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Saxo Markets Review: What Makes This Online Brokerage Stand Out?

An excellent, low-cost platform that offers great market access

Saxo Markets Review: What Makes This Online Brokerage Stand Out?

An excellent, low-cost platform that offers great market access

4.8/5.0

ValueChampion Rating ValueChampion Icon

Pros

  • Low-fee brokerage with great user interface
  • Access to international markets
  • Fees for higher-tier monthly plans can be waived with points
  • Earn up to 4.56%* interest on uninvested cash without any lock-in period. Rates are provided on per-annum basis. See website for details
  • Earn cash rebates on your FX and CFD trades above threshold on specified plans

Cons

  • Interest on cash balances is available for all account plans except for the Bronze account plan

Saxo Markets provides individual investors and traders with an excellent platform for investing in a variety of markets at a relatively low cost. This online broker charges commissions that are generally much lower than its competitors and offers a great user experience due to its intuitive interface.

Summary of Saxo Markets' Online Brokerage
Lower commission fees than most online brokers
Great market access: trading in 60 exchanges worldwide
New account plans that give users a bundle of rewards in exchange for a monthly fee that can be waived with trading activities
Offers lower FX spreads than many competitors and monthly cash rebates for FX and CFD trades

Table of Contents

What Makes Saxo Stand Out to Investors

Saxo Markets (formerly Saxo Capital Markets) offers investors an excellent combination of low fees, wide ranging market access and intuitive user experience. For example, the platform charges just 0.08% for trades of Singapore stocks (min S$5), while others typically charge about 0.22%. Similarly, Saxo charges less than the market average for international trades, while offering access to 60 exchanges worldwide. Not only that, Saxo doesn't charge a monthly minimum commission unlike some other low cost offerings in the market like Interactive Brokers, making it effective for long term investors and even for frequent traders who invest S$100,000 or less.

Saxo markets trading platform screenshot
Saxo Markets Trading Platform (Desktop Application)

For new clients, Saxo Markets is offering up new account plans-Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond. The Bronze plan is free-of-charge while higher tier plans bundle up packages of benefits in exchange for a monthly fee.

Benefits include lower commission rates, no custody fees (if opted into Securities Lending), free commission credits and free live prices on SG, US and other exchanges. This is especially useful for customers who want to trade frequently at the international level, since not only is it relatively inexpensive for users to do so, but they also will have up-to-date information.

Active traders would benefit from the higher tier plans as they can earn Saxo points from conducting trade activity on their accounts and use it to waive off the monthly fee.


Market
BronzeSilverGoldPlatinumDiamondIndustry Average
Singapore0.08%0.06%0.05%0.04%0.03%0.22%
US0.06% (min USD 2.00)0.04% (min USD 1.50)0.03% (min USD 1.00)0.025% (min USD 0.50)0.02% (min USD 0.25)0.27%
Japan0.15%0.15%0.15%0.12%0.10%0.32%
HK0.15%0.15%0.15%0.12%0.10%0.21%
EU0.10%-0.30%0.10%-0.30%0.10%-0.30%0.07-0.25%0.05-0.20%0.31%
* Saxo min. SG: S$5; US:$3-$4; JPY1,000-1,500; HKD60-90; EUR6-12

Account Type
BronzeSilverGoldPlatinumDiamond
USD (Stock Options)USD 2USD 1USD 0.75USD 0.50USD 0.25
USD (Cash Index Options)USD 6USD 6USD 6USD 3USD 1.25
USD (Futures Options)USD 6USD 6USD 6USD 3USD 1.25
HKD (Stock Options)HKD 30HKD 30HKD 30HKD 20HKD 10
HKD (Cash Index & Futures Options)HKD 45HKD 45HKD 45HKD 30HKD 20
EUR (Stock Options)EUR 3EUR 3EUR 3EUR 2EUR 1
Note: All equities, bonds, futures and options commissions will be charged with the prevailing Goods and Services Tax (GST) of Singapore. This is applicable to SG residents only.

Account Type
Commission FeeMin. Fee
Bronze0.20%EUR 20
Silver0.15%EUR 15
Gold0.10%EUR 10
Platinum0.08%EUR 10
Diamond0.05%EUR 10
Available bonds include Euro, US, Emerging Markets and Corporate

Despite Saxo's low fees and wide ranging offerings, investors that are exclusively trading international or U.S. stocks may occasionally find better commission rates from one of the other leading online brokerages. However, these are very specific preferences, and Saxo's fees still tend to beat the market averages, which makes it the best option for most investors.


Market
BronzeSilverGoldPlatinumDiamond
US 301.81.81.81.61.4
US 5000.60.60.60.50.4
Japan 22510101086
HK 5077765
GER 402.02.02.01.51.0

Market
BronzeSilverGoldPlatinumDiamond
EUR USD0.70.70.70.60.5
USD JPY0.80.80.80.70.5
GBP USD0.80.80.80.60.5
AUD USD0.60.60.60.50.5
EUR JPY1.01.01.00.80.7
* figures based on min. advertised spreads

Investment Opportunities at Saxo

Not only does Saxo's online brokerage offer access to an extensive range domestic and international equities markets, the brokerage allows investors access to bonds, ETFs, CFDs, futures and forex, equity and contract options. This makes it a great option for investors and traders that may want to use their online brokerage to purchase a variety of financial instruments.

Those looking to know the price of trading up front will be pleased as well, since Saxo Markets does not charge any hidden fees (inactivity, platform, maintanence, etc.) that other major brokerages charge.

Earn Interest On Your Cash Balances

One great perk is that Saxo allows you to earn interest on your idle cash in your brokerage account for account plans above Bronze. You are able to earn up to 4.56%* p.a. on your uninvested cash above $5,000 depending on market conditions, your cash balances, account tier as well as currency. This is a much lower minimum cash balance threshold compared to some competitor online brokerages. For an estimate of how much interest you can earn, check out their interest calculator here.

Needless to say, the higher your account tier and the higher your cash balance, the higher percentage interest you can earn. There is no cap to the amount of cash you can earn interest on and there are no lock-in periods to qualify to earn interest. This means that not only will your idle cash be put to work while on the sidelines, you also have the flexibility to make trades whenever you see the opportunity, without having to worry about the interest you have earned being foreited.

*Rates are provided on per-annum basis. See website for details.

Saxo Markets Investor Eligibility Requirements

Consider this if you want to trade any securities while minimising trading costs

In order to start trading with Saxo, individuals are required to fill out a form online and fund their account with either their credit card or via bank transfer. Investors can join on one of the five available plans-Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond for lower commission rates, free market data, no custody fees (if opted into Securities Lending) and commission credits in exchange for higher monthly fee, which can be refunded back to the Saxo client as commission rebates.

In addition to account funding thresholds, investors can get Saxo points with the broker through the Saxo Rewards loyalty programme which can be used to waive the monthly payment for higher-tier plans. For more information about Saxo Rewards, please refer to the table below:

FundingVolumePoints
Initial net funding (first 30 days)EUR 10,0006,000
Initial security transfers (first 30 days)EUR 10,0006,000
Average monthly AuMEUR 10,000250
TradeVolumePoints
ForexEUR 10,00020
Crypto FXEUR 10,000240
Forex optionsEUR 10,00040
CFD indicesEUR 10,00010
CFD equityEUR 10,000180
Expiring CFDEUR 10,00050
StocksEUR 10,000250
ETFs/ETNsEUR 10,000250
Stock optionEUR 10,00040
Non-stock options170
Contract options170
Contract future170
Mutual fundsNA0

Saxo charges lower commission fees for its customers on the higher tier plans, by about 62% on SG stocks and 66% on US stocks. Finally, Saxo charges an annual custody fee of 0.12% (0.06% on customers with the Diamond plan) on accounts holding positions in stocks, ETFs and Bonds. This fee does not apply to instruments listed on the Singapore exchange.

However, if customers are opted into Saxo's new Securities Lending proposition, the custody fee will be waived.

For reference, Saxo's custodian fee is significantly cheaper than those of other online brokerages in Singapore, which tend to charge about 0.25%.

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Stephen Lee

Stephen Lee is a Senior Research Analyst at ValueChampion, specializing in insurance. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies from the University of Washington, and his prior work experience include risk management and underwriting for professional liability and specialty insurance at Victor Insurance. Additionally, Stephen is a former US Peace Corps Volunteer in Myanmar (serving between 2018-2020), where he continues to provide business development consulting services to HR companies in Asia Pacific.