To help you to find the online brokers & trading platforms in Trinidad & Tobago in 2023, we went ahead and did the research for you. We collected all data you need to know about account opening, trading performance and fees of the best investment providers in Trinidad & Tobago.
There are many high-quality online brokers that offer their services for clients in Trinidad & Tobago. Among these, you can find providers that offer stocks from Trinidad & Tobago, but if you're looking to invest in other global markets, your possibilities open up even more.
Top brokers for investing in stocks
We have compiled a list of brokers that are available in Trinidad & Tobago and are great for investing in stocks. We recommend that you pick one of the following brokers:
- Interactive Brokers, International broker providing all asset classes
- XTB, Global CFD broker
- Saxo Bank, Danish investment bank
- Alpaca Trading, US API broker
- TradeStation, US stockbroker
Are you ready to start?
1. Find an online broker
First, you need to make sure that the broker you're looking at is available in Trinidad & Tobago.
Would you like to speed up your search?
Our broker finder tool will help you narrow down your choices, showing only those brokers that are available in your country and are suitable for your investment goals and habits. And if you want a detailed, side-by-side comparison of these alternatives, check out our broker comparison table.
Interactive Brokers | XTB | Saxo Bank | Alpaca Trading | TradeStation | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stock and ETF fee scores | 4.7 stars | 5.0 stars | 3.1 stars | 5.0 stars | 5.0 stars |
Web platform score | 3.8 stars | 4.4 stars | 5.0 stars | 3.7 stars | 3.8 stars |
Mobile platform score | 3.5 stars | 4.4 stars | 5.0 stars | 4.2 stars | 4.8 stars |
Stock markets (#) | 83 | 17 | 50 | 5 | 5 |
Here at BrokerChooser, we only recommend brokers that are regulated by at least one top-tier financial authority. Please note that some global brokers operate via several legal entities, each regulated by a local authority – so for example, US clients would be overseen by a US regulator, and UK clients by a UK financial authority. Some regulators also run investor protection schemes, making you eligible for compensation if your broker goes bankrupt.
2. Open your account
Opening an account at an online broker is usually easy and straightforward, and takes place fully online. Most of the time, you just need to provide your name, address and other basic information, and maybe answer some questions about your wealth/income status, financial knowledge or trading experience.
Make sure you have your documents at hand, as
- copies of a photo ID
- some recent bank statements
- or utility bills
are usually required to verify your identity and residency.
3. Fund your account
So your trading account has been verified; the next step is to fund it – in other words, to deposit money that you will then use for trading stocks. Some brokers require a minimum deposit when you open your account, but most brokers do not have such a requirement, allowing you to take your time before committing any funds.
All brokers will allow you to deposit or withdraw funds via bank transfer; an easy, usually free, though not always super-fast method. Withdrawing money to your bank account can take as long as three days.
Many brokers also let you deposit (though not withdraw) funds using credit or debit cards. A few will also accept so-called electronic wallets such as PayPal, Apple Pay, Skrill or Neteller. The biggest benefit of cards and e-wallets is that transactions take place instantly, allowing you to start investing – or reap the proceeds of a successful stock sale – right away.
4. Find and trade stocks
You may already know which stock(s) you want to trade; if not, it's worth checking out the research section of your broker, which often includes trading ideas and recommendations by in-house experts or third-party analysts. Alternatively, you can do a bit of research on your own, and check the selected stock's earnings multiples, or read up on industry news.
Once you have settled on a stock, it's easy – just
- select it from the broker's search menu
- enter the number of shares you want to trade
- proceed with the trade
Most trading platforms will offer several order types - such as a "Market" order to trade at the current price, or a "Limit" order to trade later at a specific price. To learn more about various order types, read this article.
How to open a trading account from Trinidad & Tobago?
There are several factors to consider when opening a trading account, including the user-friendliness of the platform or the minimum deposit amount. Let's deep dive into these.
The time it takes to open an account typically ranges from a few minutes to a few weeks. The identity verification that marks the end of the process differs at various brokers. The account opening process is fully online in most cases, but there are brokers that require customers to mail a copy of their documents. The documents you usually have to upload and/or send (a copy) are of the following:
- Proof of identity: national ID, passport, driving license, etc.
- Proof of address: bank statements, utility bills, etc.
There are brokers that require a minimum deposit to authorize your trading account. The minimum deposit is usually $0 or a low amount, but some brokers demand a couple of thousands dollars/euros.
Interactive Brokers | XTB | Saxo Bank | Alpaca Trading | TradeStation | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Broker intro | International broker providing all asset classes | Global CFD broker | Danish investment bank | US API broker | US stockbroker |
Time to open account | 1-3 days | 1 day | 1 day | 1 day | 1 day |
Account opening fully online | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Account opening user-friendliness | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Minimum deposit | $0 | $0 | $2,000 | $0 | $0 |
Broker fees in Trinidad & Tobago
Undoubtedly, fees are a crucial factor when selecting a broker. Below you can check the asset classes that individual brokers provide and whether their fees are classified as high, low, or average. This classification is based on how the fees compare to those charged by all the brokers reviewed by us.
Interactive Brokers | XTB | Saxo Bank | Alpaca Trading | TradeStation | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stock fee class | Low | Low | Average | Low | Low |
Forex fee class | Low | Low | Low | - | - |
Fund fee class | Average | - | Low | - | Average |
Bond fee class | Low | - | High | - | Low |
Options fee class | Low | - | High | - | Low |
Futures fee class | Low | - | High | - | Average |
CFD fee class | Low | Average | Average | - | - |
Non-trading fees are just as important as trading fees. Non-trading fees include charges not directly related to trading, such as withdrawal or inactivity fees.
Interactive Brokers | XTB | Saxo Bank | Alpaca Trading | TradeStation | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Account fee | No | No | No | No | No |
Inactivity fee | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Deposit fee | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Withdrawal fee | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |