SogoTrade Review 2019

SogoTrade is a US-based stock broker founded in 1986 and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

While it is not listed on any stock exchanges and it doesn't have a bank background SogoTrade is considered safe because it has a long track record and it is regulated by top-tier regulators. Clients are eligible for the SIPC investor protection scheme which offers up to $500,000 (cash up to $250,000) per account.

Recommended for stock and options traders aiming for a US-based stockbroker with great customer service.

SogoTrade pros and cons

The account opening at SogoTrade is user-friendly, fully digital, and fast. This is not usual for US brokers. The customer service is great, we got fully relevant and quick answers. You can use a wide range of research tools, e.g. detailed fundamental data

SogoTrade charges a high inactivity fee, $50 per year and charges high withdrawal fees for bank transfers, $50 for non-US citizens and $25 for US citizens. The product portfolio limited, you can trade only with stock, ETF, and options. Lastly, the desktop trading platform is not user-friendly and lacks many essential functions, like a clear fee report.

Compare to other brokers

SogoTrade review
Fees 4 stars

SogoTrade has low trading fees and high non-trading fees.

We ranked SogoTrade's fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.

To get things rolling, let's go over some lingo relating to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees, financing rates, and non-trading fees.

• Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions or spreads.
• Financing rates or overnight rates are charged when you hold your leveraged positions for more than a day. A leveraged position means that you borrow money from the broker to trade.
• Non-trading fees include things like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

We also compared SogoTrade's fees with those of two SogoTrade alternatives we selected, Tradestation and Interactive Brokers. This selection is based on factors like products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc.

Let's start with the trading fees.

Trading fees

SogoTrade trading fees are low. The fee structure is transparent, you can easily calculate the costs.

Furthermore, when you open a new trading account, you get 100 commission-free trades as a promotion for new customers.

Stock fees and ETF fees

SogoTrade has generally low stock trading fees.

The stock fee is fixed at SogoTrade, while TradeStation and Interactive Brokers have per share fee structures. Because of this fixed fee, SogoTrade can be better than TradeStation and Interactive Brokers if you trade less frequently but bigger ticket sizes.

SogoTrade charges lower commissions if you trade frequently or buy the so-called "Pre-Paid Packages". You can see in this table the different commission levels.

*The Pre-Paid Trading technically means that you buy lower commissions in advance. E.g. if you buy the 50 trade package for $144 price you get 50 trades for $2.88 commission. The packages expires after 1 year, so you have to use the 20/50 trade packages within 1 year.

Options fees

SogoTrade options fees are generally average. The options fees float between TradeStation and Interactive Brokers.

The options fees contain a base rate which is a fixed fee and a $0.5 per contract fee. The base rate can be lower if you trade frequently or buy the Pre-Paid Packages.

*Similarly to stocks, the Pre-Paid Trading means that you buy lower commissions in advance.

Financing rates

SogoTrade financing rates are generally high.

Financing rates are charged when you hold your leveraged positions for more than a day. It can be a significant proportion of your trading costs.

SogoTrade financing rate is volume-tiered. It applies a base rate and premium or discount depending on the financed amount. The base rate is set by its discretion, at the time of the SogoTrade review the base rate was 8.5%.

Non-trading fees

SogoTrade has high non-trading fees. It charges inactivity fees and high withdrawal fees. As a plus, there is no account fee.

The inactivity fee is $50 per year if your trading account balance is under $100 and you don't trade for 12 months.

SogoTrade has a relative high withdrawal fee, $25 for US citizens and $50 for non-US citizens.

SogoTrade review
Account opening 5 stars

Opening an account at SogoTrade is easy, fast and fully digital for both US and international citizens.

Can you open SogoTrade account?

SogoTrade is a US broker, but clients from all over the world can open an account.

There are ~120 countries where clients can't open accounts. Just to mention a few: Canada, Indonesia, Russia, etc.

What is the minimum deposit at SogoTrade?

There is no minimum deposit at SogoTrade. This is ideal if you plan to invest smaller amounts.

Account types

SogoTrade has 7 types of accounts:

In this review, we have tested the Individual Account.

How to open your account

The account opening is user-friendly, fully digital, and fast. It took 2 days for us. This is not usual for US brokers, e.g. the account opening at Interactive Brokers is very complicated.

At first, you have to go through a 5-step registration process which takes roughly 20 minutes. During this registration, you have to provide some personal information and there are trading experience questions.

At the end of this process, you have to verify your identity and residency by uploading a scan of the following documents:

• ID or passport for identity check
• Bank statement or utility bill for proof of residency

SogoTrade review
Deposit and withdrawal 2 stars

SogoTrade offers free funding. On the other hand, you can transfer money only by bank transfer and non-US clients are charged $50, while US clients are charged $25 for bank transfer withdrawal.

Account base currencies

At SogoTrade, you can open your trading account only in one base currency, USD. It lags behind the competitors..

Why does this matter? If you deposit your account in USD, you won't be charged a currency conversion fee. In case you send in money in any other currency you'll be charged a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on the currency conversion fees can be to open a multi-currency bank account. Revolut or Transferwise both offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. The account opening only takes a few minutes on your phone.

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Deposit fees and options

SogoTrade charges no deposit fees but it only accepts bank transfers. This is similar to SogoTrade's competitors.

If you are from the US, you can also use

• Check deposit
• ACH (automated clearing house) initiated at your bank/at SogoTrade
• ACAT (account transfer)

You can only deposit money from bank accounts which are under your name. A bank transfer can take several business days, while payment with a credit/debit card would be instant.

Withdrawal fees and options

The SogoTrade withdrawal fee is $50$50.

If you are outside the US, you can use only bank transfer. For US clients, the check, ACH, and ACAT withdrawal methods are also available.

You can only withdraw money to accounts under your name.

How long does it take to withdraw money from SogoTrade? As it's the only option, we tested the bank transfer. As usual with bank transfers, it took 3 days.

How do you withdraw money from SogoTrade? You can withdraw money from SogoTrade by following these steps:

• Log into the account management
• Go to the Funds/Account Transfer
• Select "Transfer Cash"
• Select the withdrawal method
• Add the amount you wish to withdraw
• Initiate the withdrawal

Compare to other brokers

SogoTrade review
Web trading platform 3 stars

The SogoTrade trading platform is user-friendly, has a good search function, and offers a variety of order types. However, it's not customizable, it doesn't look nice, and doesn't have price alerts.

SogoTrade offers multiple web trading platforms which they brand as SogoTrader, SogoOnline, and SogoOptions. In this review, we picked SogoOptions because it looked like the most feature rich. Beyond English, it's available in simplified and traditional Chinese. Despite its name, it offers stocks besides the options as well. 

Look and feel

The SogoTrade web trading platform is user-friendly. You will easily get around even if you are a beginner.

On the flip side, the web trading platform is not customizable.

Login and security

SogoTrade provides only a one-step authentication.

However, when you login, you have to add a 4 to 6 digits PIN number. This serves as an additional security layer on top of the regular user ID + password combination.

Search functions

The search functions work as you would expect. When you start typing the asset's ticker or name, a list of the relevant results appear.

Placing orders

You can use a great variety of order types:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop-loss
• Stop Limit
• Trail Stop
• Trail Stop Limit

If you are not familiar with the basic order types, read this overview.

There are also two order time limits you can use:

• Good 'til canceled (GTC)
• Good 'til end of the day (GTD)

Alerts and notifications

You cannot set up price alerts and you don't get any notification of the executed order on the web trading platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

SogoTrade has a clear portfolio report but lacks a clear fee report.  The fee report would help you to see how much costs you paid to the broker.

The portfolio report is available on the Account Overview page and not within the trading platform.

Visit web platform page

SogoTrade review
Mobile trading platform 4 stars

The SogoApp is user-friendly packed with helpful user instructions. It offers a variety of order types and price alerts as well. On the negative side, it doesn't have order confirmation.

The mobile trading platform is available on iOS and Android. In this review, we tested it on Android.

It's in English. 

Look and feel

The SogoTrade mobile trading platform is user-friendly. At the first usage, it provides a useful walkthrough of the main functions like orders and price alerts.

Login and security

It is the same as on the web trading platform. Furthermore, the fingerprint authentication is missing though which would be easier for the user.

Search functions

The search functions are the same as on the web trading platform.

Placing orders

You can use a lot of order types:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop-loss
• Stop Limit
• Trailing Stop
• Trailing Stop Limit

There are also order time limits you can use:

• Good 'til canceled (GTC)
• Good 'til end of the day (GTD)

Alerts and notifications

Contrary to the web trading platform you can set price alerts on the SogoApp mobile platform but order confirmations are missing here as well.

Visit mobile platform page

SogoTrade review
Desktop trading platform 1 stars

The SogoTrade desktop trading platform has a lot to improve. The platform is not user-friendly, has a poor search function, and lacks a clear fee report.

SogoTrade offers a desktop trading platform, the SogoElite. It is available only for Windows.

The desktop trading platform is available in English, Russian.

Look and feel

The SogoTrade desktop trading platform is not user-friendly. The functions are not intuitive at all. For example, if you want to see an asset's chart, you have to first open the chart feature and then type the asset's symbol in the search field.

As a plus, the desktop trading platform is highly customizable.

Login and security

SogoTrade's desktop trading platform has only a one-step login. A two-step login would be more secure.

Search functions

The search functions are poor. In contrast to the web trading platform, you can search only if you type the assets' ticker, and not their names.

Placing orders

You can use only the basic order types:

• Limit
• Market
• Stop-loss
• Stop Limit

There are also order time limits you can use:

• Good 'til canceled (GTC)
• Good 'til end of the day (GTD)

Alerts and notifications

Similarly to the SogoTrade web trading platform, you cannot set alerts and notifications on the desktop trading platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

SogoTrade doesn't have clear portfolio and fee reports.

Visit desktop platform page

SogoTrade review
Markets and products 1 stars

At SogoTrade, you can trade only with US stocks, ETFs, and options.

SogoTrade offers only stocks, ETFs, and options. This offer covers only US markets.

Usually, we benchmark brokers by comparing how many markets a broker cover. We couldn't figure out how many exchanges SogoTrade covers. If you are planning to trade with really small US stocks or options, it is best to contact their customer support first. 

SogoTrade review
Research 4 stars

SogoTrade research is great. You can use many tools, including detailed fundamental data and good quality news. On the other hand, research tools are not very user-friendly.

The research tools can be found in the Trade Ideas section. They are available only in English.

Recommendations

You can read recommendations in the reports provided by ValueEngine and in the Morning Call newsletter provided by Trading Central.

When you select the ValueEngine reports, you can find reports for specific assets, like Apple and for sectors, like Construction. These reports contain a very detailed analysis and recommendations based on fundamentals.

The Morning Call newsletters contain technical analysis-based recommendations for a few selected stocks.

Fundamental data

You can find fundamental data in the reports provided by ValueEngine. These reports cover fundamental data, like company valuation, financial statements, EPS, P/E, etc.

Besides ValueEngine, you can access to fundamental data if you log into your web Account and search the asset's ticker in the search box. These fundamental data include growth rates, various legal filings (i.e. SEC filings, 10-K reports), comparison charts and a general company profile.

Charting

We tested the charting tools on SogoElite, the desktop trading platform as it seemed better than other platforms' charting tools.

SogoTrade charting tools have a lot to improve. It was hard to edit the charts, e.g. we didn't find how we can delete a trendline. Furthermore, there are 56 technical indicators which might be enough but this amount is lower than what you'll find at some competitors.

Newsfeed

The news has great quality, it is easily readable. It is provided by Comtex, a third-party news provider.  You can find the news when you search for a specific asset.

Other research tools you will enjoy

The Stock Screener is a tool where you can filter stocks. There are endless filters you can use. From the technical indicators to the company profile, you will find everything. 

SogoPlay is a great research tool for options trading. You have to select a specific option, add trading scenarios, like the market will go up and your trading preferences, like the preferred investment amount. After, the tool shows the expected profit/loss balance, trading costs, and other useful information.

Lastly, SogoTrader offers a handy tool dubbed as Asset Management. Resembling robo-advisors, it will suggest a portfolio to start your investment with based on your investment experience, risk tolerance level, and investment goal.

Compare research pros and cons

SogoTrade review
Customer service 5 stars

SogoTrade has great customer support. You can reach out to them in many ways and the customer service gives fast and relevant answers.

You can contact SogoTrade in English via:

• telephone (+ free Skype)
• email
• live chat

SogoTrade phone support was fast and we got relevant answers. There is also a toll-free Skype line.

On email, we also received quick and relevant answers.

The live chat gives a relevant answer. However, it is hard to reach out to them. It is because of that the live chat is available during the working hours in the US.

The customer service is available from Monday to Friday, between 7:00 to 20:00 ET. We missed 24/7 availability.

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SogoTrade review
Education 2 stars

SogoTrade's education section can be improved. The content is hard to navigate and a demo account is not offered. As a plus, a wide range of topics is covered.

You can learn in the following ways:

• Platform tutorial videos
• Educational texts

The platform tutorial videos are hard to find and they are not very detailed.

In the Education section, they offer a lot of quality education material in topics ranging from investing basics through trading and stock selection to options and margin trading. The options related materials are provided by The Options Industry Council. On the flipside

• some of the materials are not available anymore
• the blog section is very outdated (the last post was published back in 2017)
• the sections are hard to navigate.

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SogoTrade review
Safety

SogoTrade is regulated by top-tier US regulators SEC and FINRA. You are also protected by a high investor protection amount, $500,000 which includes $250,000 for cash. On the flip side, negative balance protection is not provided.

Is SogoTrade regulated? Yes, it is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), it's also a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).

Is SogoTrade safe? To be certain, it is best to check two things: how you are protected if something goes wrong and what the background of the broker is.

How you are protected

This is important for you because the investor protection amounts can be different depending on your country of origin. With SogoTrade this is not an issue though as all customers are covered by one US legal entity.

The SIPC investor protection protects against the loss of cash and securities in case the broker goes bust. The limit of SIPC protection is $500,000, which includes a $250,000 limit for cash. A non-U.S. citizen with SogoTrade is treated by the SIPC the same as a US resident in case something goes wrong. The provided amount is a substantially higher amount than most European investor protection schemes. 

On top of this accounts are covered with additional insurance up to an aggregate limit of $150 million. The aggregate limit means that this additional insurance covers all SogoTrade accounts and not just yours.

On the flip side, SogoTrade does not provide negative balance protection.

Background of SogoTrade

SogoTrade was established in 1986 which is considered to be a long track record. The longer the track record of a broker is, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.

Being regulated by top-tier regulators and being in operation for a long time are all great signs for SogoTrade's safety.

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SogoTrade review
Bottom line

SogoTrade is a great broker for US stock and options trading.

The account opening at SogoTrade is easy, fully digital, and takes 1-2 days. It has also great customer support which gives fast and relevant answers. Lastly, you can use a wide range of research tools, including a wide range of analytical tools.

On the negative side, SogoTrade charges $50 per year inactivity fee and high withdrawal fees for bank transfers, $50 for non-US clients and $25 for US clients. The product offer is limited, you can trade only with stock, ETF, and options. The desktop trading platform can be improved as it is not user-friendly-structured and misses essential tools, like price alerts.

As the account opening is seamless, and SogoTrade offers 100 commission-free trades for new account opens, feel free to try it.

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