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Saxo Review
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Freetrade ReviewSaxo Review
Written by Elizabeth Anderson, Blain Reinkensmeyer
Edited by Carolyn Kimball
Fact-checked by Steven Hatzakis
Your capital is at risk.
Saxo offers a highly sophisticated trading platform used by private, professional, and institutional investors. The global trading platform, operated by Saxo Bank, offers a huge range of international shares and funds across 50 global stock exchanges. Saxo has just launched SaxoInvestor, a simplified version of its main trading platform, aimed at a wider pool of investors. My view is that this is a great addition to Saxo’s offerings as it is far more accessible. However, Saxo’s charges remain on the higher side compared with other investing platforms.
-
Minimum Deposit:
£0 -
ISA:
Yes -
SIPP:
Yes
Saxo pros & cons
Pros
- Excellent web and mobile trading app.
- Offers ISAs and SIPPs.
- Offers mutual funds, in addition to stocks and ETFs.
- Excellent range of guides, webinars, and educational material.
Cons
- High fees for share and bond transactions.
- Limited chart features on the mobile app.
- A steep learning curve for newer investors.
Overall summary
| Feature |
Saxo
|
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
|
| Charges & Fees |
|
| Investment Choices |
|
| Mobile App |
|
| Website |
|
| Ease of Use |
|
| Education |
|
Charges and fees
Saxo has three types of accounts:
- Classic: For those with less than £200,000.
- Platinum: Amounts above £200,000 (access to lower fees and wider services).
- VIP: Amounts above £1 million (best fees and event invitations).
A custody fee of 0.12% is charged on both Classic and Platinum accounts. This means Saxo is a generally more expensive platform for investors with lower account balances. For investors with £45,000 invested in stocks or ETFs, you’d pay annual management charges of £54 compared to £42 through AJ Bell. Some brokers, such as eToro or Trading 212, don’t charge any custody fees at all.
If you hold funds, a steeper 0.4% service charge is applied to Classic accounts. On £45,000 worth of fund investments, this would bring your total annual management fees to £180 – making Saxo even more costly compared with other brokers. Fidelity, for example, charges annual service fees of 0.25% on funds which means an account balance of £45,000 into funds would be a lower £112.50 total cost.
Saxo is a better value for investors with high-value portfolios as the custody fee drops to 0.08% on VIP accounts. On a £1 million portfolio, you’d pay £800 a year in management fees with Saxo, compared to £875 you’d pay with rival AJ Bell or the £1,000 you'd pay with Hargreaves Lansdown to hold mutual funds.
There are no inactivity fees, which is good news for investors who don’t check their accounts or trade regularly. Additionally, in terms of trading fees, these charges depend on the account you hold, the issuing country, and the type of investment you buy.
For Classic account holders trading U.K. securities, Saxo charges a minimum of £3 per share and ETF trade, or 0.08% of the transaction amount (whichever is higher). European stocks range from a minimum of €3 to €10 and U.S. shares incur a minimum of $1 to a maximum of $25 for OTC Markets Pink Sheets stocks.
This pricing structure means transaction fees can get steep, and is a different approach to most of the other platforms we review which typically charge a flat fee. Trading costs for bonds range from 0.2% for Classic account holders to as little as 0.05% for VIP clients and come with a minimum of €20 per trade — which is again higher than many other platforms.
There are more than 6,000 global mutual funds offered by Saxo. Fund trades are free, although you will pay ongoing management fees to the fund manager and Saxo (0.4% for Classic accounts).
Scenario pricing: When calculating annual share dealing costs, trading frequency and account balance are the two most important factors to consider. At Saxo with a Classic account, you'll be paying a 0.12% custody fee on stock holdings and a transaction fee on U.K. stocks of either £3 or 0.08%, whichever is higher. Assuming a £30,000 portfolio in a traditional, taxable share dealing account, here are five scenarios of how much Saxo would cost based on trade frequency:
- 5 trades per year = 0.12% + 0.08% (or £3) per trade: a minimum of £51
- 12 trades per year = 0.12% + 0.08% (or £3) per trade: a minimum of £72
- 36 trades per year = 0.12% + 0.08% (or £3) per trade: a minimum of £144
- 120 trades per year = 0.12% + 0.08% (or £3) per trade: a minimum of £396
- 3 fund trades per year = 0.4% + 0% commission: £120
| Feature |
Saxo
|
|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | £0 |
| Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month | From £3 or 0.08% |
| Share Trading: 10-19 Deals/ Month | From £3 or 0.08% |
| Share Trading: 20+ Deals/ Month | From £3 or 0.08% |
| Annual Custody Fee: £0 - £250,000 | Up to £800 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £250K-£500K | £500 to £1,000 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £500,000 - £1m | Up to £1,998 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £1m and over | £1,000 |
| Bonds - Corporate - Fee | €20 minimum |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) - Fee | €20 minimum |
| ETFs - Fee | From $1 |
| Investment Trusts - Fee | From $1 / £3 / €10 |
| Telephone Dealing Fee | £50 |
Mobile trading apps
SaxoTraderGO is Saxo’s trading platform, accessed through a mobile app and a web browser. Through the app, you can trade stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, bonds, forex, options on forex, CFDs, and commodities.
Placing trades is quick and simple through the app, and I found it easy to do basic functions such as creating and managing my watch list. When selecting a stock, you can see key financial information and view similar stocks people are interested in by scrolling to the bottom of the page on the ‘product overview’ tab. I liked the look and feel of the app and was impressed by the new design of the portfolio section, where you can see in detail your historical performance and scroll through a clear summary of your positions, including your profit and loss.
You can overlay different stocks on the same chart to compare historical performance although you can’t change the layout of a chart through drawing tools or add indicators. This is a disadvantage if you like sophisticated charting tools on the go — tools that are readily offered by rivals like IG.
Saxo has recently launched a new app, SaxoInvestor, aimed at investors looking for a simplified version of SaxoTraderGo. In my testing, I found it easy to navigate. You can create watchlists, check your portfolio, read about different investing themes, view analysts’ consensus on individual stocks, and see a company’s ESG score. Ultimately, I was able to place a trade effortlessly, and the resulting charges were clearly shown before the transaction was initiated.
Tap for a demo of Saxo's U.K. trading app.
Top apps
See our picks for best share dealing accounts for beginners, based on our extensive hands-on testing of share trading apps available in the U.K.
Website
The SaxoTraderGO web homepage gives a very good oversight of stock market moves across regions and sectors. You can see the top gainers and losers of different regions, as well as analyst recommendations for stocks.
The web platform is very cleanly laid out. You can filter stocks in many different ways such as by market capitalisation, dividend yield, and popularity over the past month – allowing you to see the general trader sentiment towards certain stocks.
However, I found it quite difficult to customise a chart. Rather than changing a chart layout through each individual stock, you have to go to platform settings to access the charting tools. Despite this, there are many ways to customise a chart as there are 64 indicators and 20 drawing tools.
When selecting a stock, the quote includes a chart, news, general company information, analyst recommendations (provided by TipRanks), and fundamental data. I found the information given to be comprehensive and laid out well.
SaxoTraderGO is certainly one of the most comprehensive investing platforms of all the brokers we tested. There is also SaxoTraderPro, which offers advanced trading features for professional or large-scale traders. It supports six monitors, unlike SaxoTraderGO which supports two.
The new SaxoInvestor website, aimed at a wider range of investors, is a slimmed-down version of SaxoTraderGo. I found it easier to use. You can view your portfolio and how your investments are performing, see global market movements, check the current most popular stocks across different regions, and read global stock market news. You can compare different stocks through the ‘advanced chart’ setting and there are still many ways to customise a chart.
| Feature |
Saxo
|
|---|---|
| Web Platform | Yes |
| iPhone App | Yes |
| Android App | Yes |
| Stock Alerts | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 64 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 20 |
| Charting - Notes | Yes |
| Charting - Display Corporate Events | No |
| Charting - Stock Overlays | Yes |
| Charting - Index Overlays | Yes |
Investment choices
You have a choice of 23,500 shares on 50 stock exchanges worldwide through Saxo, which is the widest range of stocks of any U.K. broker we tested. It was really impressive to see such a wide range of indices including the Tokyo and Hong Kong stock exchanges, which aren’t offered by most of the U.K. brokers in our review.
Saxo also offers ETFs, investment trusts, bonds, and mutual funds, meaning you can achieve wide diversification in your portfolio. Saxo also offers the ability to trade forex, commodities, and futures for more experienced traders looking for higher-risk trading opportunities.
| Feature |
Saxo
|
|---|---|
| Share Trading | Yes |
| CFD Trading | Yes |
| Funds | Yes |
| Research - ETFs | Yes |
| Bonds - Corporate | Yes |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) | Yes |
| Investment Trusts | Yes |
| Spread Betting | No |
| Crypto Trading | No |
| Advisor Services | No |
Education
Saxo pulls in news feeds from Dow Jones, giving customers a good oversight of global finance news. There are also daily market feeds and research articles from Saxo’s strategy team.
There is also a weekly podcast called Saxo Market Call, which looks at topics such as AI and the potential impact of the 2024 U.S. Presidential election on global stock markets. If you are interested in financial news and how broader economic news impacts the stock market, then Saxo is a great source of information.
Saxo also has some good video content aimed at beginners, including an introduction to equities and how to choose shares. These videos also cover topics such as how to get started with ESG investing and an in-depth look at individual stocks such as BHP, the world's biggest commodity stock.
| Feature |
Saxo
|
|---|---|
| Education (Share Trading) | No |
| Education (Funds) | No |
| Education (Retirement) | No |
| Client Webinars | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes |
What type of trader are you?
New to the world of investing? See my picks for the best UK trading platforms for beginners. More experienced traders should check out my guide to the best UK Trading Platforms for Active Traders. If you're looking to trade shares on the go, read my guide to the best UK stock trading apps.
Final thoughts
Saxo is a very sophisticated trading platform that will appeal to investors with extensive trading experience. You can invest in stocks and assets worldwide, unlike general U.K. investment platforms that typically focus on only Europe and North America. However, Saxo is not likely to be suitable for beginner investors or those with a small portfolio. Despite the launch of SaxoInvestor, which makes investing more accessible, the charges are still on the higher end compared to other platforms aimed at new investors, such as Trading 212 or eToro. Investors with a large portfolio should also be mindful of the trading charges, which are a percentage of your trade rather than a flat fee.
About Saxo
Saxo is the U.K. subsidiary of Saxo Bank Group. Established in 1992, Saxo Bank is a Danish investment bank and its technology is used by more than 200 banks around the world. With headquarters in Copenhagen and clients in over 180 countries, Saxo Bank is privately held and processes over $17 billion worth of transactions every day.
Is Saxo Bank trustworthy?
Saxo Bank is regulated in 15 jurisdictions including the U.K. and Singapore, and holds banking licenses in Denmark and Switzerland. As it is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Saxo Bank has to hold segregated accounts to ring-fence clients’ money, and you are protected for up to £85,000 through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
Is Saxo a good investment platform?
Saxo is a very good investment platform that gives traders a wide array of information and investment opportunities. However, it is not likely to be suitable for beginners.
Is Saxo good for beginners?
There are better choices among U.K. brokers for beginners. There is no minimum deposit to open an account with Saxo, meaning you can start investing with a small sum. However, the platform can be complicated to operate for new traders and the charges are high. We would not recommend starting your investing experience with Saxo – other platforms such as Freetrade or Trading 212 may be a better fit. That said, Saxo does offer a free paper trading account though, if you want to test the platform or learn more about trading without using actual money.
What is the minimum deposit for Saxo?
There is no minimum deposit at Saxo, but to reach Platinum status you need to have invested at least £200,000, and to reach VIP status you need at least £1 million in your Saxo account.
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Methodology
For the UK.StockBrokers.com Annual Review, we assessed, rated, and ranked 17 U.K. share dealing platforms over a 10-week time period. Each broker’s platforms and features were exhaustively tested by hand and graded on 53 different variables. In total, over 25,000 words of research were produced.
We thoroughly tested and compared features of prime interest to everyday investors, including but not limited to:
- Investment choices, such as whether the broker offers trading of shares, ETFs, funds, bonds, and CFDs; and offers SIPP and ISA accounts.
- The broker’s charges and fees for investing.
- Functionality and design of mobile apps and website platform, and a fluid experience moving between app and web.
- Usability of tools such as charting and watch lists.
- Market research, such as screening, news and analysis.
- Educational resources including tutorials, online courses, videos, webinars and articles.
Our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .001% each year, providing site visitors with quality data they can trust. Our lead researcher and writer, Elizabeth Anderson, has more than a decade’s experience as a financial journalist and market researcher. Elizabeth’s expertise is backed by a team of veteran fellow traders, data auditors, editors and project managers who work to ensure that UK.StockBrokers.com reviews and guides are the most unbiased and complete in the industry. Read more about our team.
About the Editorial Team
Elizabeth Anderson, lead writer and researcher, has been a financial journalist for more than a decade. In addition to her work with UK.StockBrokers.com, she has written extensively for major publications including BBC, The Times and Bloomberg. A keen investor herself, she is passionate about helping people understand finance and investing.
Blain Reinkensmeyer has 20 years of trading experience with over 2,500 trades placed during that time. He heads research for all U.S.-based brokerages on StockBrokers.com and is respected by executives as the leading expert covering the online broker industry. Blain’s insights have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Chicago Tribune, among other media outlets.
Carolyn Kimball is a former managing editor for Reink Media and former lead editor for the StockBrokers.com Annual Review. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.
Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Online Broker Research for UK.StockBrokers.com and ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.