We found 11 online brokers that are appropriate for Trading Investing Platforms.
When we invest in a fund, our main concern is the return rate on investments. We focus so much on performance that we forget about other small details that also influence our total return. These details include hidden costs. Hidden costs reduce returns, and thus, even the portfolios rate of return is reduced. We will cover what these hidden costs are, starting with fund charges.
These charges do not depend on the performance of the portfolio's assets. You will have to pay fund charge regardless of whether you are winning or losing money in your investments. Fund charges include the cost to manage your portfolio, and they constantly reduce the capital available to invest.
Such actions can add up during the years, and it can significantly reduce the overall portfolio performance. A portfolio that is negatively performing and paying high fund charges will compound these losses over the years. Higher charges do not necessarily mean that the fund is better than another fund with a lower charge. There are also other fees associated with a portfolio.
There are other charges that one pays when investing in funds. These charges, when added up, yield the true annual cost. This annual cost is reflected with a variable called, the 'ongoing charge figure', or OCF. It is calculated by adding up the Annual Management Charge, auditor fees, and trustee fees. We will go over these charges next.
The Annual Management Charge includes the fund's profit. Actively managed funds require more work and more management, so they have higher fees. Passively managed funds require less supervision and management, thus they have lower fees. The differences can go beyond 1% among these categories. This 1% difference can compound over the years and can diminish your overall profit. Then, on top of the previously mentioned fees, you can include auditor and trustee fees which add up to another 0.1%. Small difference now, but a big difference over the years. All these fees are reported in the fund's reports.
Depending on which entity you decide to invest in, you could pay extra charges. If you buy from brokers or fund supermarkets, you will be charged a fixed annual amount, or a percentage dependent amount. Depending on your portfolio size, the choice of which fees to pay will affect your returns differently.
There are also transaction fees to pay, or more generally, the fees when you buy and sell an investment. Different brokers charge different amounts, and there are some brokers that do not even charge this fee. Brokers can also charge you for consultation and financial advising.
In addition to the above charges, some unit trusts and OEICs may also charge performance fees. Depending on the portfolio's performance, they might take a specific percentage of the profit. There are also stamp duty fees when a position is closed. These charges are less expensive for passively managed funds.
After you have paid all the above fees, there is still the government to pay. Remember, if you make a profit on your investments, you have to pay capital gains tax. However, you are exempt from paying this tax if you make less than £12,000 in capital gains. After this, there are specific taxation rates for different investor categories. The amount that you earn dictates the tax bracket that you fall under. There is also a dividends tax. You are exempt from this tax if you make less than £2,000 from dividends in a year. Above that amount, you will be taxed according to your tax bracket. We have the basic rate, the higher rate, and the additional rate. Such categories exist for capital gains tax as well.
After we have viewed all of the additional charges, we can see that, over the years, these can significantly affect your cumulative return. We can work with tax allowances to reduce the above taxations. There is also another strategy to bypass these charges. Opening a stocks and shares ISA will offer a special taxation bracket in which you can protect your earnings from dividends and capital gains taxes.
We've collected thousands of datapoints and written a guide to help you find the best fund charges eating into returns for you. We hope this guide helps you find a reputable broker that matches what you need. We list the what we think are the best Investing platforms below. You can go straight to the broker list here.
There are a number of important factors to consider when picking an online Investing Platforms trading brokerage.
Our team have listed brokers that match your criteria for you below. All brokerage data has been summarised into a comparison table. Scroll down.
We compare these features to make it easier for you to make a more informed choice.
Here are the top Investing Platforms.
Compare Investing Platforms min deposits, regulation, headquarters, benefits, funding methods and fees side by side.
All brokers below are Investing platforms. Learn more about what they offer below.
You can scroll left and right on the comparison table below to see more Investing platforms that accept Investing platforms clients
Broker |
eToro
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IC Markets
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XTB
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FP Markets
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Trading212
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Plus500
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Pepperstone
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EasyMarkets
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XM
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FXPrimus
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SpreadEx
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Rating | |||||||||||
Regulation | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Markets In Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) | Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Financial Services Authority (FSA), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), FCA number FRN 522157, Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), CySEC Licence Number: 169/12, Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores, Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego, Belize International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) under license number IFSC/60/413/TS/19, Polish Securities and Exchange Commission (KPWiG) | Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) | Plus500UK Ltd authorized & regulated by the FCA (#509909), Plus500CY Ltd authorized & regulated by CySEC (#250/14), Plus500AU Pty Ltd (ACN 153301681), ASIC in Australia AFSL #417727, FMA in New Zealand, FSP #486026 and Authorised Financial Services Provider in South Africa FSP #47546 | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), Capital Markets Authority of Kenya (CMA), Pepperstone Markets Limited is incorporated in The Bahamas (number 177174 B), Licensed by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) number SIA-F217 | Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) | International Financial Services Commission (IFSC), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) | Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Markets In Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) |
Min Deposit | 200 | 200 | No minimum deposit | 100 | 1 | 100 | 200 | 100 | 5 | 100 | 1 |
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Used By | 17,000,000+ | 60,000+ | 250,000+ | 10,000+ | 14,000,000+ | 15,500+ | 10,000+ | 142,500+ | 70,000+ | 10,000+ | 10,000+ |
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Platforms | Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, MT5, Mirror Trader, ZuluTrade, Web Trader, cTrader, Mac | MT4, Mirror Trader, Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, MT5, IRESS, Mac, Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, MT5, Mac, ZuluTrade, Web Trader, cTrader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, MT5, Mac, Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | MT4, Mac, Mirror Trader, Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps | Web Trader, Tablet & Mobile apps |
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Learn More |
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Up with etoro |
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Up with icmarkets |
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Up with xtb |
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Up with fpmarkets |
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Up with trading212 |
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Up with plus500 |
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Up with pepperstone |
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Up with easymarkets |
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Up with xm |
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Up with fxprimus |
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Up with spreadex |
Risk Warning | 67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. | Losses can exceed deposits | 79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. | Losses can exceed deposits | CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. | 76.4% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. | CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 79.3% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money | Your capital is at risk | Your capital is at risk | Losses can exceed deposits | Losses can exceed deposits |
Demo |
eToro Demo |
IC Markets Demo |
XTB Demo |
FP Markets Demo |
Trading 212 Demo |
Plus500 Demo |
Pepperstone Demo |
easyMarkets Demo |
XM Demo |
FXPrimus Demo |
SpreadEx Demo |
Excluded Countries | IR, KP, BE, CA, JP, SY, TR, IL, BY, AL, MD, MK, RS, GN, CD, SD, ZW, ET, GH, TZ, LY, UG, ZM, BW, RW, TN, SO, NA, TG, SL, LR, GM, DJ, CI, PK, BN, TW, WS, NP, SG, VI, TM, TJ, UZ, LK, TT, HT, MM, BT, MH, MV, KZ, GD, FJ, BB, BM, BS, AG, AI, AW, LB, SV, US, PY, HN, GT, PR, NI, VG, AN, | AF, GN, SL, BW, IR, SY, MM, IQ, TG, KH, LS, YE, CI , LR, ZW, CU, LY, TZ, CG, ML, BO, LR, NE, AO, GM, NG, AG, GH, KR, KG, GN, SN, NA | US, IN, PK, BD, NG , ID, BE | US, JP, NZ | US | MY, BE, US, CA, CN, ID, PH, TG, NG, DO, MA, ZW, PR, TZ, TN, UG, BW, AO, AE | BR, KR, IR, IQ, SY, JP, US | US | US, CA, IL, KR, IR, MM, CU, SD, SY | AF, CI, CU, IQ, IR, LY, MM, KR, SD, PR, US, AU, SY, DZ, JP, EC. | US, TR |
You can compare Investing Platforms ratings, min deposits what the the broker offers, funding methods, platforms, spread types, customer support options, regulation and account types side by side.
We also have an indepth Top Investing Platforms for 2021 article further below. You can see it now by clicking here
We have listed top Investing platforms below.