Compare top online investment brokerage firms in Singapore in terms of fees and commission, platform capabilities and product portfolios. Learn how to open an investment brokerage account and start investing today!
Choose from MoneySmart's curated list of best brokerages in Singapore
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Saxo is an award-winning investment brokerage platform that is tailored for new and professional traders and investors alike. They offer access to over 40,000 markets at industry-leading prices across stocks, ETFs, bonds, commodities, options, futures, funds, managed portfolios, FX and CFDs. Their world-class service is delivered from their Singapore hub.
Trading fees: Saxo generally offers some of the most competitive rates in Singapore. For example, for stocks traded in Singapore, you will be charged S$10 per transaction, which is the amongst the lowest in Singapore. On FX Spreads, it also offers as low as 0.6 pips for popular currency pairs such as EUR/USD.
Trading platforms: Saxo’s trading platforms cater to investors or traders with varying degrees of investing experience. You’ll be able to access and execute trades on SaxoTraderGO and SaxoInvestor using your desktop, tablet or mobile. SaxoTraderPRO is more suited to professional traders. All Saxo platforms provide comprehensive research and analysis tools and a 24/7 customer service help desk.
Product portfolio: For equities, you will gain access to more than 19,000 single name stocks across 36 exchanges worldwide - SG, US, HK and JP. Other than FX and equities, you can trade in commodities, bonds, mutual funds & CFDs.
Minimum funding: S$3,000 for Classic Account. S$50,000 for Platinum Account. S$1,000,000 for VIP Account.
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CFD traders may want to look into IG as it gives investors access to over 16,000+ markets. With an extensive range of product investment options, they make trading on a global level more accessible to traders.
Trading Fees: IG SG offers competitive CFD rates across asset classes (FX, Stocks, Commodities etc... ). For CFDs FX, you can enjoy spreads as low as 0.6 pips on FX pairs such as EUR/USD & AUD/USD. 0.7 pips for USD/JPY. For CFD Stocks traded in Singapore, you will be charged a minimum of S$15 per transaction.
Trading Platforms: IG's trading platforms are user-friendly and cater to traders with varying degrees of trading experience. Its MetaTrader 4 platform allows you to customise or automate your trades based on your individual preferences. It also includes 24/7 customer support. You can also deposit and withdraw funds easily.
Product portfolio: IG has very strong coverage in FX, as it offers over 80 major, minor and exotic currency pairs from EUR/USD, USD/JPY to USD/TRY. For equities, you will gain access to more than 12,000 CFD stocks globally, which is one of the most comprehensive coverage that you will get for CFD stocks.
Minimum Funding: No minimum funding requirement
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City Index is another key player in the investment market that lets you trade on global markets with a CFD trading account or FX trading platform. Both new and experienced traders will have access to over 4,500 global shares, 17 global indices, 84 FX pairs and 26 global commodities.
Trading fees: If you’re worried about the commission fees, relax – they’re usually very minimal. At times, there are even no fees. With City Index, you don’t need to pay commissions on CFDs. For Shares the rate starts at 0.08%/$10.
Trading platforms: Both new and experienced traders can take advantage of a breadth of trading tools for technical analysis research. You can use AT Pro – an automated analysis tool with 100+ indicators, extensive drawing tools, charts and more. Another trading platform is Web Trader. It features HTML technology with comprehensive drawing tools, charts, customisable workspaces that give you a seamless market overview.
Product portfolio: For an exclusively CFD only product broker, City index offers an extremely diverse portfolio of international products to trade in and at competitive rates. You can trade in popular asset classes such as Forex, Stocks, Indices, commodities and even cryptocurrencies. For stocks, City index offers more than 4,500 single name stocks via CFDs. Along with 17 different indices across US, Asia, Australia and Europe.
Minimum funding: No minimum funding requirement to start trading.
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TD Ameritrade is one of the most comprehensive online brokers. With a full suite of investment products, you can trade options, futures, stocks and ETFs. Much like other players in this industry, they also provide advanced trading tools and extensive research to help traders make profitable decisions.
Trading fees:When trading stocks, you’ll be charged a flat commission fee of USD$10.65 per trade. With options, you need to pay USD$0.81 per contract plus USD$10.65. To enjoy waived options commissions, you must execute a trade to close any short individual or single leg option for USD$0.05 and below.
Trading platforms:The trading platform used by TD Ameritrade is called thinkorswim, which can be accessed through desktop or mobile app. On desktop, they offer advanced trading features for comprehensive charting, market analysis, strategy testing, risk management and market scanning.
Product portfolio: If you are a US centric trader or investment, TD Ameritrade allows you to trade in the US markets via Options, futures and Stocks & ETFs. Although is US markets only, its flat fee on commissions I hard to beat.
Minimum funding: USD $3,500
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Phillip Capital has been in the brokerage business in Singapore for more than 40 years. It was one of the first to launch online trading in Singapore with its POEMS trading platform. It offers a wide range of quality financial products and services, including investment, savings, protection, financial education and financing.
Trading Fees: Depending on which type of account you open (Margin, Custodian or Pre-paid), trading fees on stocks can be as low as S$10 (SG market) and US$8.80 (US market) per transaction for pre-paid accounts. On Mutual Funds, investors are not charged on any sales, platform or switching fees if you invest online via POEMS.
Trading Platforms: POEMS has various platforms depending on your trading style and requirements. The POEMS 2.0 platform, available on both desktop and mobile, is an easy-to-use platform that is great for beginners. POEMS Mercury is a more sophisticated platform designed for more active day traders. Users can customise their charts for more in-depth technical analysis.
Product portfolio: POEMS offers access to more than 25 markets across Asia, Europe and North America. You can buy and sell stocks that is trading on SGX, HKE LSE, NYSE & NASDAQ. With POEMs, you also can choose to invest in any of the 1000+ mutual funds or 3,000+ ETFs offered on its platform.
Minimum Funding: No minimum funding requirement to start trading.
Leverage Saxo's best in class digital services with 24 hours technical and account support on weekdays to kickstart your investment journey!
| Broker | SG Stocks | US Stocks |
|---|---|---|
| Saxo Markets | SGD$10 (0.08% of Contract Value) | USD$4 (0.06% of Contract Value) |
| IG | Not Applicable | Not Applicable |
| Phillip Securities | SGD$10 (0.12% of Contract Value) | USD$8.80 (Flat) |
| CMC Markets | Not Applicable | Not Applicable |
| Broker | SG Stocks CFD | US Stocks CFD |
|---|---|---|
| Saxo Markets | SGD$15 (0.19% of Contract Value) | USD$4 (0.06% of Contract Value) |
| IG | SGD$15 (0.10% of Contract Value) | USD$15 (US$0.02 per share) |
| Phillip Securities | SGD$25 (0.128% of Contract Value) | USD$15 (0.18% of Contract Value) |
| CMC Markets | SGD$10 (0.10% of Contract Value) | USD$10 (0.10% of Contract Value) |
| Broker | EUR/USD Spreads | USD/SGD Spreads |
|---|---|---|
| Saxo Markets | 0.6 pips | 1.7 pips |
| IG | Not Applicable | Not Applicable |
| Phillip Securities | 2.0 pips | 3.5 pips |
| CMC Markets | Not Applicable | Not Applicable |
| Broker | EUR/USD | USD/SGD |
|---|---|---|
| Saxo Markets | 2.0 pips | Not Applicable |
| IG | 0.6 pips | 3.0 pips |
| Phillip Securities | 0.7 pips | 1.5 pips |
| CMC Markets | 0.7 pips | 3.0 pips |
To be more specific, products can be differentiated between Asset Classes & Financial Instruments. Asset classes are what you can trade or invest in, and financial instruments are the different ways you can trade securities across asset classes.
When people talk about forex trading, it involves the price movements of major, minor and exotic currency pairs across the globe. Some examples of these pairs are EUR/USD and USD/SGD. In essence, participating in forex trading is almost the same as going to the money changer. When you buy USD/SGD, you’ll receive (buy) USD in exchange (sell) for your SGD.
Commodity trading involves gaining exposure in natural or grown commodities such as gold, silver, energy (oil, natural gas, etc) and agriculture (corn, soybeans, etc). Commodities are an interesting asset class to trade in as you have to be fully aware of the economic, political and weather developments.
Shares, otherwise known as stocks, are securities that signify part ownership of a company. This means, if you have Singtel or CapitaLand shares, you’re a part-owner of that company. Hence, It is important to understand what business the company is involved in. Stocks often offer dividends which could be a significant portion of your total returns.
Bonds are called a Fixed Income instrument because when you own a bond, you entitle to fixed and periodic payments. So you can think of yourself as a lender of money to a borrower. And the payments are the interest you earned on the principal amount or the amount you lent.
In the financial markets, an index is a financial measure of a certain portfolio of securities (be it stocks or bonds). In Singapore, the Straits Times Index (STI) tracks the performance of the top 30 companies listed on the Singapore Exchange. The 30 STI stocks were selected to best indicate Singapore’s economic health. You typically gain exposure in Indices via financial instruments called CFDs or by buying ETFs.
An ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) is a collection of securities (normally stocks) which tracks or replicates the performance of an underlying index. One such example is the STI ETF, which tracks the Straits Times Index. ETFs can consists of various asset classes such as stocks, commodities, bonds, or a mixture of the above. Since an ETF is marketed as a security, it has a buy and sell price and can be traded on an exchange.
A CFD is a contract between you and the brokerage to exchange the difference in the value of an asset between the time you first open a position and when you close it. Most brokerages offering CFDs have CFDs on the main asset classes such as FX, Equities and Commodities.
Futures are financial contracts that obligate traders to transact an asset at a predetermined future date and price. Futures are traded on an exchange and you can buy futures on a variety of asset classes such as FX, Commodities & Equities and indices.
Mutual funds or Unit trusts are a pool of money collected from investors to be subsequently invested in a diversified basket of securities (such as stocks, commodities). Since funds will be used to buy a variety of securities and sometimes across asset classes, it is generally considered a safer investment.
With Stock CFDs (Contract for Difference), you do not own the underlying stock or asset but are simply purchasing a contract which allows you to speculate on the price movements of the underlying stock. With share trading, when you purchase a stock, you have legal ownership of the stock. In Singapore, you may be required to open a CDP (Central Depository) account where the stocks are held in this account under your name. The same applies for other asset classes as well, so while you may trade outright stocks, FX, commodities, ETFs, some brokers offer CFDs products on these assets.
Another thing to note is that CFDs are a leveraged product, so which means you are only required to deposit a percentage of the actual notional amount of the asset you are purchasing and you profits or losses can be magnified. For example, if the margin requirement of a product is 2% and you what to buy an asset that costs SGD$100,000. You will only need S$2,000 of your own funds. If the asset appreciates by 1% and is now worth S$101,000, it means you have made $1,000 from your $2,000 - a return of 50%. Another way of looking at it is this way. A 2% margin means you are leveraged 50 times (1 / 2%), so your profits and losses are multiplied 50 times for a 1% move in the asset, 100 times for 2% move and so forth.
Now let’s take a closer look at CFD trading. In a nutshell, it’s a contract whereby 2 parties agree to exchange the difference in the value of a specific asset from the time the position is opened until it’s closed. When you have buy or sell position, you can incur profit or losses depending on the direction the market moves. Given that a CFD is a derivative product, its value is based on an underlying asset.
It comes as no surprise as to why foreign exchange trading is a popular choice among traders. When it comes to forex trading with CFD, you don’t need billions of dollars to get started.
When trading shares via CFDs you be able to easily gain access to more than 12,000 global share CFDs. Access that may not be easily accessed if you trade outright stocks. E.g. via the above brokerages you can easily gain price exposure to US/JP/AU stocks at the same time you’ll get to trade shares on low margins and competitive spreads too.
If you’d like to get your hands on the world’s top financial markets, you can look into stock index CFD. Put simply, it’s a financial instrument that represents the value of the underlying publicly-traded companies. Dow Jones, Nasdaq, S&P, Nikkei, and our very own SGX are some examples of stock indices. The good thing about IG Markets is you trade indices all day long across 30+ indices.
With a total of 26 commodity markets, IG offers a new way for you trade commodity CFDs. It’s quite simple. Akin to index CFD, you’ll be subject to a funding charge if you hold your commodity position overnight. Aside from this, you’ll be able to access technical analysis of your chosen commodity market whenever you want.
With Crypto CFDs you will have the opportunity to speculate on a number of popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Ripple, Stellar, NEO and EOS. This means you can take advantage of the volatility closely associated with these cryptocurrencies by predicting the rise and fall of their value.
Before you start your investment journey, here are some of the things to look out for:
Some brokerages offer better coverage for local markets, and some offer more products in popular markets like US, UK and Japan. Do note that when you trade in international markets such as stocks in US for e.g. you may be asleep while important news comes out at 2am SG time which may significantly affect the stock price.
There is no official definition for both trading and investing, but there are certainly some differences. Trading implies that you purchase or sell an asset with the intention of holding the position for a relatively short time. For examples, day traders often make several buy and sell trades in a single day. On the other hand investing involves the holding of the position for a longer time horizon, months or even years. So choose brokers which offers products that suit your requirements.
FX, Stocks, Commodities, ETFs, Indices are all different in their own way. It would be good to fully understand the specific product before deciding to take a position in them. In addition, you also have to keep abreast of the news in the financial markets, as this greatly influences price movements.
There’s no way around commission fees. Every time you execute a transaction, you’ll be required to pay such fees, unless the exception is stipulated by the brokerage firm. If you’re an aggressive trader, you’ll pay multiple commission fees in the long run. Hence, it’s important to weigh your options and consider a brokerage firm that fits your trading behaviour.
Spreads refer to the difference in the selling price and buying price of a certain asset. When dealing with products with spreads, traders aim to move the value past the spread in order to profit from the transaction.
With a CDP account, you’ll be subject to clearing fees each time you complete a transaction with the Central Depository. At the moment, it’s at 0.0325% of the contract value. Aside from this, you also need to pay a trading fee which amounts to 0.0075% of the contract value as mandated by the SGX.
If you want to start trading investment products in Singapore, you must be above 18 years old and not an undischarged bankrupt at the time of application.
Depending on the brokerage firm, first-time investors in the Singapore securities market may opt to set up a Central Depository Account (CDP). It’s a subsidiary of Singapore Exchange (SGX), which provides integrated clearing, settlement and depository facilities for traders. Don’t be overwhelmed as you can go directly to the Central Depository or apply through an investment brokerage firm.
There are many consideration factors when it comes to choosing the most suitable brokerage firm in Singapore. Most of the time, the decision boils down to which firm charges the lowest fee because it directly affects profits. However, investors should also look at the availability of overseas investment products, reliability and usability of the trading platform, and investment research materials among others.
