What is international share trading?
International share trading platforms allow you to access overseas exchanges and buy and sell shares from some of the biggest companies in the world. According to ASIC, Australian securities only make up around 2% of the global market, so by trading international shares, you can have a much wider range of investment options.
How do we compare international share trading platforms?
Canstar rates international share trading platforms using a sophisticated ratings methodology that compares both price and features.
Eligibility
To be considered within the Canstar International Share Trading Star Ratings, the provider must:
- Offer trades on international exchanges in at least the US.
- Offer online share trades in the US.
Price
The price score is based on 100 hypothetical trades in the US and accounts for any ongoing fees, brokerage costs and foreign exchange costs.
The price score is worth 50% of the final rating.
Features
The feature score accounts for the remaining 50% of the total score and takes into consideration a number of features from seven different categories:
- Opening
- Deposit and settlement
- Research including charting, company information, market information, dynamic trading platform and alerts
- Trade including capabilities, market access and margin loan
- Account management
- Customer service
- Closing
Products are ranked based on the total score received for each profile. Stars are then awarded based on the distribution of the scores with the objective to award the top 5-10% of products with a 5-Star rating.
Which international share trading platforms does Canstar rate?
Canstar endeavours to include the majority of product providers in the market and compare the product features most relevant to consumers in our ratings. Complete market coverage is not always possible and some products or features may not be included.
In total, Canstar rated 18 products offered by 12 providers of international share trading platforms in 2020:
- ANZ Share Investing
- CMC Markets – Share Trading
- CommSec
- eToro AUS Capital PTY Ltd.
- IG Markets
- Interactive Brokers Australia PL
- nabtrade
- Phillip Capital Ltd
- Saxo Capital Markets (Australia)
- St.George Bank
- Stakeshop Pty Ltd
- Westpac
Compare International Share Trading Platforms