Editorial Team · KolaTrading.com

Meet the KolaTrading
Editorial Team

Every review, comparison and guide on KolaTrading is written by an analyst who has personally tested the product with real money. No broker-supplied data. No paid placements. Just independent analysis from people who actually trade.

✓ Real funded account testing ✓ ASIC regulated brokers only ✓ No paid rankings ✓ Updated May 2026
James Whitfield
James Whitfield
Senior Forex & CFD Analyst
📍 Sydney, NSW

11 years in Australian financial markets. Leads all forex and CFD broker reviews. Tests every broker with a real A$500 funded account.

Forex CFDs ASIC Regulation Broker Testing
11+
Yrs experience
30+
Brokers tested
500+
Articles
Sarah Thornton
Sarah Thornton
Share Markets & ETF Analyst
📍 Melbourne, VIC

9 years covering Australian equities, ETFs and share platforms. Former wealth management research associate. Expert in franking credits and CGT.

ASX Shares ETFs Dividends CHESS
9+
Yrs experience
15+
Platforms tested
300+
Articles
Marcus Reid
Marcus Reid
Crypto & Digital Assets Researcher
📍 Brisbane, QLD

7 years in Australian crypto markets. Tracks AUSTRAC regulation since 2018. Personally tested 15+ exchanges on security, fees and AUD support.

Crypto AUSTRAC ATO Tax Wallet Security
7+
Yrs experience
15+
Exchanges tested
100+
Coins researched
🔬 How Our Team Tests Brokers & Platforms

All KolaTrading reviews are based on real funded account testing — not demo accounts, not broker-supplied data.

💰
Real A$500 Deposit

We deposit real money at every broker we review. No exceptions. Spread and execution data comes only from live accounts.

📊
30-Day Spread Recording

EUR/USD, AUD/USD and GBP/USD spreads recorded across London, NY and Asian sessions over 30 days.

Execution Speed Testing

50 market orders placed per broker from Sydney, AEST. Fill time recorded and averaged per broker.

🏦
Real Withdrawal Test

AUD bank transfer requested at every broker. Business days to clear recorded — not what the broker claims.

💬
Support Response Testing

Live chat contacted at business hours and late AEST. Response time and answer quality assessed.

🏛
ASIC Licence Verification

Every broker’s AFS licence verified on ASIC Connect before appearing on KolaTrading. Re-verified quarterly.

📋 Our Editorial Principles
Independence from advertising

Brokers cannot pay for higher rankings, better scores or featured placement. Our rankings are determined solely by testing results.

ASIC-regulated brokers only

We only review brokers holding a valid Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence, verified on the ASIC Connect register before publishing.

Transparent data sourcing

All spread data includes the testing period, account type and session window. We never use broker-provided spread data as the basis for our comparisons.

Full advertiser disclosure

KolaTrading may receive affiliate commissions when readers open accounts through our links. This is disclosed on every page. How we make money →

Regular updates

We review and update all ratings monthly. The “Updated” date on every page reflects when the data was last verified.

Advertiser Disclosure: KolaTrading may receive affiliate commissions from brokers and platforms linked on this site. This does not influence our editorial content, rankings or review scores. All broker data is sourced from independent live-account testing. How we make money →  |  Full disclaimer →