Saxo Singapore Review: Wide product suite for all investors

Summary of Saxo Singapore

• With a heritage of more than 30 years and an APAC headquarters in Singapore since 2006, Saxo Singapore offers a comprehensive platform offering investors more than 71,000 products including stocks, ETFs, options, bonds, and CFDs.
• What users may like about Saxo Singapore: Competitive trading commissions, no platform fees, wide product selection and excellent platform interface
• What users may not like about Saxo Singapore: Limited regular savings plan options
• Fees for SG stocks: 0.03% to 0.08% (minimum S$3) depending on tier 
• Fees for US stocks: 0.03% to 0.08% (minimum US$1) depending on tier

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

Or you might have heard of their recent cut in overall trading costs for Singapore clients.

In this review, we will be taking a closer look at Saxo Singapore 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 Singapore?

Saxo Singapore is an investment platform with a heritage of more than 30 years. The company's APAC headquarters has been in Singapore since 2006.

From stocks and bonds to forex and commodities, Saxo Singapore offers access to a diverse range of markets, allowing you to diversify their portfolios with ease.

What users may like about Saxo Singapore

#1 - Competitive trading commission fees

Saxo offers competitive trading commission fees for trading in stocks and ETFs across various markets.

As part of its simplified pricing effective 4 March 2024, Saxo offers trading commission fees that vary across the account tiers.

The new pricing structure will apply to all new Saxo accounts opened from 1 February 2024 onwards.

For Saxo accounts opened prior to 1 February 2024, this simpler pricing will be applicable from 4 March 2024 onward.

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

The key difference between the Classic, Platinum and VIP accounts lie in the minimum initial funding required for each of these tiers.

There is no minimum initial funding required for the Classic tier, while the Platinum tier requires a minimum initial funding of S$300,000. The VIP tier requires a minimum initial funding of S$1.5 million.

There is no inactivity fee for all three tiers. There is no custody fee if you are opted in to securities lending, regardless of whether securities are lent or not. 

Saxo also does not charge any platform fees, which is common amongst other brokers.

All three tiers also offer free level 1 live market data for US and EU stocks. 

The Classic tier does not allow you to earn interest on your univested cash compared to the Platinum and VIP tiers.

Compared to the Platinum tier, the VIP tiers offer priority customer support, direct access to Saxo's trading experts, and exclusive event invitations.

From 4 March 2024 to 30 June 2024, new clients of Saxo who are on the Classic account tier can enjoy a complimentary upgrade to the Platinum account tier if you fund your new account with at least S$1. 

Click here to sign up for the promotion.

#2 - 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.

#3 - Great platform interface

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

• 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.

All platforms are available with a single Saxo account. You can log on to all three at the same time if you like as they are synced. You may also choose to change between platforms and apps whenever you like.

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 Singapore

#1 - Limited options for Regular Savings Plan

When it comes to their regular savings plan, Saxo allows users to choose from just four portfolios to suit risk profiles ranging from low to high.

The minimum investment is S$2,000, and you can make regular contributions from S$100.

However, users who are looking for a more personalised portfolio can do it through SaxoWealthCare, which offers a tailored portfolio combines your life goals and return objectives.

All you have to do is to answer a few questions to establish your strategy, risk tolerance and investment timeline. You can also personalise your portfolio by setting your investment preferences and investment goals.

Is Saxo Singapore 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 Singapore 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 Singapore offers access to a wide range of products such as options, forex, CFDs, and futures.

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

If you would like to find out how Saxo Singapore compares to other brokers, check out our guide to the best online brokerage and trading platform in Singapore.

As mentioned earlier, new clients of Saxo who are on the Classic account tier can enjoy a complimentary upgrade to the Platinum account tier if you fund your new account with at least S$1. The promotion will end on 30 June 2024.

Click here to sign up for an account with Saxo Singapore now.