How We Calculate the Trust Score
A 0–100 trust signal: five checks on how client money is protected, each worth a fixed number of points.
Every broker on BrokerFit shows a Trust Score from 0 to 100. It is the sum of the five checks below, calculated the same way for every broker; commercial relationships are not an input. Broker pages set each score against the median of the brokers we cover, calculated from their current scores in the table further down. Comparison pages draw a reference line at 72 — a fixed benchmark we set, not a median of any data.
The score asks one question — how well client money is protected if the broker gets into trouble — and answers it with facts anyone can check: which regulators license the broker, whether a compensation scheme covers its clients, whether client money is segregated, how long the company has been in business and whether it is listed on a stock exchange. It is a trust signal, not a recommendation.
The Five Dimensions
Each check adds a fixed number of points, and together they make 100. Regulation carries the most.
Regulation & Licensing
40%15 points for each licence from a regulator on our list — FCA, SEC, CySEC, MiFID, BaFin, ASIC, KNF, NFA — up to 40. A licence from any other regulator adds nothing, whether it is offshore or issued by a strong regulator outside the list (for example CIRO, SFC, MAS, CBI, AIFC, FSA Seychelles). Sanctions, fines and licence suspensions do not reduce the score.
Investor Compensation Scheme
15%15 points if clients are covered by a statutory investor-compensation scheme (FSCS in the UK, ICF in Cyprus, SIPC in the US and similar), nothing if not. The size of the cover does not change the points: a small limit scores the same as a large one. Comparison pages show the limit itself.
Client Fund Segregation
15%15 points if our data for the broker records client money as held in segregated accounts, separate from the company’s own funds; nothing otherwise. We do not check which banks hold that money.
Years in Business
20%2 points for each year since the company was founded, up to 20 — so any broker founded at least 10 years ago gets the maximum. Past breaches, scandals and ownership changes are not part of this check.
Transparency
10%10 points if the broker or its parent company is listed on a stock exchange, which obliges it to publish audited accounts; 3 points otherwise. How clearly fees or AML policies are published is not scored.
Regulation alone carries 40 of the 100 points. Compensation cover adds 15, segregation 15, years in business 20 and a stock-market listing 10.
How we scored XTB
A walkthrough of one real broker, calculated from the same data as the table below.
- 40%XTB holds 3 licences from regulators on our list (FCA, KNF, CySEC). At 15 points each that would be 45, but the check stops at its maximum → 40/40.
- 20%XTB was founded in 2002: 24 years at 2 points each would be 48, capped at the maximum → 20/20.
- 15%Our data records XTB’s client money as segregated → 15/15.
- 15%XTB clients are covered by FSCS (£85,000) → 15/15. The size of the limit does not change the points.
- 10%XTB is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange → 10/10.
Total: 40 + 20 + 15 + 15 + 10 = 100/100.
That is above the reference line of 72. The score does not mean XTB is the right broker for everyone — only how many of the protections we check are in place.
How the 10 brokers we cover actually score
The rules above applied to each broker’s data — the points each one earns on every check. Hover a column header for the full name.
| Broker | Reg. | Comp. | Seg. | Track | Trans. | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interactive Brokers | 40/40 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 20/20 | 10/10 | 100/100 |
| XTB | 40/40 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 20/20 | 10/10 | 100/100 |
| eToro | 40/40 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 20/20 | 10/10 | 100/100 |
| Trading 212 | 40/40 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 20/20 | 3/10 | 93/100 |
| Tickmill | 30/40 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 20/20 | 3/10 | 83/100 |
| Admirals | 30/40 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 20/20 | 3/10 | 83/100 |
| Freedom Finance | 15/40 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 20/20 | 10/10 | 75/100 |
| DEGIRO | 15/40 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 20/20 | 10/10 | 75/100 |
| Just2Trade | 15/40 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 20/20 | 3/10 | 68/100 |
| EXANTE | 15/40 | 15/15 | 15/15 | 20/20 | 3/10 | 68/100 |
Reference line: 72/100 — a fixed benchmark we set; it is not calculated from this table.
Where the data comes from
Licences and compensation-scheme membership are checked against public registers and filings, not taken from broker marketing. Segregation, founding year and stock-market listing come from the broker’s and its parent company’s own disclosures.
What's Not in the Score
Sanctions and fines, customer support, app UX, country availability, instrument range and fee levels are not part of the Trust Score. Where we have confirmed an enforcement action in the regulator’s own notice, it is described on that broker’s safety page; the rest is shown on broker pages and in side-by-side comparisons. The score stays on one question — how client money is protected — not on whether you will enjoy trading there.
Update Cadence
The score is not stored: it is calculated from our broker data every time a page is built, and a data change reaches the pages within about a day. The data itself changes only when we re-read a register or a broker’s documents and update our records — nothing is pulled from regulators automatically. The refresh log shows what was checked and when.
Limitations
The Trust Score is built from public information; it cannot detect ongoing fraud that has not yet been disclosed by regulators. It does not predict your trading returns. It is a decision-support signal, not financial advice — always verify a broker's current licence on the regulator's official website before depositing.
Methodology FAQ
Why isn't customer service or app UX in the score?
The Trust Score answers one question — "can I get my money back if this broker collapses". Customer service quality, mobile app UX and platform speed are real concerns but they sit on a different axis (does the product work for me) than safety. We surface them separately on each broker page and in comparisons, but mixing them into a single number would dilute the trust signal.
How do you treat offshore licences?
A licence earns points only if its regulator is on our list: FCA, SEC, CySEC, MiFID, BaFin, ASIC, KNF, NFA. Every other licence adds nothing to the regulation check — offshore ones, and also those from regulators outside the list, such as CIRO, SFC, MAS, CBI, AIFC, FSA Seychelles. A broker with an offshore licence next to a listed one gets points for the listed licence only; the offshore licence neither adds nor subtracts.
What if a broker disputes its score?
We publish corrections openly. Email us a public source — a regulator URL, an annual report, an updated terms page — and we will re-check and roll out the change within 7 days. A score changes only when the data behind it changes: the rules on this page apply to every broker, so there is no private adjustment to make.
How often is the score recalculated?
Every time a page is built, from the data we hold; a data change reaches the pages within about a day. The data changes when we re-read a register or a broker’s documents, and the dates are in the refresh log. We do not track regulator notices automatically, so a licence change reaches the score only after we update our records.
Why isn't broker size or AUM in the score?
Size correlates with stability but not deterministically — large brokers have failed (e.g. MF Global, FXCM in some jurisdictions). What protects retail clients is the combination of regulation, compensation and segregation, not the broker's balance sheet. We do show size data on broker pages for context, but it does not move the score.
Can affiliate partnerships influence a score?
No. The same scoring rules apply to every broker in our coverage, partner and non-partner alike. Where a partner broker scores lower than a non-partner, it stays lower — we would rather lose a commission than publish a score we cannot defend with public data.
Corrections & Feedback
Spot an outdated licence number, a missing compensation scheme or a licence we have not picked up? Email us and we will investigate. Verified corrections are rolled out within 7 days.