Saxo Bank Review

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Established in 1992, Saxo Bank is one of the leading retail forex and multi-asset brokerages with regulated entities across 15 international jurisdictions including the UK, Denmark, and Singapore. Catering to both retail and institutional clients, Saxo Bank processes over one million transactions per day and holds $16 billion in assets under management (AUM).

Saxo Bank offers traders nearly every electronically traded asset class, including spot FX, FX options, non-deliverable forwards (NDFs), Contracts for Difference (CFDs), stocks, stock options, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs) including cryptos, futures, contract options, and bonds.

Is Saxo Bank Safe?

Saxo Bank is considered low-risk, with an overall Trust Score of 98 out of 99. Saxo Bank is not publicly traded, does operate a bank, and is authorised by six tier-1 regulators (high trust), one tier-2 regulator (average trust), and zero tier-3 regulators (low trust). Saxo Bank is authorised by the following tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC), Securities Futures Commission (SFC), Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Learn more about Trust Score.

Regulations Comparison

Commissions & Fees

Put simply, Saxo Bank provides great all-around pricing for both forex and CFDs trading.

Benefits

• Saxo Bank is committed to the FX Global Code, an evolving interbank standard around enhanced disclosures and execution best-practices to promote integrity and transparency across the global foreign exchange market.
• Saxo Bank offers three account types, its Classic account requires a $2,000 minimum deposit, while its Platinum account for active traders requires $50,000, and finally, its VIP account which offers the most savings on pricing is reserved for elite investors who deposit at least $1m USD.
• In terms of spreads, looking at February 2018 data, the average spread on the EUR/USD was 0.4 pips at Saxo Bank. Together with its volume-based pricing that includes a default commission equivalent of 0.5 pips, Saxo Bank provide an all-in cost of 0.9 pips.

Considerations

• None.

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Further Reading

• Best FX Brokers for Low Costs 2019

Fees Comparison

Platforms & Tools

No question, Saxo Bank‘s proprietary trading platforms SaxoTraderGO (web) and SaxoTraderPRO (desktop) set the industry benchmarks thanks to their streamlined designs and a wide range of trading tools that will satisfy the pickiest of traders.

Benefits

• Web-based platform SaxoTraderGO is built using HTML 5 standards and as a result is flexible, runs smoothly in any browser, and is overall easy to use. Charting is robust, offering nearly 50 indicators and 17 drawing tools, including Trade Signals from Auto Chartist.
• Desktop based SaxoTraderPRO resembles the web version in terms of look and feel. Functionality is similar, however the PRO platform offers a larger selection of professional features such as support for up to six monitors, streaming Level 2 order books, streaming time and sales, and support for algorithmic orders.
• Saxo Bank has done very well keeping the look and feel consistent across platforms, even bringing functionality such as syncing charts and watch lists that save automatically and sync with the mobile app, among other similar design qualities, where great attention to detail is given.

Considerations

• Certain features of the PRO platform require additional data subscriptions, for example to use the streaming Level 2 order book, which is a common industry practice among brokers offering professional trader focused features.
• While both platforms are great, the web version is my preferred choice.

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Further Reading

• Best Forex Trading Platforms 2019
• Best FX Brokers for Copy Trading 2019
• Best MetaTrader Brokers 2019

Tools Comparison

Customer Service

To score Customer Service, ForexBrokers.com partnered with customer experience research group Customerwise to conduct phone tests from locations throughout the UK. For our 2019 Review, 229 customer service tests were conducted over six weeks.

Results

• Average Connection Time: <1 minute
• Average Net Promoter Score: 7.8 / 10
• Average Professionalism Score: 5.1 / 10
• Overall Score: 7.2 / 10
• Ranking: 5th (23 brokers)
• View Infographic

Research

Saxo Bank combines quality in-house research with well-known third-party providers to offer an excellent research experience. In 2019, Saxo Bank is No. 1.

Benefits

• Saxo offers a rich and diverse research offering across its websites and platforms, ranging from in-house analysts who publish daily analysis through Saxo Bank’s research and educational Market Analysis portal, to content provided by numerous third-party providers.
• Saxo Bank does a great job centralizing its research within the SaxoTraderGo web platform. Third-party research providers are found throughout, including Auto Chartist for automated Trade Signals and streaming economic news from NewsEdge, among others.
• Saxo Banks desktop platform for professionals, SaxoTraderPRO, offers even more research tools than its Go counterpart, including screeners, level 2 order books, and equity research reports from FactSet.

Considerations

• None.

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Further Reading

• Best Forex Brokers for FX Research 2019

Research Comparison

Mobile Trading

Saxo Bank does a great job tying in high quality trading tools and research into its mobile app, unifying the reliable SaxoTraderGO web-based platform experience.

Benefits

• The SaxoTraderGO mobile app was very consistent in its look and feel compared to the web-based version of the platform.
• The calendar, news, and other research content, including pattern recognition analysis from Auto Chartist, all match the web-version of the platform.
• The charting capabilities are rich with drawing tools, indicators, and customizations, providing a nearly identical experience with the web-based version of the platform.
• In addition to syncing watch lists, mobile charts in SaxoTraderGO sync with the web-based version of the platform, which means that if you draw trend-lines and add indicators in the web-version, they appear in the mobile app (and vice-versa).

Considerations

• One minor drawback is the default Account Summary screen is mostly empty and unimpactful. Saxo Bank could do a better job by displaying additional modules and overall providing a streamlined account summary with a markets overview instead.

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Further Reading

• Best Forex Mobile Apps 2019

Mobile Apps Comparison

Offering of Investments

The following table summarizes the different investment products available to Saxo Bank clients.

Offering Comparison

Other Notes

In September of 2018, China-based Geely Holding Group increased its stake to become a majority owner in Saxo Bank. In December 2018, Saxo Bank announced the acquisition of BinckBank for an estimated €424 million.To protect traders, rather than trigger orders on its own pricing, Saxo Bank uses the underlying interbank price, which doesn’t include the markup or commission seen in its platform. This means that stop-loss orders and limits have extra price cushion.

Furthermore, for sell stop orders, rather than trigger the order on the bid price, the ask price is used (and vice versa, buy stop orders trigger at the bid, not at the ask). This is important, especially during volatile market conditions when spreads widen, where traders would have otherwise been taken out of the trade pre-maturely.

Final Thoughts

Saxo Bank is a trusted global brand that does a great job unifying its desktop, web, and mobile platforms. Not only is the client experience seamless, but it is also rich with depth of tools and research throughout.

Methodology

For our 2019 Forex Broker Review we assessed, rated, and ranked 28 international forex brokers. Each broker was graded on 81 different variables and, in total, over 60,000 words of research were produced.

While encouraged, broker participation was optional. Each broker had the opportunity to complete an in-depth data profile and provide executive time (live in person or over the web) for an annual update meeting.

All data submitted by brokers is hand-checked for accuracy. Ultimately, our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .1% each year, providing site visitors quality data they can trust. Learn more about how we test.

Forex Risk Disclaimer

"There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities. With respect to margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives, and cryptocurrencies, there is considerable exposure to risk, including but not limited to, leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection and market volatility that may substantially affect the price, or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable, or that they will not result in losses." Learn more.