Interactive Broker vs SAXO vs TD Ameritrade, which is a better option for an estimated 10k SGD fund for Overseas Trading?

Hi,

I'm using Saxo SGD funded account to trade on US/HK stocks & Options. I started with Saxo because of the low trading fee. However, the 1.5% foreign exchange (0.75% per trade) to buy and sell a stock is taking a toll on my earnings ($150 for 10k worth of trades), excluding 4usd/stock trade and 3usd/option trade.

IB or TD seems like a good alternative choice. Should i stick with Saxo or should i consider changing to IB or TD. Is there anything i need to take note on trading with IB or TD?

Interactive Brokers Saxo Markets TD Ameritrade

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Nicholas Beh

08 Jun 2020

Student Ambassador 2020/21 at Seedly

Have used IB and not TD, so I will speak about IB only.

IB will charge you 10 USD per month (minimum activity fee) if your total account value is below 100k USD. If you accrue 8 USD in commission in a month, then you will only have to pay the balance of 2 USD.

Currency exchange is done at the spot rate, 0.002%, minimum 2 USD. Inwards SGD fund transfers via GIRO/FAST are free. The $65 minimum 1% fee listed on their website is for cold hard cash deposits, which they do not accept. For withdrawals, first one every month is free, and $1 for subsequent SGD withdrawal via GIRO/FAST.

Commission schedule is available here. Generally, they are competitive and very low.

If you trade often IB will make sense. However, if it's just a lump sump $10k investment for the long-term, then the minimum activity fees may make it an unattractive proposition.

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Jia Min

23 May 2020

This article breaks it down. Quoting the article, "if you’re just starting out, then Saxo Markets would probably be the more practical choice for most investors."

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