You get a lot more than just a website from your bank on which you trade shares with limited information. Our platform range from basic one-screen layouts, to advanced multi-device platforms aimed at day traders and professional traders, showing auction uncrossing prices, good charting and more.
Iress, for local instruments
The Iress platforms are being used Worldwide – including Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, United Kingdom, and now also South Africa, where it is rapidly gaining market share. Iress can also be white-labelled, so you will see the platform being offered by various local players, including Nedbank, Peregrine, Investec, Thebe, etc. Each one has their own logo and colour scheme, but it is essentially the same platform underneath.
We offer the Iress platforms through Nedbank and Peregrine. Peregrine offers you a single username/password, and then you can link all your different accounts to that single platform – so you trade any local instrument from one place. Nedbank currently offers CFD trading on their version of Iress, called Ntrade, and they are currently in the process of adding equities and other local instruments. The Iress platform is available in two versions:
Iress Investor
As easy as it gets
Investor has a basic one-screen layout. It is conveniently divided into 4 sections, so you can easily view your watchlist/shares; manage your portfolio and see all your open positions; load and view all your orders; and have access to some basic charting and technical analysis. Iress Investor is more aimed at people who trade overnight positions, ie do not buy and sell within the same day, but rather buy something to keep the position for a few days, weeks, months or years.
No Java
It also doesn’t require Java, and it is not a software package that you need to install on your machine. Which means you can access Iress Investor from any device with any internet browser – including smartphones & tablets. We also offer demo accounts, so that you can get used to the look and feel of the platform. The demo account offers delayed data, whereas the live account offers live data.
Iress Trader
Aimed at daytraders
Trader is an advanced daytrading platform. It shows auction uncrossing prices, and has the ability to load a multitude of order types – including stop loss, take profit, breakout orders, contingent/if-done orders and trailing stops. It requires the latest version of Java to be installed, which means you will not be able to access it from your phone or tablet. Java enables right-click functionality in the browser, so the trading platform is very easy to navigate and use.
You can program your own custom keys and it also offers a DDE link/plugin, and the ability import & export data to other applications. Trader may be overkill for someone who only wants to place a few orders and keep track of his positions. The demo/dummy accounts details are the same for both Iress Trader and Investor – so that you can log into both and play around and see the differences between the two packages.
Free Iress Demo accounts
You can test drive either Trader or Investor for free. Use the links and login details below to try the platforms for yourself. You can get used to the look and feel, place trades and play around. There are some limitations, though: up to 50 people can log in simultaneously; the data is delayed by 15 mins, so you don’t get live data on the demo account; and by the end of the trading day all positions are flushed – so there is no carry-over to the next day.
Login details
- Iress Trader
- Iress Investor
- Username = demo@peregrine
- Password = password123
More on Iress
- Iress Trader Manual — for basic and advanced users, compiled by Courtney Capital.
- If-Done orders release notes — explaining how to activate and use the trigger orders.
- Contingent Orders simplified — how to load stop loss, trailing stops, and breakout orders.
Saxo, local & offshore
For those not familiar with Saxo Bank: they have over 1,000 employees, speaking 40 languages – there’s 25 languages on the platforms alone. They have a proven track record, with both private and institutional clients in 190 different countries; they do around 175,000 forex trades every day; and the daily turnover is around $15-20 billion USD.
- Over 24000 different instruments
- Over 7300 different CFD’s
- Over 13000 different shares
- Over 33 different exchanges
- Over 1300 different ETF’s & ETC’s
- Over 500 different bonds
- Over 160 different forex pairs
- Over 140 different futures, incl. energy, metals, bonds, indices, currencies & interest rates.
Three different platforms
- SaxoTrader — downloaded to your desktop
- SaxoWebTrader — as it says, on the web
- SaxoMobileTrader — an app for your smartphone or tablet
We view this as one of the best private/retail client trading platform in the world today. And with your single username/login details, you have free access to all three different platforms. For security purposes you can only be logged into any 1 platform at a time.
Platform specifics
The platforms offer DMA – direct market access, so you trade straight into the relevant stock exchange, without delays. Different order types include limit, market, GTD good till date, GTC good till cancelled and multi-rule based stop loss and trigger orders. You can also view your order on the charts, and their technical analysis and charting tools are phenomenal.
They also make statements a breeze. Your platform shows you all trade history and you can download the necessary reports for your tax returns at any time. You can even request withdrawals from your trading account on your platform, so amounts to be transferred into your bank account.
View a quick overview on each platform.
What makes them unique?
They offer detailed company information on over 11,000 shares worldwide; forward looking multiples/PE ratios; consensus analyst recommendations; a stock screener tool with over 250 criteria. And up to 70% margin lending. This means if you have a long term equities portfolio with Saxo, they will allow you to trade geared instruments up to 70% of the value of your equities portfolio. So now you can start trading short term instruments without having to fork out more cash to open an account.
