There are plenty of perks to investing in the stock market: dividends, shares and growth in value can all be yours if you know how to play your cards right. Of course, the other side of the coin is losing money, so it’s important to understand what stocks can do before you start trading.
Here we take a look at the best trading platforms and brokers in the UK.
M1 Finance: Best Free Stock App to Start Investing
- Available via desktop, Apple iOS and Google Android
- Best for: Passive Investors
- Sign up here
M1 Finance works as one of the best stock trading apps because it provides self-directed and automated investing options according to your predetermined investment decisions. This high-level of customization makes this stock trading app this site’s top robo-advisor pick.
Robo-advisors, which are almost exactly what they sound like, are automated investment managers who handle administrative investment actions on your behalf. Things like investing contributions, rebalancing your portfolio or making automated withdrawals.
Once you set up your portfolio, you can edit it as you wish or simply let the app handle all the nitty gritty while you learn how to increase your net worth with a growing account balance.
Specifically, clients can create a portfolio of stocks and ETFs tailored to their exact specifications, down to the last dollar thanks to their ability to trade fractional shares.
One major callout before going any further, however, is that while M1 Finance offers pre-made portfolios aligned to several investing goals—the company is not an advisory service.
That said, the firm has attracted billions of dollars in assets under management and has over one million users on the stock trading platform since its founding in 2015. No small feat in today’s competitive brokerage account market.
Why M1 Finance?
Sophisticated investors and beginners alike can use this stock trading app to build wealth through customizing your portfolio for free, automating additional contributions and dynamically rebalancing it over time to keep your assets allocated to your wishes.
With all these benefits, this best free stock trading app has a primary selling point: an orientation toward medium and long-term investors interested in building wealth through automated, diversified investing.
The robo-advisor provides the ability to buy and sell individual stocks and ETFs. Hence, why M1 Finance is this site’s best passive investing platform.
Additionally, you can opt to choose from 80+ expert portfolios or even purchase fractional shares if your target companies carry too high of a price tag.
For example, if you wanted to buy an entire share of a major tech company like Google or Amazon, but couldn’t float the entire cost, you could buy a fractional share.
Finally, investing with M1 Finance can be as simple as depositing money, setting your stock and index selections and having the platform automate your investments on your behalf.
This truly automates your investments if you set up recurring deposits, allowing your wealth to build.
Over time, M1 Finance will also rebalance your portfolio in line with your stated asset allocation targets. Regular rebalancing has been shown to improve portfolio performance over time, all things equal.
Consider opening an investment account with M1 Finance. If you deposit $1,000, you can even earn a free sign up bonus.
Read more in our M1 Finance review.
IronFX
Minimum deposit: $100
Regulators: FCA, ASIC, CYSEC, FSCA
Multi-platform: Yes
Pip spread on majors: 0–1.7
Maximum Leverage: 1,000
IronFX is a leading recognised investment firm and international brokerage.
IronFX offers tailored trading products and services to retail and institutional clients, including a wealth of trading tools, the latest trading platforms and 24/5 multilingual support.
As a multi-asset brokerage, IronFX provides more than 300 tradable instruments across six asset classes including forex, metals, indices, commodities, futures and shares.
For the last 10 years, IronFX has focussed on providing competitive trading conditions with tight spreads and flexible leverage.
The company also offers an Autotrade solution that allows traders to copy the best performing traders’ strategies.
Pros:
- 24-hour support and 24-hour trading
- Partnership programs
- Mobile trading
- Free education
- Bonuses
- Promotions
- Automated trading
- Demo account
E*Trade
No Account Minimums; $0 Trading Commissions; Long List of Assets Available to Trade
E*Trade, an online brokerage subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, has decades of experience providing quality services to the investing and trading community, and a parent company with a history dating back to the early 1930s.
With no account minimums, zero trading commissions, and a long list of assets available to trade, including highly diversified prebuilt portfolios, the platform has quickly grown to become one of the most popular online.
Here are the key stats:
- Minimums: There is no minimum deposit required to open an E*Trade account, making it accessible to everyone. The company requires a minimum balance of $2,000 be maintained for margin accounts.
- Tools: The platform’s trading tools easily compete with the best. As with other platforms on this list, there is no shortage of chart capabilities, technical indicators, or real-time data.
- Assets Available to Trade: The platform provides traders with access to stocks, options, futures, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, and CDs. You’ll also have access to a long list of prebuilt, well-diversified portfolios.
- Cost: The company offers zero commissions on trades of United States stocks, options, and ETFs. Options and futures contract fees are also highly competitive. Margin rates range from 5.45% to 8.95% depending on the size of your account.
- Customer Support: Backed by the investment professionals at Morgan Stanley, the customer support offered to traders is some of the best in the business. With offices open around the clock, there will always be someone available to answer your questions.
- Simulated Trading: Traders who use the platform will also have access to the company’s trading simulator, giving them the ability to test their strategies before using them in real-time.
- Margin Trading: The company offers margin accounts with reasonable interest rates that improve as the balance in your account increases.
- Available Order Types: E*Trade supports all of the basic order types a trader would expect to have access to while working in the stock market.
All in all, there’s good reason for E*Trade’s leadership in the trading platform space. The platform hits nearly all the nails on the head to provide a simplified, intuitive approach to day trading.
Vantage FX
Vantage FX was founded in 2008 to be a transparent forex broker and has grown to include 44 forex pairs and 290 CFDs (including cryptocurrency, shares, commodities and indices). As a broker, Vantage FX is well-regarded and considered safe thanks to regulation by ASIC and the FCA.
Vantage FX offers access to the markets through the popular MT4 and MT5 platforms, and a feature-stuffed mobile app.
There are three account types:
- Standard STP: Perfect for novices, this is a no-commission account that works across all trading instruments, with a minimum spread of 1.4 pips. The minimum deposit is $200.
- Raw ECN: Designed for more experienced traders, this account charges commission at $3 per lot per side but the spreads start at 0.0 pips. The minimum deposit is $500.
- Pro ECN: This is for professional, high-volume traders, and offers commission at $2 per lot per side, with spreads from 0.0 pips. The minimum deposit is $20,000.
Vantage FX is seen as a good, reliable broker that offers social and copy trading – without being prohibitively expensive in terms of non-trading costs or commission.
The MetaQuotes WebTrader platform is supported by Vantage FX and allows simple and fast connection to MetaTrader 4 & 5 trading accounts for both PC and laptop as well as through mobile technology. On the MT4 & 5 platforms, you can trade using a suite of indicators, many technical analysis tools, and one-click trading.
The proprietary Vantage FX app allows you to access global markets wherever you are – and at any time. Available for both iOS and Android devices, it is the perfect way to access trading on the go, while still taking advantage of a full suite of trading tools and technical indicators. The app offers 24/5 support and a range of global market news, too.
Trading Forex and CFDs involves significant risk of losing of your invested capital and is not suitable for all investors. 64.86% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should not invest more than you can afford to lose and should ensure that you fully understand the risks involved. Before trading, please take into consideration your level of experience, investment objectives and seek independent financial advice if necessary.
Unifimoney: All Financial Products in One Place [iOS Only]
- Available: Sign up here
- Best For: High earners looking for multiple financial products on one platform
- Price: Commission-free stock/ETF trades
Unifimoney is a digital money management app allowing users to invest in stocks, ETFs, precious metals and cryptos as well as bank, purchase insurance, sign up for credit cards, loans, mortgages, and even more!
The service combines robo-advisor with self-directed investing capability, allowing you to customize your portfolio on the fly or automate your portfolio in the background. Depending on your lifestyle and financial goals, Unifimoney offers the capability to invest how you want.
Further, you can even dive into cryptocurrency trading if that attracts your interest.
The company’s integrated banking and investment platforms help higher earning individuals make the most of their money in one location.
To qualify for the company’s competitive high-yield checking account’s top tier rates, you’ll need to deposit at least $2,000 per month or maintain a minimum balance of $20,000.
What Makes Unifimoney Different?
Where the app differentiates itself from other investing apps on this list is that it also offers access to other financial products like insurance, credit cards, mortgages, high-yield checking accounts with debit cards and more. They offer perks for buying financial products through their platform.
Of note, Unifimoney only offers services to iOS users right now. Further, it does not offer a retirement account (IRA) at this time.
If you’d like to sign up for an account with Unifimoney, you’ll need to pony up at least $100, one of the higher minimums on this list, though certainly not a major barrier.
To get you started, Unifimoney offers to deposit BTC into your account if you meet certain deposit minimums. The lowest deposit amount you can make within 30 days of account opening to get free BTC is $1,000.Unifimoney | Impacting the Financial World
- Automated investing through a robo-advisor with commission-free individual security trading
- Passively fund your portfolio as well as invest in alternatives like crypto or precious metals
- Sign up bonus: Get $25 – $1,000 in Bitcoin when you make a qualifying deposit
Conclusion
Online trading in the UK continues to have a positive impact on the average UK citizen. The UK stock market has seen some dramatic changes in recent years which has resulted in an influx of online brokerage firms emerging in this country.