If you’re new to trading online, it won’t be long before you come across Greg Secker, his Learn to Trade course and SmartCharts. One of the most highly visible names in forex trading education, Greg Secker has both fans and detractors in trading circles.

But who is Greg Secker, and is his Learn to Trade course worthwhile for those new to the world of forex trading? Is SmartCharts a useful tool, or is the whole thing a scam that you’re best to avoid? Let’s look in more detail at what’s going on, and both the promises and pitfalls of embarking on the Learn to Trade journey with Greg Secker.

Who Is Greg Secker?

Greg Secker Learn to TradeGreg Secker is a British entrepreneur and financial trader, with a background in the city. With a career that started at Thomas Cook Financial Services, Secker worked full-time as a forex trader before establishing his trading education company, Learn to Trade, in 2003. Some 20-plus years later, Learn To Trade is amongst the most recognisable brands in forex trading education online, with adverts for the course heavily advertised to those showing an interest in forex trading online.

Due to his trading success, Secker is said to have retired from financial markets at 27 years old, when he was serving as vice president at Mellon Financial Corporation. Since then, his Learn to Trade programme has hosted countless free seminars, with claims of over 500,000 students opting in to learn the ropes of financial markets from Secker and his team. It’s hard to say how much exactly he earned from his trading education company but he’s net worth is estimated to be between £2m and £5m.

What is Learn to Trade?

Learn to Trade is Greg Secker’s flagship training programme, which offers seminars and education on the fundamentals of successful forex trading. The programme is advertised as offering free seminars for those new to the trading world, where further training and courses are offered as an upsell to those who want to develop their trading education further.

The Learn to Trade programme has been helping traders since 2003, providing a beginner’s introduction to the world of trading, while also promising all the strategies and techniques needed to succeed in the often perilous world of forex trading.

Training costs can be substantial, often running into the tens of thousands of dollars and more. Much of the criticism surrounding the Learn to Trade relates to the value of paying for this enhanced training, which detractors argue doesn’t represent good value for money.

Learn to Trade is heavily advertised and promoted across social media, with open invitations to attend free seminars as an introduction to the training available. Upsells pitch workshops, training events and online programmes at varying price points.

What is SmartCharts?

At the heart of the Learn to Trade offering is SmartCharts, a proprietary trading software designed to streamline the decision-making process for traders dealing in financial markets.

With its own eLearning platform built into the tool, SmartCharts scans the markets to actively identify trading opportunities you can use to influence your trading decisions. SmartCharts runs in accordance with the predetermined strategy, and pings alerts when trading opportunities have been identified.

Its technical analysis tools allow for better insights into trading opportunities, while the user-friendly interface makes it simple to operate, even for beginners. Real-time market data allows for up-to-the-second decisions, while the suite of risk management tools helps control your downside liability.

There are two service levels for SmartCharts – a free tier, and a subscription available on monthly and yearly payment plans. SmartCharts also attracts more than its fair share of criticism from previous users, so the same rules apply. Buyer beware, and always make sure you do your research before committing to a monthly or yearly subscription.

Is Learn to Trade Legit? What Do People Say?

With Greg Secker’s profile, and the sheer number of students to have come through the Learn to Trade programme, it’s clear that Learn to Trade is something of a big deal in the trading world. For better or worse, hundreds of thousands of students have opted to pay Greg Secker and his company good money to learn how to trade forex markets effectively.

There is no doubt that Learn to Trade provides trading education to many new entrants to the market. However, it’s important to note that many people who have been through the programme, as well as some industry experts and professional traders criticise the programme and the information it delivers.

While Learn to Trade is not without its serious controversy, there is no doubt some traders will have found the information useful. Ultimately, it’s a decision for you, and whether it’s worth paying the often substantial costs involved for what industry insiders describe as publicly available trading information.

Some quotes about Greg Secker and Learn to Trade:

Here’s what people have to say about the program on forex forums:

“Not technically a scam, they only sell overpriced information that can be found online for free. Similar to MLM different product lang” – Source

“He’s a snake oil sales man. Not a real trader. Makes money from selling “educational courses” or seminars at extortionate prices. I’m a professional fx trader myself here’s my two cents.” – Source

“99.9% he sells dreams but never publishes audited financial results. In addition, I do asset price discovery as a job and can tell you that his day trading courses won’t work. Also, he runs a pyramid scheme.” – Source

“One word. RUN! Greg Secker Learn to Trade and his cronies such as Gurdas Singh Sidhu are just scammers. Never made a penny trading in their lives. Very poor training/educational experience; basically just want you to subscribe to their expensive software and use their brokerage firm Capital UK where they make commissions on every single trade you make.” – Source

Finally, you should read this post if you’re seriously considering Learn to Trade.

We would always recommend doing your own research before signing up for Learn to Trade. Read as much as you can, especially from forex forums, Reddit and other sources where ordinary people are sharing their thoughts and comments, before committing.

You should also bear in mind that positive comments are easily bought – try to weigh the information you’re reading for accuracy on both sides, so you can make an informed decision about whether Learn to Trade is right for you.

Pros and Cons of Learn to Trade and SmartCharts

Pros

  • Educational programmes: Learn to Trade provides what is claims to be a comprehensive education in trading across a number of training products. Dealing with the full gamut of basics to more advanced strategies. Perceived value from the training varies.

  • Over 500,000 students trained: Learn to Trade is without a doubt one of the largest and most successful training programmes for forex traders, with over 500,000 students having gone through Learn to Trade courses.

  • SmartCharts software: Learn to Trade is tied to the proprietary SmartCharts software, a user-friendly tool that scans and analyses financial markets to find opportunities for trading. However, some users have flagged that the software lacks sophistication and depth.

  • Founder involvement: Greg Secker remains involved in the programme he founded, bringing his profile and considerable personal experience and expertise to the brand. Secker’s involvement definitely lends credibility to the training, with his career in the city and apparent personal success in trading markets.

  • Positive feedback from some users: While Learn to Trade does have its critics, there are some reports online of traders who have been satisfied with the training they have received, including claims of some former students who have gone on to succeed in trading forex markets.

Cons

  • Very high training costs: The costs of Learn to Trade courses is astronomical – to the extent that you need to already have some wealth available to pay for the courses. Some of the training is sold for $90,000 and more, which very few new traders will actually be able to afford.

  • Criticisms of SmartCharts: SmartCharts is reported to be a somewhat unsophisticated tool, with a number of users expressing their disappointment at the features and functionality of the software. On balance, SmartCharts is not very highly rated in reviews, indicating a general dissatisfaction with the software and its ability to live up to its claimed features.

  • Unmet expectations: Time and time again, previous customers of Learn to Trade cite their unmet expectations as one of the main reasons for their dissatisfaction. Critics say Learn to Trade talks the talk more than it walks the walk, failing to live up to the marketing hype in terms of the value it actually delivers.

  • Questionable value for money: Common criticisms of the programme suggest that the majority of the information shared in Learn to Trade is publicly available, and can be learned online for free. At the same time, the training products offered by Learn to Trade are very expensive, leading customers to question whether this is good value for money.

  • Lack of risk management training: There seems to be a limited focus on risk management throughout the Learn to Trade programme, despite this being amongst the most significant differential skills of successful forex traders. While the programmes focus heavily on finding trading opportunities, there is limited discussion on managing the downside risks.

Learn to Trade and SmartCharts FAQs

Learn to Trade is probably not a scam. The training programmes offered are legitimate, and its paying customers do receive some degree of education on financial training and forex markets. However, there is some significant concern about the quality of training provided, the price of training products offered, and whether this is a good value for money proposition for traders.

SmartCharts is a legit software product, aimed at simplifying the decision-making process for forex traders by scanning markets and identifying opportunities. However, there are some concerns about the sophistication and depth of the platform, and whether this is a sensible investment for experienced traders.

It’s ultimately up to you to decide if Learn to Trade is good value for money. A large number of users online suggest that it is not value for money, particularly given the astronomical cost of some of the training programmes. It is worth noting that Learn to Trade does provide trading information some traders will find useful – just at an incredibly hard price that many traders will find hard to justify.

It is entirely your decision whether to sign up for Learn to Trade. We recommend reading as much as possible before committing to Learn to Trade, or any other trading education programme. There are a lot of negative reviews and adverse feedback around Learn to Trade and its value for money proposition, so it’s important to consider this information before you open your cheque book.

The Learn to Trade guy is Greg Secker, a British businessman and former forex trader who made his name trading in the city. A former vice president at Mellon Financial Corporation, Secker set up the Learn to Trade trading education programme back in 2003.