Axos Self-Directed Trading Review 2024

Where Axos Self-Directed Trading shines

Cost: Axos Self-Directed Trading scores pretty well when it comes to affordability. The basic account is free, and provides customers with access to options, mutual funds and commission-free stocks and ETFs.

Fee-free and low-minimum mutual funds: Axos' selection of transaction-fee-free mutual funds and low-minimum mutual funds is both robust and budget-friendly. All mutual funds on the platform are free to trade, and there are nearly 3,000 funds with a minimum of $100 or less.

Integration with Axos Bank: Axos’ most unique draw is that it offers a solution to investors who are looking for integration when it comes to banking and investing. The company’s affiliate, Axos Bank, was a pioneer of digital-only banking and continues to make a name for itself with high-yield savings accounts, rewards checking options and lending services. Investors who are interested in bundled financial services can access the full suite of tools should they sign up with Axos banking, making it easier — and faster — to transfer funds, check account balances and place trades.

Where Axos Self-Directed Trading falls short

What type of investor should choose Axos Self-Directed Trading?

Intermediate-level traders who can do without high-powered tools or educational content.

Existing Axos customers who will benefit from an integrated app experience.

What the Nerds think 🤓

Axos Self-Directed Trading at a glance

How to sign up for an Axos Self-Directed Trading account

To sign up for an Axos Self-Directed Trading account you'll need some basic information about yourself, including your Social Security number and your bank account and routing numbers. You'll have to select the type of account you want to open (traditional brokerage account, traditional IRA, or Roth IRA) and fund your account. Axos may take up to two days to approve your account.

Note: During our first attempt to open an Axos account, one of our reviewers was unable to fund the account due to what seemed like broken functionality on both the Axos website and app. We reached out to Axos for comment and were told they weren't aware of anything unusual during the time we tested. The issue was later resolved when we made a second attempt, but the overall experience was buggy.

What to know about Axos Self-Directed Trading fees

Axos charges no commissions, annual or inactivity fees, but if you want to upgrade to an Axos Elite account, that amounts to $125 per year. Partial ACAT transfers, which allow you to transfer assets out of your account without selling investments, cost $50 and IRAs have a $60 transfer fee.

Options will cost investors $1 per contract. With an upgrade to Axos Elite, the price drops to $0.80, which is still higher than the typical fee at other brokerages: Many of Axos’ competitors offer options for lower per-contract fees, usually within the $0.50 to $0.75 range. Some charge no contract fees at all.

Axos Self-Directed Trading platforms and apps

This is a browser-based platform with no no downloadable desktop platform available.

Axos’ website offers all investors basic access to trading, while Elite customers get real-time data, research and third-party analytics.

When we tested Axos Self-Directed trading, it was a bit clunky from the beginning. It required opening an Axos account, and then separately creating a trading account, before being able to fund it by connecting to an outside bank account. For existing Axos Bank customers, this process is likely much smoother.

Once in the trading platform, we found a straightforward, bare-bones trading experience that would likely be fine for many investors. However, we did notice how antiquated it already feels to not have the option to buy in fractional shares, which is becoming common among many brokers.

Axos Self-Directed traders can log in to their accounts through the Axos Bank app, available for download on both iOS and Android. Elite members can also access research, set up a watchlist, and see a market overview, news, and index and sector performance from the app.

Worth noting: Axos members who have existing banking accounts with the firm — or plan to open one — can check their balances, view their accounts, transfer funds and pay bills within the same app.

Axos Self-Directed Trading investment selection

Axos Self-Directed offers access to stocks, corporate fixed income individual bonds, mutual funds, ETFs and options. Traders interested in futures, a wider selection of bonds or forex, however, might opt to look elsewhere. Margin trading is available when you upgrade to Elite, with a max margin rate (for account balances under $25,000) of 12.75%.

Axos offers 6,000 transaction-fee-free mutual funds at this time, and nearly 3,000 low-minimum mutual and index funds (i.e., funds requiring a minimum investment of less than or equal to $100). Axos also offers more than 700 low-cost mutual funds, which are funds that carry expense ratios of 0.50% or less.

Axos does not offer access to crypto, IPOs or over-the-counter stocks.

Other key Axos Self-Directed Trading features

FundFinder+

Axos offers a fund finder to help you find the right funds for your portfolio. You can search by asset category or asset manager. Axos says that FundFinder+ was designed to mimic the same tool financial advisors use to determine investment products for their clients. The FundFinder+ tool integrates data analytics from LOGICLY to provide fund details and performance.

Good to know about Axos Self-Directed Trading

Customer support

Axos is also a digital-only firm — which means it has no physical branches. If in-person servicing is a deal-breaker for you, Axos may not be the right fit. Otherwise, Axos offers phone and email support Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PST. Several Axos competitors offer customer support on the weekends as well.

Execution quality

Axos says its execution quality is 95%, and that it does not accept payment for order flow, or PFOF, which is a common practice among brokers. In recent years, regulators have looked into the practice of PFOF, which entails routing customer orders to market-making firms that pay for those trades, potentially creating a conflict of interest.

IRA account

Axos offers traditional, Roth and rollover IRAs. The minimum to open a traditional or Roth IRA is $50. Many brokers offer IRAs with no account minimum.

Research and data

Regular customers do not have access to much in the way of research or data. Elite customers have access to TipRanks, a third-party provider that collects analysts’ insights and recommendations. Other features include news from Benzinga and Seeking Alpha, plus SEC filings and company press releases.

All investors can access the brokerage’s blog, where they’ll find posts on investing and personal finance for educational support.

Low interest rate on uninvested cash

In the rising rate environment, many brokers have increased the amount of interest they pay customers on uninvested cash through default sweep programs. Axos, however, has kept its default sweep interest rate at 0.01%.

Is Axos Self-Directed Trading safe?

All investing comes with the risk of loss. Axos does offer FDIC insurance to protect cash deposits and is covered by SIPC insurance. For Cash Accounts, SIPC insurance covers up to $250,000 and for brokerage accounts it covers up to $500,000. These types of insurance don't apply to investment losses or price fluctuations. The company is also regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission to ensure compliance with securities regulations, and by FINRA, which regulates broker-dealers.

Is Axos Self-Directed Trading right for you?

At the most basic level, Axos Self-Directed is fine for no-frills investing. Beginner investors may not get the support or education they need. Options traders can find better pricing elsewhere, and advanced traders who are interested in forex, crypto and futures will be disappointed in the investment selection. All investors may find the platform difficult and clunky to use.