The financial industry has experienced a lot of change in the last few years. From the collapse of the housing market and the mortgage crisis to meager interest rates and aggressive quantitative easing by central banks like the Federal Reserve (Fed), it is safe to say that investing in stocks is no longer as straightforward as it used to be.
Investors will need brokers who understand current market conditions and help navigate them successfully. While Japan’s brokerage landscape isn’t as competitive as that of other developed economies, several international brands offer services for Japanese investors.
Below we list some of our favorite US stock brokers with Japanese language support:
TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade is an online broker and one of the first places to go if you’re looking for a well-rounded, serviceable trading platform. It’s been around since the 1990s, and its parent company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In addition to US stocks, you can trade foreign securities too through TD Ameritrade’s alliance with global brokerage group Interactive Brokers.
Fidelity
The Boston-based financial services firm has been around since 1946, and it offers many valuable tools for investors. One unique feature you won’t find with other brokers is that Fidelity will give you a free share of one of its proprietary mutual funds if you transfer a certain amount of money. And in terms of buying and selling stocks, Fidelity’s transaction fees are very competitive and come with no minimums or maximums.
eOption
This online Broker is based in California and offers access to over 4,000 international stocks, ETFs, indices, and Forex pairs listed on significant exchanges worldwide. You can trade at your convenience 24 hours a day by registering for an account with eOption. And to make things easier, their trading platform has both Japanese language support for native speakers as well as English support for those who are non-native speakers.
Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank is a Danish investment bank founded in 1992 by Lars Seier Christensen and Kim Fournais. Its main business areas are trading, investments, and asset management. And while Saxo doesn’t have a Japanese language website, it does feature a detailed English section covering its funds, markets, research, and other helpful content for investors such as sector and country analyses.
Best US stockbrokers in Japan 2020 – 2023
Interactive Brokers
Interactive Broker is an online broker founded by Thomas Peterffy in 1993, offering trading services for individual investors, currency traders, commodity traders, market makers, and other institutional clients. It has its headquarters in Greenwich, Connecticut, with offices worldwide. And even though it’s primarily aimed at more prominent clients, you can still open a basic account with Interactive Brokers, which offers direct access to over 120 markets throughout the world.
Charles Schwab
One of America’s oldest brokerage firms, Charles Schwab, was founded nearly forty years ago by Chuck Schwab. Today, it is one of the largest US-based discount brokers by market share, with
Interactive Brokers Group
Interactive Broker is an exciting firm on many levels. It’s majority-owned by a group of American investors, including Thomas Peterffy, the father of high-frequency trading (HFT).
More importantly, it has electronic trading platforms used by professional traders and hedge funds worldwide to price assets like stocks and commodities. What’s more, you can access them too through your smartphone without any extra fees or commissions. The interactive Broker also offers margin lending for its clients around the globe. And finally, there is no minimum account size required to register with them either!
Interactive Brokers
Founded in 1978 by Thomas Peterffy to service institutional clients, the firm has evolved into one of America’s largest electronic brokerage firms. Interactive Brokers charge some of the lowest commission fees for buying and selling stocks. It also provides access to dozens of instruments, including commodities futures, forex, bonds, ETFs, and CFDs.
