What Makes a Good Broker? Regulation Is the #1 Factor
We broke down ratings for 340 brokers across 6 dimensions: regulation, fees, platform, trust, UX, and markets. The biggest surprise? Fees have near-zero correlation (-0.03) with overall quality. Regulation dominates at 0.83.
Regulation is the #1 driver of broker quality — it has a 0.83 correlation with overall rating across 340 brokers, far ahead of platform (0.51) and trust (0.21). Fees have near-zero correlation (-0.03) — almost every broker scores well on fees, so it can't differentiate good from bad. 38% of brokers score 0 on regulation and rank significantly lower as a result.
See full rating breakdown belowKey Findings
- Regulation has the strongest correlation (0.83) with overall broker rating — by far the most important dimension.
- Fees have near-zero correlation (-0.03) with overall quality — almost every broker scores high on fees.
- 130 brokers (38%) score 0 on regulation, typically offshore or unregulated platforms.
- Regulation carries 25% of the scoring weight AND has a 0.84 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.
340
Brokers Analyzed
Regulation
#1 Factor
0.83
Regulation Corr.
38%
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 0.84 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?
1.6
9.4
5.7
9.9
7.6
6.2
Trust (9.91/10) and fees (9.40/10) are universally high — every broker scores well here. Regulation (1.60/10) is the bottleneck for most brokers, with 130 scoring zero.
The Regulation Problem
For 322 of 340 brokers, regulation is the weakest dimension — dragging down overall scores.
| Weakest Dimension | Brokers | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Regulation | 322 | 95% |
| Markets | 9 | 3% |
| Platform | 8 | 2% |
| User Experience | 1 | 0% |
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 |
| IG Group | 4.33 | 8.0 | 8.8 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 8.0 | 10.0 |
| Pepperstone | 4.12 | 5.0 | 8.6 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 8.5 | 10.0 |
| FxPro | 4.09 | 5.0 | 8.8 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 7.8 | 10.0 |
| OANDA | 4.09 | 8.0 | 8.8 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 7.5 | 6.0 |
| City Index | 4.06 | 6.0 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 7.5 | 10.0 |
| CMC Markets | 4.04 | 6.0 | 8.6 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 7.8 | 10.0 |
| eToro | 4.01 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 8.5 | 10.0 |
| Saxo Bank | 4.00 | 6.0 | 9.2 | 6.0 | 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 340 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 (0.83) with overall broker rating — by far the most important factor. Markets (0.57) and platform quality (0.51) follow. Fees (-0.03) 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 9.40/10. When everyone scores well on a dimension, it can't differentiate good brokers from bad. Regulation (avg 1.60/10) has much more variance, so it's a stronger differentiator.
How many brokers have no regulation?
130 brokers (38%) 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.
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