What Makes a Good Broker? Regulation Is the #1 Factor
We broke down ratings for 341 brokers across 6 dimensions: regulation, fees, platform, trust, UX, and markets. The biggest surprise? Fees have near-zero correlation (0.00) with overall quality. Regulation dominates at 0.71.
Regulation is the #1 driver of broker quality — it has a 0.71 correlation with overall rating across 341 brokers, far ahead of platform (0.33) and trust (0.17). Fees have near-zero correlation (0.00) — almost every broker scores well on fees, so it can't differentiate good from bad. 5% of brokers score 0 on regulation and rank significantly lower as a result.
See full rating breakdown belowKey Findings
- Regulation has the strongest correlation (0.71) with overall broker rating — by far the most important dimension.
- Fees have near-zero correlation (0.00) with overall quality — almost every broker scores high on fees.
- 18 brokers (5%) score 0 on regulation, typically offshore or unregulated platforms.
- Regulation carries 25% of the scoring weight AND has a 0.71 correlation — it dominates broker rankings by both design and data.
- Trust and UX scores are universally high across brokers, making them the weakest quality differentiators.
341
Brokers Analyzed
Regulation
#1 Factor
0.71
Regulation Corr.
5%
No Regulation
What Actually Drives Overall Rating?
Correlation of each dimension with overall broker score. 1.0 = perfect correlation, 0 = no relationship.
Key insight: Regulation has 25% weight AND 0.71 correlation — it dominates both by design and by data. Fees (20% weight) have essentially zero predictive power because almost all brokers score high on fees.
Average Score per Dimension (0–10)
Where do brokers score well — and where do they struggle?
2.5
9.4
6.0
9.9
7.6
7.0
Trust (9.91/10) and fees (9.39/10) are universally high — every broker scores well here. Regulation (2.51/10) is the bottleneck for most brokers, with 18 scoring zero.
The Regulation Problem
For 319 of 341 brokers, regulation is the weakest dimension — dragging down overall scores.
| Weakest Dimension | Brokers | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Regulation | 319 | 94% |
| Platform | 10 | 3% |
| User Experience | 7 | 2% |
| Markets | 5 | 1% |
Top 10 Brokers — Full Breakdown
How do the best-rated brokers score across all 6 dimensions?
| Broker | Overall | Reg. | Fees | Plat. | Trust | UX | Mkts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interactive Brokers | 4.43 | 10.0 | 9.6 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 7.0 | 10.0 |
| Forex.com | 4.40 | 8.0 | 8.4 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 7.5 | 10.0 |
| OANDA | 4.34 | 10.0 | 8.8 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 7.5 | 6.0 |
| IG Group | 4.33 | 8.0 | 8.8 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 8.0 | 10.0 |
| Kraken | 4.28 | 10.0 | 9.5 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 7.5 | 8.0 |
| Upbit | 4.27 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 7.7 | 8.0 |
| ForTrade | 4.25 | 8.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 7.2 | 10.0 |
| Coinbase | 4.23 | 10.0 | 8.8 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 8.5 | 8.0 |
| Crypto.com | 4.15 | 10.0 | 9.2 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 7.5 | 8.0 |
| Pepperstone | 4.12 | 5.0 | 8.6 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 8.5 | 10.0 |
Scores are on a 0–10 scale. Green = 9+, Red = 3 or below. Notice how top brokers all score high on regulation and trust — the two most important differentiators.
Related Reading
Methodology
This study analyzed rating breakdowns for 341 active brokers as of 2026. Each broker is scored across 6 dimensions on a 0–10 scale. The overall rating is a weighted average: Regulation (25%), Fees (20%), Platform (15%), Trust (15%), UX (15%), Markets (10%), normalized to 0–5.
Correlation coefficients (Pearson) measure the linear relationship between each dimension score and the overall rating. A value of 1.0 means perfect positive correlation; 0 means no relationship.
Cite This Research
Suggested citation:
— BrokerRank Research, Rating Breakdown Analysis 2026. brokerrank.net/research/rating-breakdown-analysis
Frequently Asked Questions
What factor matters most in a broker rating?
Regulation has the strongest correlation (0.71) with overall broker rating — by far the most important factor. Markets (0.39) and platform quality (0.33) follow. Fees (0.00) have almost zero correlation with overall score.
Why don't fees affect broker ratings?
Because nearly all brokers score high on fees — the average is 9.39/10. When everyone scores well on a dimension, it can't differentiate good brokers from bad. Regulation (avg 2.51/10) has much more variance, so it's a stronger differentiator.
How many brokers have no regulation?
18 brokers (5%) score 0 on regulation. These are typically offshore brokers or crypto exchanges without tier-1 licensing. Since regulation has the highest weight (25%) and strongest correlation, these brokers rank significantly lower overall.
How is the overall broker score calculated?
The overall score is a weighted average of 6 dimensions: Regulation (25%), Fees (20%), Platform (15%), Trust (15%), User Experience (15%), and Markets (10%). Each dimension is scored 0–10 and the weighted sum is normalized to a 0–5 scale.
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This data is free to cite with attribution to BrokerRank. Please link back to the original study.
BrokerRank. "What Makes a Good Broker? Regulation Is the #1 Factor." BrokerRank, 2026. https://brokerrank.net/research/rating-breakdown-analysis