Saxo Bank Review
Category: Reviews | Author: Trading Brokers | Date: November 17, 2022
Saxo Bank is an online broker and licensed bank which has been in operation for over 25 years. They offer ultra-competitive spreads and commissions across all asset classes, with an impressive 42,000 Forex and CFD trading instruments to choose from. Saxo provides clients with their own proprietary platforms, a vast selection of powerful tools and useful market analysis to assist with your trading activity. You can choose to invest in cash products, trade with leveraged products or let the experts manage your money. They are a huge brand and have been at the forefront of the online trading industry. However, I feel that the sheer size of the company means that you perhaps do not get that personalised approach that some other brokers can deliver. That being said, I feel they are a market leader in so many aspects that it is just too hard to ignore them. I think the average retail trader may feel overwhelmed by the options available to them, but professional and institutional traders are sure to be impressed with the possibilities.
Pros & Cons
- Access to trade a great range of over 42,000 trading instruments
- Low spreads and rapid trade execution speeds
- Very competitive trading conditions and commission fees
- Modern trading platforms which are swift and replete with essential tools for traders
- Market analysis from a team of analysts known as SaxoStrats
- Abundance of powerful trading tools for indepth market analysis
- API connectivity for institutional trading conditions
- Third-party tools including TradingView, MultiCharts & Dynamic Trend
- Managed portfolios
- SaxoSelect trading strategies
- Saxo rewards programme
- Multilingual 24-hour customer support
- They do not accept traders from some countries
- Minimum $500 deposit is not the lowest
- Perhaps overwhelming for beginners
- Inactivity fees if you do not trade enough
Summary
Saxo Bank is the trading name of Saxo Capital Markets which is owned by Saxo Bank; a licensed investment bank that offer robust brokerage services. Saxo bank was established in Denmark in 1992. Its headquarters is in Copenhagen but it has other offices in various locations including Singapore, UK, Australia, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Switzerland, Netherland and UAE. The Saxo brand offers a superb selection of more than 40,000 trading instruments in the asset classes of forex, stocks, commodities, ETFs, Futures, Bonds and Vanilla options. In terms of instruments, few brokers can compare although TMGM certainly come close.
Trading Conditions
Saxo Bank clients trade on the proprietary trading platforms which are sophisticated, fast and efficient. Its liquidity is drawn from 85 exchanges and 15 banks, ensuring multi asset liquidity. Quality trade execution speeds are offered through the banks secure ECN channels using direct market access (DMA) or principal style executions. Saxo bank states that it acts as market makers to all financial products not traded on an exchange. I found the Saxo spreads to be very competitive and like how trades are executed within fractions of a second.
Over the years, Saxo Bank have been honoured with numerous awards for their brokerage services. They have been consistently recognised by the industry and have won some of the highest accolades for the products, platform and services they provide. They are a financially stable company with a robust balance sheet, serving clients in 170 countries, holding USD 16bn in AUM and processing 1m transactions daily. The broker boasts of over $17 billion deposited by clients from over 170 countries. It is not hard to see why many professional traders consider them to one of the best brokers for investing and trading online.
Regulation
Saxo Bank must adhere to the strictest regulatory standards, and are fully licensed and regulated in a very impressive 15 jurisdictions across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. They are one of the most well-regulated brokers that I have come across, along with AvaTrade. I wouldn’t have any problems trusting them with my funds and can focus on my trading without worrying if they will operate in a transparent and honest manner. Regulation is in place to protect investors and I would therefore always prefer to use a regulated broker although this does restrict certain products and services that can be offered to clients.
- Saxo Capital Markets UK Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with the license number 551422.
- BG SAXO Società di Intermediazione Mobiliare S.p.A. is licensed by Italian Market Authority – Consob (Albo SIM – Registration Number: 296).
- Saxo Bank A/S Czech Republic is registered by the Czech National Bank with Registration Number: 28949587.
- Saxo Bank A/S Netherlands is registered by the Bank of the Netherlands with Registration Number: 34357130.
- Saxo Capital Markets Pte. Ltd. Singapore is licensed as a Capital Market Services provider and an Exempt Financial Advisor, and is supervised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The Registration Number is 200601141M.
- Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. is a licensed bank regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).
- Saxo Banque (France) SAS is licensed as a Credit Institution by the Bank of France with Registration Number: 483632501 R.C.S. Paris.
- Saxo Bank A/S is licensed by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA).
- Saxo Bank – Representative Office is licensed by the Central Bank of the U.A.E. as a Representative Office with the Registration number: 2017/995/13.
- Saxo Bank Securities Ltd. is licensed by the Japanese Financial Services Agency (JFSA) with the Registration Number: 239.
- Saxo Capital Markets Hong Kong Ltd. is licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong (SFC) with the Registration Number 1395901.
- Saxo Capital Markets Australia Pty. Ltd is licensed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) with the Registration Number: 126 373 859.
Funds
As required by the regulatory authorities, clients’ funds are held in segregated bank accounts and clearly separated from Saxo Bank funds. To ensure strict compliance, daily audits are carried out. A monthly audit report is submitted to the regulatory authorities like FCA. This audit is done by external auditors.
The Saxo Bank UK clients are insured by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This means that eligible clients’ funds are further protected by the insurance provided by the FSCS. Saxo Bank is also a member of the Danish Guarantee Fund.
Countries
The broker serves the majority of countries but United States residents are not allowed to register for Saxo Bank services. If you are located in the USA, you may want to consider IG as an alternative or see our best USA brokers for some other options.
Platforms
Saxo have their very own proprietary trading platforms where you can benefit from integrated trading tools for conducting in-depth market analysis, trade signals, news feeds and innovative risk-management features. All platforms are available with a single Saxo account. Whatever your trading needs or experience level, you can find a trading platform that is suitable for you. In addition to the Saxo platforms, they also offer the ever popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform, API connectivity and third-party tools.
SaxoTraderGO
SaxoTraderGO is an award-winning trading platform comprising of a range of trading tools for efficient trading and in-depth market analysis. The platform is intuitive and it is designed for Windows PC, MAC OSX and Linux computers. It is mobile friendly with iPhone and Android SaxoTraderGO apps available. I found the trading app easy to use and was able to do everything from analysing the charts to placing trades without any difficulties.
The SaxoTraderGO platform key features include:
- Built for speed and efficiency with a fully customisable interface.
- Automated trading signals from Autochartist.
- 7 chart styles on 15 timeframes.
- Advanced order management such as OCO, stop limit, trailing stop, market, etc.
- Over 50 technical indicators for market analysis.
- Account management including history and performance analysis.
- SaxoStrats analysis, news, trade ideas and training resources.
- Live market commentaries and insights.
- Risk management features including account shield, stop orders, margin breakdown, cancel all orders, etc.
SaxoTraderPRO
SaxoTraderPRO is Saxo Bank premium trading platform designed for professional traders. This professional-grade platform is fully customisable and embedded with essential tools designed to deliver a superior trading experience to expert high-volume traders. It can be downloaded and installed on a Windows or MAC OS computers. This really is professional trading platform so may seem overwhelming at first if you are new to trading online. If that is the case, you can always take a look at our best brokers for beginners or consider using the popular MetaTrader 4 platform instead, which we will get onto next.
The SaxoTraderPRO platform key features include:
- It can be set up on up to 6 screens at the same time.
- Access to trade up to 42,000 instruments from a single multicurrency account.
- Detailed account analysis and performance reports.
- Clients can manage orders in relation to level 2 order book in real time; this service requires subscription.
- Subscribe to view real time order executions on an exchange.
- Advanced trade ticket.
- Comprehensive charting package which include annotations, drawing tools and over 50 technical indicators.
- It can trade Forex Vanilla and touch options.
MetaTrader 4
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) was developed by trading software company MetaQuotes and is used by millions of Forex & CFD traders all over the world. MT4 is widely regarded as one of the most user-friendly trading platforms that is packed with a vast array of trading tools for conducting market analysis and managing orders. I have been an avid MT4 user for many years and think it is the ideal platform for a no-nonsense approach to trading online. I especially like it for the automated trading capabilities (expert advisors) and versatility. I can run strategies on the desktop platform and take the markets with me in my pocket via the app. The web version of the platform is great to easily access my account from any device without any installations required and it is always up to date.
The MT4 platform key features include:
- Supports Saxo real-time feeds
- Fully customisable interface
- Multiple chart types & timeframes
- Instant, pending & limit orders
- 50+ technical indicators & drawing tools
- Set alert notification via email, SMS & pop-ups
- Automated trading via expert advisors (EAs)
- Strategy tester to back test EAs over historical data
- MQL programming interface to create custom tools
- MQL marketplace to share signals & tools
- Available for desktop, web & mobile devices
- Supports multiple languages
Saxo allow you to fully integrate MT4 with your Saxo account to plan, place and manage your trades using powerful tools, while benefitting from Saxo’s industry leading execution and liquidity. The brokers liquidity flow matches off client positions, so they never take the opposite side of your trade. You can apply to trade with the Saxo MT4 platform through the standard account opening process. Once your account has been approved and you have signed an additional agreement (the MT4 agreement), the Electronic Trading Services Client team will arrange the setup of your MT4 account. You can then download the MT4 terminal and sign in with the MT4 login details that they send you. You will have access to both the mobile and desktop versions. The minimum funding for a Saxo MT4 account is $20,000 (£15,000 or €18,000). Once you have funded your Saxo account, it will take between two to three days to get full access to MT4. Saxo automatically nets equal, opposite positions, making rollover rates more financially efficient compared to standard MT4 practice.
Connectivity & APIs
Traders can connect to Saxo’s capital markets infrastructure via your preferred interface. When it comes to direct market access solutions for institutional trading conditions, it is hard to beat Saxo in my opinion. I will say that some brokers do some close, for instance I really like the FIX API over at Global Prime as another option.
FIX API
You can gain market access through a stable, fast, flexible and fully-documented electronic infrastructure and receive tailored multi-asset liquidity via FIX API. With over 20 years’ experience in creating liquidity pools and execution capabilities, Saxo construct competitive solutions best suited to clients’ flow.
- Multi-asset liquidity and full back-office functionality
- Connect to major technology, bridge and platform providers
- Presence in major financial data centres
OpenAPI
You can also access Saxo’s entire capital markets infrastructure, including instrument and client portfolio data, charts, quotes, order placement, lead sign-up and event notifications, on the same API used by their award-winning platforms (including market data) through a single REST web API based on modern standards.
- Empower proprietary UI/UX
- Simplify secure development
- Enhance agility
Third Party Tools
Saxo give you the capability to further extend your trading capabilities by executing trades from one of the brokers partnership platforms, including TradingView, Dynamic Trend & MultiCharts. This is yet another area in which Saxo come very close to blowing the competition away. I actually found there to be too much choice, with more tools than I would ever need at my disposal. I understand that they mean well, but if you are just looking to buy and sell a few instruments in your own time with a reputable company, then you may want to consider a broker such as IC Markets instead.
You can connect your Saxo account to a third-party platform to access custom tools that suit your specific trading requirements. Available features include asset-specific analysis tools, advanced strategy back testing and hyper-responsive charting. Trade on your choice of platform and benefit from Saxo’s industry leading execution speeds and market-leading prices. Each platform is priced differently and a licence has to be obtained directly from the software vendor to get access. Connecting to your Saxo account on any of these platforms is free of charge, and you trade against the same conditions as on Saxo’s own platforms.
OpenAPI for Excel
Create a custom trading environment with Excel’s powerful automation functionalities. View and manage your portfolio directly in Excel. Execute complex orders and build custom workspaces when you connect to Excel via OpenAPI.
Dynamic Trend
Dynamic Trend is a complete stock and options analysis and trading platform. You can access specialist options analysis and trading software with no compromises. Leverage Dynamic Trend’s Options Volume Map to identify price targets and convert these directly into suitable option strategies with the Options Strategy Builder. There are advanced tools to refine your option trading strategy, including the Option Projection tool, Decay Chart, Matrix Scanner, Spread Select, and more. You also get free access to expert online education and weekly webinars hosted by the Dynamic Trend team.
TradingView
You can browse and discuss ideas and insights as part of an active community with millions of traders from all over the world. TradingView has access to powerful charting tools to identify and analyse patterns on easy-to-read and fully customisable charts. If you have your own ideas, you can outsource technical analysis to 100+ prebuilt indicators and other tools. I really like how customisable it is and think this could be great for those of you who like to experiment with new trading strategies.
MultiCharts
Optimised for expert traders, MultiCharts provides advanced market analysis and high-speed one-click trading straight from the chart. I like how you can refine your strategy with advanced market analysis tools, extensive backtesting and chart trading. There is so much you can do, including viewing fully customisable, high-definition charting, with built-in indicators and strategies. I think its great how we can access faster and more precise execution with full support for automated trading. You can verify and optimise your strategy with extensive backtesting features.
Updata Analytics
Updata Analytics provides the tools and analysis you need to make better trading decisions. Use expert technical analysis, scanning, alerting and system testing to improve your timing and performance. I was impressed to see how you can run hundreds of charts live across virtual desktops with over 1,000 pre-built custom indicators and trading strategies. This is a great way to test startegeis so that you can filter the good from the bad. It would take a ridiculous amount of time to do this all manually.
Tools
In addition to industry leading trading conditions, award-winning trading platforms, powerful software and around the clock support, you can get access to a great selection of trading tools to help improve the overall trading experience. To be honest, I feel that if you have made it this far you should already be well aware and the huge amount of possibilities that Saxo Bank provides, some may even argue too much that makes things perhaps slightly confusing for the novice trader amongst you.
Saxo Platform Tools
On the Saxo Market platforms, there is a selection of powerful trading tools that can help to assist traders with their online trading strategies. Some of the platforms tools include:
Economic Calendar
The economic calendar is useful for fundamental analysis. It shows important events and their dates as well as the potential impact on the markets and assets involved. You can view previous, forecasted and actual impact. The calendar can be filtered to display the market news that matters most to you. I always like to refer to a calendar to check the latest news before making any trade decision. It can even be used to inspire trade ideas.
Autochartist
Autochartist is a powerful pattern-recognition tool which automatically monitors the markets on your behalf. It can identify chart patterns using technical indicators such as Fibonacci retracements. It monitors the markets 24 hours a day, alerting you to trading opportunities in real time. Autochartist’s features are designed to identify patterns in charts, with the main benefit being the real-time insights it generates for market movements. Autochartist is constantly scanning the markets on your behalf, and it gives you price alerts whenever a new opportunity presents itself.
The Autochartist search pane enables users to define the parameters of the markets that the program scans. It can be tailored to your individual trading style, or you can use it to search markets that are less familiar and find opportunities that you may not have otherwise thought about. Autochartist can save you a lot of time that you would otherwise dedicate to scanning the markets manually. Technical analysis and chart pattern recognition are laborious tasks for a trader, and by using Autochartist to carry them out, you can spend more time developing your trading strategies or learning about new techniques that you think might be useful for you.
Autochartist is a flexible product because it is capable of highlighting thousands of potential trades a month in a range of financial markets, including forex and stocks. It is important to note that there are absolutely no guarantees on how the Autochartist signals will perform. You may want to do your own additional analysis and ensure that you understand the risks involved.
Market News
You can easily keep up to date with the latest market news, directly from within the Saxo platform. News is powered by Moody’s Analytics ‘NewsEdge Macro’ and ‘NewsEdge Corporate’.
Education
You can build new skills and sharpen your trading edge with the wealth of Saxo educational resources and expert analysis. This includes a range of clear video tutorials, trading guides, webinars and more.
Platform Video Guides
Tour the platforms and get step-by-step guidance on placing orders, managing positions, performing analysis and more. A full range of video tutorials are available in the Education section of the trading platform and on the brokers website. I found them to be really informative and think they are good enough to bring new users up to speed with the platform and what it can do for you.
Introduction To Trading
Explore the markets at your own pace with short online courses covering the basics of financial instruments. These e-learning courses are designed to give you the toolkit you need to understand and navigate the markets. Learn at your own pace with the short, step-by-step courses – including videos, interactive exercises and quizzes to help you track your progress.
Risk Management Rules
Learning how to manage risk in the markets is one of the most important steps for any trader or investor. Take your strategy to the next level by learning to manage risks to your positions and investments.
Trade Inspiration
The Saxo expert team provides daily commentary and in-depth analysis across the global markets, including annotated charts.
Market Call Podcast
The Saxo strategy team brings you the Saxo Market Call podcast, available several times a week via your favourite podcast service. The Saxo Market Call podcast is a quick way to get up to speed on market news and upcoming risks and opportunities. Market Call is available on all major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PodBean and Stitcher. Just search ‘Saxo Market Call’ to find it.
Events & Webinars
Webinars are frequently scheduled on the website. They are handled by the SaxoStrats; Saxo Bank experts. You can also view previous webinars from the online library. I think it is great that they are made readily available on demand as you might not always be around when they are streamed live. If webinars are your thing, City Index also host them.
SaxoStrats
This section of the Saxo Bank website updates clients with market news, analysis and forecasts. It is prepared by the Saxo in-house analysts known as the ‘SaxoStrats’ who provide daily insights, analysis and views across global markets, asset classes and tradable instruments.
The following sections give updates on specific assets classes:
- Macro: Daily macro releases and their impacts on instruments as well as macro trading strategy ideas.
- Equities: Get expert analysis on equities from 40 exchanges all over the globe. Saxo Bank team give technical analysis and cross-asset correlations. This section is updated several times a week.
- Quarterly Outlook: This is a quarterly financial outlook for key currencies, economies as well as forecasts for the new quarter.
Markets
Saxo offers access to an extremely impressive selection of over 40,000+ instruments – across asset classes – to trade, hedge and invest from a single account. You can choose from popular products such as Stocks, Forex & CFDs, along with futures, ETFs, bonds, mutual funds, forex options and listed options. From what I have seen, they have the one of the most impressive selections of instruments from any brokerage firm. Whether you want to invest in cash products, trade with leveraged products or let the experts manage your money, there is something for everyone to trade.
Investment Products
Stocks
Access 19,000+ stocks across core and emerging markets on 37 exchanges worldwide, with the same Saxo Account. The prices are very competitive, you can trade stocks from USD 3 and HK stocks from HKD 60 with even lower rates for active traders.
ETFs
You can access more than 3,000 ETFs from 30+ exchanges around the world with ultra-competitive ETF commissions.
Bonds
You can digitally trade 5,000+ government and corporate bonds in Europe, US, Asia, Middle East and Latin America, from the same platform as other assets and access powerful analysis tools. Standard commission rates start at 0.20%, and drop as low as 0.05% as you trade more.
Clients get direct access to tier 1 liquidity and receive the best spreads with minimal mark-up. Orders are routed straight to an optimised digital dealer auction, where the top end of 50+ liquidity providers compete for your order and return the best possible price for an instant trade.
With direct electronic access to liquidity providers, Saxo eliminate manual processes across the value chain of traditional bond trading – so that you can benefit from significantly lower commissions. The broker sources liquidity from a network of more than 50+ Tier-1 liquidity providers in the global OTC market, covering the US, EU and emerging markets including LATAM, APAC and MENA.
Mutual Funds
Saxo offer full access to more than 250 top-rated mutual funds from the world’s largest investors. The broker eliminates commissions and custody fees to make sure you get the most out of your savings. You only pay the management fee when you invest in mutual funds with Saxo.
Managed Portfolios
Saxo Bank has created managed portfolios where clients can invest their funds. The clients will have access to monitor the investments, withdraw or exit at any time. Each portfolio consists of a collection of assets, investment strategies and managers.
The broker has partnered with renowned asset managers like BlackRock and Morningstar. A client can browse through the details of each portfolio to choose the best that suits his budget, assets of interest, risk level, return rate, etc.
There is no minimum investment period and you can exit at any time for no additional cost. Fees depend on the managed portfolio you choose to invest in. You can see a full list of managed portfolio fees on the brokers website.
It is important to note that past performance is by no means any indicator of future performance. Investing in financial products always involves risk. As a general rule, you should only invest in financial products if you understand the risks associated with them.
Leveraged Products
Forex
You can trade 182 FX spot pairs and 140 forwards across majors, minors, cryptocurrencies, exotics and metals.
Trade major Forex pairs from 0.6 pips with competitive entry prices and even lower rates for active traders.
The brokers top class execution and Tier-1 liquidity gives higher fill-rates, fewer premature stop-outs and significant price improvements.
CFDs
Go long or short on 9,000+ instruments with tight spreads and low commissions. Saxo offer CFD trading on single stocks, indices, forex, commodities, options and bonds.
Single Stocks & ETFs
CFDs on 8,800+ single stocks and 675 ETFs traded on the world’s biggest exchanges.
Indices
Tight spreads on 29 index-tracking CFDs, including Germany 30, US 500, UK 100 and more.
Forex
CFDs on seven FX pairs, including EURUSD, EURGBP, GBPUSD and AUDUSD. The EURUSD spread starts from 0.6 pips depending on the market volatility and liquidity.
Bonds
CFDs on five government bonds, including the German 10-year bund and French 10-year OAT.
Commodities
19 commodity CFDs covering energy, agriculture, metals, softs and emissions.
Index options
15 index option CFDs, including the SPX, DJX, ESX and OESX.
Commodities
Trade a wide range of commodities as CFDs, futures, options, spot pairs or exchange traded commodities (ETCs). You will find tight spreads and low commissions across the entire Saxo commodity range.
Futures
There are over 200+ futures from 23 global exchanges available at Saxo, covering equity indices, energy, metals, agriculture, rates and FX. You can trade futures from 1.25 USD, 1 EUR or 1 GBP per lot. These are some of the lowest futures commissions in the industry.
The broker has a good selection of advanced future trading tools. Take advantage of time and sales, futures spread orders and depth trader — plus, trade directly from charts.
Forex Options
Saxo offer access to 44 FX vanilla options with maturities from one day to 12 months, so traders can choose the expiration and strike price that best suits their strategy and market view.
When you trade FX options with Saxo Bank, you get competitive pricing. Trade EUR/USD from 3 pips and USD/JPY from 5 pips. You can also take advantage of extensive option chain tools, option analytics and innovative risk-management tools.
In addition to traditional stop-loss orders, FX options offer more alternatives to controlling risk. They can be used to hedge current FX positions, or express a view on future volatility.
Listed Options
Clients can access 1,200+ listed options from 23 exchanges worldwide, across equities, indices, interest rates, energy, metals and more. Trade stock options from 1.25 USD, 1 EUR or 1 GBP. The broker has advanced options tools including option chain functionality, combination order tickets and one-click trading.
When you invest in a Trading Strategy using SaxoSelect, the brokers traders make speculative trade decisions on your behalf, right in your account. There is a choice of trading strategies on the Saxo website, showing the performance of each.
They may take one or two speculative positions with specific short-term expectations, or none at all if conditions aren’t favourable – the pulse of the market dictates. This means the traders may also enter short positions to target profits from downward market movements.
There is no minimum investment period and you can exit at any time for no additional cost. SaxoSelect has a service fee, trading fee and performance-based fee. The service fee and performance fee are deducted quarterly on a pro rata basis. The minimum investment is USD 20,000.
Please note that Trading Strategies are categorised as very high risk. While taking on such risk has some potential for significant returns, be aware that drawdowns in excess of 20% are a distinct possibility. It is imperative that you are fully aware of and have a complete understanding of the risks involved.
Accounts
There are a range of different account types depending on the trader’s capital. Generally speaking, the more you trade with Saxo, the less you pay and better service you get. When you open an account, you are placed into a tier based on your initial funding within 30 days. After your first three months trading, you will automatically be moved to the tier that best reflects your volume – with no additional funding required.
The following are the Saxo account types:
Classic Account
The minimum balance is £500 for UK clients but for international clients, it is $10,000. For Australian clients, the minimum opening balance is AUD 3,000.
Platinum Account
This account features 30% lower prices than the classic account. Priority support is given in local language. The minimum opening balance is as follows:
- UK clients; £50,000
- Australian clients; AUD 50,000
- International clients; $200,000
Platinum and VIP clients benefit from a personal point of contact to answer account queries and offer exclusive invitations to events and webinars. Your relationship manager can also provide a personal introduction to Saxo platforms and educational content, as well as curated market news relevant to your trading and investment interests.
VIP Account
This is the main account type that has the best of services, price and priority support in local language. VIP clients receive priority one-to-one support, market commentary, assistance placing complex orders and a sparring mate to discuss trading strategies. VIP clients can also speak directly with the SaxoStrats to discuss asset allocation in line with macro developments, their views on all major asset classes, and the implications of central bank policies and other market events. The minimum account opening balance is £1 million or AUD1 million or $1 million.
Professional Account
This is exclusively for high volume traders, financial experts or high net worth individuals who qualify based on stated criteria. Professional account holders can trade with higher leverage of up to 1:66 but will waive some of the protections that non-professional accounts have. As a professional client, you can also use a percentage of your shareholdings as collateral for margin trading.
If you meet at least two of the following criteria, you may be eligible to reclassify as an elective professional client:
- Have a financial portfolio that exceeds €500,000
- Placed at least 10 relevant trades in significant sizes over the last four quarters
- Work, or have worked, in the financial sector for at least one year
Corporate Account
The broker accepts corporate accounts if you have a corporate bank account and are able to submit the necessary documents. You can access all our 40,000 tradable instruments from the corporate account, with optimised liquidity and dedicated support.
It normally takes one week to approve a corporate account, assuming you provide clear copies of the required documents. When you open a corporate account, you will be assigned a dedicated relationship manager, who will provide expert 1:1 support.
Joint Account
Demo Account
The Saxo demo account allows you to practice your trading strategies and familiarise yourself with the brokers platforms. It comes preloaded with virtual funds so you can trade online, risk free. This is a great way to try out the Saxo products and services to see if they are suitable for your needs.
Saxo Rewards
Saxo Rewards is an award-based programme where you can earn reward points for every qualifying trade with different asset classes and trade sizes worth a varying number of points. You can also earn points for other activities, such as adding funds to your account.
Clients can collect reward points to qualify for account upgrades, and monitor their points balance in real-time for complete transparency. Unlock better levels of pricing and service as you collect more points. If you trade more, you pay less and receive better service with the loyalty programme.
When you qualify for an account tier, you’ll receive a rolling 12-month membership. That means if you continue to meet the rolling points criteria of your tier, your 12-month membership will roll over as well. If you ever drop below the qualifying points criteria, you’ll have a 12-month grace period before we’ll move you to a lower tier, giving you time to build up your reward points again.
You are automatically enrolled on the Saxo rewards programme when you open a Saxo account, at no extra cost.
Account Signup
It only takes a few minutes to open a Saxo Bank trading account. To open a Saxo Bank trading account, visit the Saxo website and click on ‘Open Account’. The account opening form will be displayed. Keep in mind that you may need to open an account with your local regulated entity of Saxo. Fill in your name, password, email and phone number and click ‘continue’. The next part of the form requires your address, financial information, tax information and business terms acceptance. Next, is the uploading of verification documents; government issued ID card and a ‘proof of residence.’ On successful completion, wait for the approval email after which deposits can be made and live trading can commence.
Support
Saxo offer expert support for account and technical queries whenever markets are open. The Saxo support teams operate from 16 countries, and each team member is a Saxo platform specialist and fully immersed in their local market.
The support team is available 24/5 and speak multiple languages. They can be reached via several phone numbers, email and live chat.
The support centre has an FAQ centre with answers to over 250 questions about opening accounts, funding and withdrawals, trading platforms, trading instruments, trading costs, and much more.
With over 660,000 satisfied customers, Saxo Bank offers world-class service around the clock. Whether you’re a high- or low-volume trader, you’ll receive first-class support tailored to your needs. They have an easy to use digital service and exclusive personal service for active traders.
Funding
Saxo Bank offer a choice of convenient funding options including bank wire transfer and credit/debit cards. They do not charge deposit or withdrawal fees. Third party transfers are prohibited. Despite all of the positive things that I have to say about this broker, I think they are distinctly lacking when it comes to funding option. I would have liked to have seen a lot more options. I think they could significantly improve by adding some online payment processors and even support for cryptocurrency funding in the long term. If you want a broker who has a lot more methods for deposits and withdrawals, you could have a look at easyMarkets.
Bank Wire Transfers
Initial account funding can only be made via bank transfers. Also, withdrawals are only done using bank transfers. It takes 2-7 days to complete a bank transfer.
Bank Cards
A maximum of 3 cards is allowed per client. A maximum of $100,000 is allowed for each transaction. The international cards accepted are Visa, Mastercard and Visa Electron. Transaction fees are charged by the card processors depending on the currency. For credit cards denominated in USD, 2.62% is charged while 2.24% is charged for debit cards. Card deposits are processed instantly.
Securities Transfer
Clients can transfer their stock portfolio to Saxo Bank and use it for collateral trading. On requests, securities can be transferred from other brokers to Saxo.
This Broker | AvaTrade | IG | IC Markets | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Founded | 2006 | 1974 | 2007 | |
Regulated | ADGM FRSA, ASIC, BVIFSC, CBI, FFAJ, FSCA, IIROC, JFSA | ASIC, BaFin, CFTC, DFSA, FCA, FINMA, FMA, FSA, FSCA, JFSA, MAFF, MAS, METI, NFA | ASIC, CySEC, FSA, SCB | |
Min. Deposit | $100 | $250 | $200 | |
Commission | From $0 | From $0 | From $0 | |
Spreads | Fixed | Variable | Variable | |
Leverage | 1:400 | 1:200 | 1:500 | |
Instruments | Forex, Commodities, Crypto, Stocks, Indices, Options, Bonds, ETFs | Forex, Commodities, Crypto, Stocks, Indices, Options, Bonds, ETFs | Forex, Commodities, Crypto, Stocks, Indices, Bonds | |
Platforms | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, AvaTradeGO, AvaOptions, AvaSocial, DupliTrade, ZuluTrade | MetaTrader 4, IG Platform, IG Progressive Web App, ProRealTime (PRT), L2 Dealer, FIX API | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader | |
Funding | Bank Transfer, Credit/Debit Card, E-Wallets | Bank Transfer, Credit/Debit Card, E-Wallets | Bank Transfer, Credit/Debit Card, E-Wallets | |
Trade | Trade | Trade | Trade |
Conclusion
Overall, I am blown away with what the broker has to offer to be honest. They really excel in so many areas to the point where I would probably say you should only consider them if you are a professional day trader. As strange as it may sound, I feel the average retail trader out there could quite easily be overwhelmed with the vast range of products and services at their disposal.
In saying that, Saxo Bank provide access to trade over 42,000 trading instruments, with a wide range of online trading instruments to suit all different types of online trader. Trading conditions include tight spreads, low commission fees and rapid trade execution speeds. You can trade with peace of mind as they are regulated in multiple jurisdictions and have won over 40 industry awards. They have been providing top class brokerage service for over 25 years to a global clientele.
The proprietary Saxo Bank platforms offered are intuitive, sophisticated, powerful and fully customisable to suit the individual needs of traders with different trading strategies and experience levels. In addition to the superb Saxo platforms, clients can download the user-friendly MetaTrader 4 platform and choose to implement a wide variety of third-party tools for a flexible and customised trading experience.
Saxo have trading platforms and tools that can meet the needs of even the most demanding of traders whilst still being readily available to new traders. They also have an educational section that is dedicated to helping traders improve their trading skills and knowledge. This shows that they are a broker who care about client needs and support informed trading decisions.
The “SaxoStrats” in-house expert analysts are hardworking, producing in-depth daily analysis and market insights to help identify potential trading opportunities. In addition to this and more, Saxo provide managed portfolios, trading strategies, 24-hour customer support and a rewards-based programme for active traders.
About the Author

Trading Brokers
Trading Brokers is dedicated to bringing you unbiased broker reviews, the latest broker news and trading guides to help you along your trading journey. We have over 20 years of experience when it comes to trading online so we know what to look for.
Review Methodology
For all of our broker reviews, we research, validate, analyse and compare what we deem to be the most important factors to consider when choosing a broker. This includes pros, cons and an overall rating based on our findings. We aim to help you find the best broker according to your own needs. You can read more about our review process.