How we Test
Our research success is a combination of identifying the best criteria and then applying the correct variables against each, across a large number of online brokers. For this year’s review, we selected 61 regulated online brokers, 6 assessment criteria and a total of 98 variables.
The 6 assessment criteria were:
- Commissions & Fees, Offering of Investments, Platforms & Tools, Research, Customer Service and Education.
In order to produce the final scores, we used a straightforward rating system for Offering of Investments, Platforms & Tools, Research, and Education. Commissions & Fees, along with Customer Service required more elaborate handling.
How we score Offering of Investments, Platforms & Tools, Research, and Education
For each of these assessment criteria, we take the list of variables and award points whenever a broker “ticks the box”. Then, we score each variable against subjective standards and we calibrate the objective and subjective scores to find the overall score against each category.
How we score Commissions & Fees and Customer Service
In order to create comparable scores, we implement a range of scenarios, e.g. spreads for popular currency pairs, and then award points to brokers depending on how their services respond to these scenarios. During this process, we take into account different investor and account types with the aim of identifying an average cost per trade.
How we calculate the overall broker score
Once we have a score against each of the assessment criteria, we apply a weighting system, as per the table below, and then provide you with the final overall broker score.
| Review category | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Commissions & Fees | 22% |
| Offering of Investments | 22% |
| Platforms & Tools | 18% |
| Research | 18% |
| Customer Service | 15% |
| Education | 5% |
