Trading costs and fees shown in the trade ticket

This article will cover the following:

• Why are the costs in the trade ticket higher than my commission?
  • Conversion costs (currency conversion)
  • Spread
• What are the three cost categories in the trade ticket?
• What is the cost of actually placing a trade?
• Am I charged ongoing costs?
• What is a holding period, and can I change it?

Why are the costs in the trade ticket higher than my commission?

You may notice that the estimated costs shown are higher than the commission alone. This is because the estimate can include both opening and closing the position, as well as other applicable costs such as currency conversion or spread. The exact costs depend on the instrument and your account setup.

Conversion costs (currency conversion)

Conversion costs are applied to a trade, if you trade an instrument in a different currency from the account currency you are trading fro. These costs vary, but you can avoid these costs on every trade by opening a sub-account (currency account).

Example: trading with vs. without a sub-account

Let’s say you wish to purchase 10 Apple stocks from a EUR account at a market price of USD 313 for a total of USD 3,130. In the trade ticket, you will see a breakdown of the costs associated and might notice that he costs appear higher than displayed elsewhere for buying stocks.

If you do not use a USD sub-account, your EUR must be converted into USD in order to trade the stock. This happens automatically and the costs are displayed under Investment service costs as shown below:

For many products, the estimate includes both the cost of opening the position and the estimated cost of closing it again at the end of the example holding period.

If you instead use a USD sub-account, you will see that there are no conversion costs because the trade is executed in the same currency as your account:

Read more: How do I open a currency account (sub-account)?

Alternatively, for some major companies like Apple, you can switch stock exchange in the overview and trade Apple stocks in EUR on the German or Italian exchange, effectively eliminating conversion costs and the need for a sub-account.

Spread

Spread is not a fee or an additional charge from Saxo. It is the difference between the buy price (ask) and sell price (bid) of an instrument at a given moment. The cost of the spread is already reflected in the market price and is not charged separately or added on top of your trade. We display the spread for informational purposes only, giving you greater transparency into the costs associated with trading.

Read more: What is spread?

What are the three cost categories in the trade ticket?

You will see three types of costs in the trade ticket when you place an order. The costs shown can vary depending on your account type, the instrument you trade, and current market conditions.

Investment service cost

These costs are related to the investment services provided by Saxo and can include several different types of fees, such as:

• Commission: the fee that we charge to open and close a trade, depending on the instrument.
• Currency conversion costs: charged when you trade an instrument in a different currency from your account currency.
• Spread cost: the difference between the buy and sell price of an instrument. As mentioned above, this is not an additional fee, but part of the total cost of trading. We show it to you to be transparent about what you pay for.

Financial instrument cost

These costs are associated with holding the financial instrument itself, such as issuer fees, financing costs, and other product‑related charges. Depending on the instrument, they can include ongoing charges, financing costs, swap points, overnight financing, or other holding costs. 

Financial instrument costs are commonly associated with products such as ETFs, Forex and CFDs, where ongoing charges, financing costs or other product-related costs may apply.

Third‑party payment cost

A portion of ongoing costs that will be paid to third parties involved in distributing the product, such as retrocession. These costs are typically applied to ETFs.

What is the cost of actually placing a trade?

The amount you pay for placing a trade can be any possible combination of the above three categories. The costs that apply depend on the instrument, your account type, and market conditions. Additional incidental or one-off charges may also apply in certain circumstances. You can read more about the cost summary here.

You can also download a complete cost overview of the trade in Trading Conditions under the Trading rates section.

Am I charged ongoing costs?

For some instruments, you will sometimes be charged ongoing costs while you hold your position. These can include product-related costs, fund ongoing charges (for example, some ETFs), or financing costs for leveraged products. If you trade leveraged instruments such as CFDs, Forex, or other margin products, overnight financing charges may apply for each day the position remains open. 

Not all instruments have ongoing costs, and the costs displayed in the trade ticket depend on the specific product, your account type, and the estimated holding period used for the calculation.

What is a holding period, and can I change it?

As mentioned above, some investments have costs that depend on how long you hold them. To estimate these costs, the trade ticket uses a holding period, which is an example of how long you might own an asset before selling it. It is only used to calculate estimated costs and does not affect your actual investment.

Different instruments use different holding periods:

For assets with ongoing costs, such as financing charges, the estimated cost will increase when a longer holding period is selected, because you will need to pay more the longer you hold that asset. For assets with mainly one-off trading costs, such as many stocks, the estimated cost will usually stay the same.

You can change the holding period in the instrument's Trading Conditions under the Costs section.