Saxo Singapore Review: Wide product suite for all investors

TL;DR

• With a heritage of more than 30 years and an APAC headquarters in Singapore since 2006, Saxo offers a comprehensive platform offering investors more than 71,000 products including stocks, ETFs, options, bonds, and CFDs.
• What users may like about Saxo: Wide product selection, flexible account plans with competitive fees, and excellent platform interface
• What users may not like about Saxo: Monthly account fees and limited regular savings plan options
• Fees for SG stocks: 0.03% to 0.08% (minimum S$1 to S$5) depending on tier 
• Fees for US stocks: 0.02% to 0.06% (minimum US$0.25 to US$2.00) depending on tier

You might have come across Saxo through their banners when taking the train from Raffles Place MRT recently.

Or you might have heard of their recent cut in trading commissions for US stocks and options.

In this review, we will be taking a closer look at Saxo to find out more about the features of the investment platform and if it is a better option compared to other online brokers and trading platforms.

What is Saxo?

Saxo is an investment platform with a heritage of more than 30 years, and have their APAC headquarters in Singapore since 2006.

There are basically three investment platforms you can choose from on Saxo: (i) SaxoInvestor (ii) SaxoTraderGo (iii) SaxoTraderPro.

In summary,

• SaxoInvestor has an easier interface designed for your average user who wants access to stocks and ETFs.
• SaxoTraderGo, however, is designed for active traders who prefer to use a wide range of features for deeper stock analysis for their trading decisions.
• SaxoTraderPro comes with even more professional-grade features and greater access to more asset classes available to Gold, Platinum, and Diamond users.

The key point is that all platforms are available with a single Saxo account, and you just need to pick a trading platform that best suits your needs.

So what’s the deal with Gold and Platinum accounts?

Well, Saxo offers tiered account plans with higher tier plans coming with added benefits in exchange for a higher monthly fee.

These benefits include lower commission rates, no custody fees (if the user opts into the Securities Lending facility), free live prices, and others.

Experienced traders who are more active will likely benefit more from the higher tier plans as they can earn Saxo points through a points system which, in turn, can be used to offset the monthly fee.

What are the trading commission fees on Saxo?

For those who are interested in trading stocks and ETFs, we’ve compiled a table that lists the commissions charged for trading in various markets.

Saxo Markets stock and ETF trading fees

You can refer to their website for a complete list of their commission fees on stocks and ETFs.

Saxo does not charge fees for deposits or withdrawals and there is also no inactivity fee for users who do not trade frequently.

However, there are custody fees that vary depending on which tiered account you’re using.

What users may like about Saxo

#1 Wide product selection

One of the stand out features of Saxo is the wide product offerings available to users on their platform, which include stocks, ETFs, bonds, mutual funds, futures, CFDs, forex, commodities, forex options and listed options.

You can pretty much get access to over 23,500 stocks and over 7,000 ETFs across Singapore, US, Hong Kong, and 50 other global markets.

Forex traders will also be delighted to know that they can access over 185 forex pairs across majors, minors, and exotics, plus spot metals from only 0.5 pips with no commissions charged (and even lower spreads for active traders).

Want to trade commodities? On top of buying stocks and ETFs of companies tied to the commodities market, you can also go long or short with commodity CFDs covering energy, agriculture, metals, and emissions.

#2 Flexible account plans to fit customised needs

Saxo offers different tiered pricing plans to different users who have varying needs.

Silver, Gold, and Platinum accounts offer relatively low rates, with access to live prices, and are not charged any custody fee. 

Diamond accounts are best suited for active traders while bronze accounts would be suitable for those who do not trade frequently.

And the best part? You can switch plans at any time.

#3 Great platform interface

Saxo has arguably one of the better looking user interfaces with their clean design and refreshingly intuitive dashboard.

To a beginner investor, Saxo makes for a very enlightening investing experience as they can seamlessly navigate through the various tabs that bring them from their portfolio to the markets and curated stock watchlists.

In our opinion, Saxo does a fine job of providing everything you need to invest with a one-touch platform that you can access from either your desktop, phone, or laptop.

What users may not like about Saxo

#1 Monthly fee

For investors who might be used to paying just for trading commissions, the monthly fee for Saxo might appear to be slightly different from how other brokerages charge their fees. 

However, if you are regularly investing on the Saxo Platform, you will be receiving your monthly fee back in the form of the commission rebates. 

So you can think of the monthly fee like a gym membership fee to make sure that you show up regularly!

#2 Limited options for Regular Savings Plan

When it comes to their regular savings plan, Saxo only allows users to choose from four portfolios (three by BlackRock and one by Lion Global Investors) which doesn’t exactly provide that much variety.

These are meant to capture different risk profiles ranging from low to high, and while it comes with competitive pricing–total expected costs start from 0.98%–there isn’t much else on offer.

This is compared to other brokers such as FSM One’s Regular Savings Plan or POEMS’ Share Builders Plan that comes with a wide variety of customisation options.

Is Saxo safe and legit?

Saxo is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Danish investment bank Saxo Bank A/S and their trading platform is used by investors worldwide.

According to their website, they boast 260,000+ daily trades, service over 1,000,000+ clients, hold up to 100+ billion in client assets, and oversee over 17+ billion in USD daily trade volume.

They are also licensed with and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore [Co. Reg. No: 200601141M], holding both a capital markets services licence and their status as an exempt financial adviser.

What would Beansprout do?

​​Saxo offers a comprehensive suite of services for different types of investors - long-term investing, active trading, or allowing it to grow gradually with their wealth management options.

For experienced traders, Saxo offers access to a wide range of products such as options, forex, CFDs, and futures.

Saxo also gives you access to the London Stock Exchange so that you can dollar cost average your favourite Irish-domiciled ETFs every month.

For investors who are looking to open an account with Saxo, they are offering welcome bonus of $188 commission credits for new Saxo accounts opened from now till 31 October. T&Cs apply.

If you are a TD Ameritrade client affected by its recent announcement to stop serving retail investors, Saxo is offering you the ability to transfer your securities to Saxo quickly and easily with no fee charged by Saxo. 

Click here to sign up for an account with Saxo.

Explore our guide to the best online brokerage and trading platform in Singapore to find out how Saxo fares against other brokers.