the whole exercise on any firm you come across, which is the actual skill being taught.
The figures we are working from
Nothing below is our estimate. Where a firm has not published something, or we could not read it on a source we trust, the box says so instead of guessing — a habit worth copying when you build your own broker notes.
Exercise one — turn the spread into money
HYCM does not publish a EUR/USD spread we were able to verify, so there is no honest arithmetic to do on this page. Do not substitute a number you read on a comparison site: an unverified spread quietly becomes an unverified cost, and then an unverified plan. Use one of the other examples on the practice index for this exercise and come back to this file for the account ladder below.
Exercise two — read the account ladder
Account tiers are a pricing structure dressed as a status ladder. HYCM offers 1 rung. Read them as a question — what does each rung ask of me, and what does it give back? — rather than as a set of prizes to climb towards.
- RawThe entry rung. Whatever the published spread applies to, it is almost always this one — so this is the rung your arithmetic above describes.
Account names as published: Raw. Platforms listed: HYCM Trader, MT4, MT5, Web Trader.
Exercise three — what this licence list means for you
A long licence list is not automatically a good sign. What matters to a beginner is a narrower question: which entity would hold my money, and who supervises that entity? Those are often not the same as the impressive name at the top of the list. Here are HYCM's lines, each with a plain reading.
| Regulator | Entity on the register | Number | What that means for a beginner |
|---|---|---|---|
| FCA · United Kingdom | HYCM Capital Markets (UK) Limited | 186171 | a top-tier regulator: compensation scheme, capital rules and a public register you can search yourself |
| DFSA · United Arab Emirates (DIFC) | HYCM Capital Markets (DIFC) Limited | F000048 | a mid-tier regulator: real supervision and a register, usually with a smaller or capped compensation scheme |
1 of these line is top-tier — held by HYCM Capital Markets (UK) Limited. If you are onboarded to a different entity than those, the protections attached to the top-tier line are not yours, however prominently the regulator's initials appear in the marketing.
The record behind these numbers
- HYCM's licence page states the group has regulated entities in the UK and the UAE only.
- HYCM Capital Markets (UK) Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 186171.
- HYCM Capital Markets (DIFC) Limited is authorised by the Dubai Financial Services Authority under licence F000048.
- HYCM is the trading brand of the Henyep Group and its site refers to more than 40 years of cumulative group experience.
- The HYCM website lists negative balance protection among its stated client-protection features.
What we could not verify
The following are unconfirmed and are deliberately left blank rather than estimated: founding year; headquarters; minimum deposit; maximum leverage; EUR/USD spread; full account type list; segregated funds; status of former CySEC entity HYCM (Europe) Ltd. Confidence in this file overall: high. When you build your own notes on a firm, keep a list like this one — the gaps are more useful than the figures, because they tell you what to go and check.
Run the same exercise on another firm
PipMentor does not rank brokers, does not award badges and does not tell you where to open an account. This page exists so the arithmetic you learn in the curriculum has real numbers to bite on.