Introduction
Trading 212 is a versatile broker offering a host of features, chief among them being commission-free trading on over 12,000 global stocks and ETFs. Proudly regulated by the U.K's FCA, Trading 212 provides a best-in-class mobile app, a modern web interface that was designed in-house, FSCS-insured client fund protection up to £85,000 and the ability to purchase and sell fractions of whole shares, but such benefits are slightly eroded by the fact that research is limited and their product portfolio doesn’t include bonds, investment trusts and funds.
Pros
Commission-free stock and ETF trading
Possible to purchase and sell fractions of whole shares
Client funds are protected by the FSCS up to £85,000
Best-in-class mobile app and modern web interface
Cons
Limited product portfolio with no bonds, investment trusts or funds
0.7% fee for deposits that exceed £2,000 when using credit/debit cards, Google Pay and Apple Pay
Bank transfers take up to three days to process
Research is not a focal point and there are no webinars or news feed
Commissions & Fees
Traders can rest assured knowing that there are no commissions for stocks and ETFs at Trading 212, compared to say IG, for example, which has a segmented commissions structure. You’ll also be pleased to know that there are no withdrawal or inactivity fees and deposits are free when made via bank transfer.
Where you may be dismayed is in paying a 0.5% Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT) fee, which is a levy applied by the U.K. government when buying shares in a company that is incorporated in the U.K. Stamp Duty Reserve Tax is rounded to the nearest penny and settled through the U.K. electronic system CREST. While Trading 212 calculates the SDRT fee automatically in the transaction and transfers the 0.5% to CREST on your behalf, active traders should still seek to account for this fee as it can add up over time.
There’s also a £1 Panel of Takeovers and Mergers (PTM) fee to be mindful of which is a U.K. government levy that is automatically charged to investors when they buy or sell U.K. shares worth over £10,000.
Mobile Trading Apps
Downloaded over 10 million times on Google Play store alone, the Trading 212 mobile app is highly ranked in the U.K. and worldwide as a favourable option for both beginner and seasoned traders.
You can expect a great overall experience using tools such as technical analysis charts thanks to the superb UX design that integrates the usability and functionality of the mobile app well. This amounts to seamless direct trade execution and search, alert and order functions to match. Notably, the app is iOS and Android-compatible.
Other Platforms and Tools
We found the Watchlists tab on the well-designed web-based trading platform to be handy as it enables you to favourite stocks, see which stocks are trending, view newly added stocks, examine which stocks are performing best and even check upcoming earnings. However, it is disappointing that ETFs don’t have similar dedicated sections.
While their technical analysis charts are powered by TradingView, it is rare to find charts that support both time interval tabs and scrolling but Trading 212’s design offers this through a single tap.
What’s more, you can specify the distance between two data points on the chart and obtain information such as the candle’s open, high, low and close values. We tinkered with the charts, which boast 61 technical indicators, and saw that both line and candlestick view modes are also supported which is great.
Research
Trading 212’s research on the global macroeconomic outlook is below par in the absence of a news feed, written reports or webinars but you can find fundamental data on stocks including ratios, income statements and balance sheets on both the mobile app and web-based trading platform.
Trading 212 lamentably doesn't provide its own research on ETFs as they do for stocks, but you can click on the 'Documents' icon when viewing an ETF chart and a pop-up appears with key financial information originating from the company itself.
Hypothetically speaking, if their research offering for share dealing matched the depth of their Investing 101 section, they would rank higher in this department. We think that Trading 212 would certainly benefit from offering weekly webinars and in-house written analysis of the broader financial markets in order to assist traders during their investing journey.
Offering of Investments
Trading 212 enables investors to trade over 12,000 stocks and ETFs across 14 international exchanges, which is an impressive product suite compared to say Capital.com, which offers around 1,000 stocks.
In addition to a traditional share dealing account, Trading 212 offers a tax-efficient Stocks and Shares ISA which gives you the opportunity to invest into a variety of funds, bonds and individual company shares without having to pay capital gains tax (CGT) and income tax on any dividends or profit from your account up to an annual £20,000 limit.
In addition, Trading 212 offers forex, indices, commodities and CFD trading, as well as a modern Pies and AutoInvest feature which enables you to create a diversified portfolio and then invest and reinvest dividends automatically.
Education
The Investing 101 section offers 42 articles on topics ranging from inflation to fractional investing, and their educational YouTube videos are pretty interactive and are uploaded every month or so.
To be considered a more dynamic educational section, Trading 212 could provide a broader range of video content that includes market analysis or even offering written quizzes and courses.
Conclusion
Overall, Trading 212 offers a ton of functionality without the fees and the company shines for its world-renowned mobile app that’s been downloaded a staggering number of times.
We found Trading 212 to be an excellent choice for anyone seeking advanced technical analysis charts and zero commissions on all trades but despite being in operation since 2017, the drawbacks are evident in their scant research offerings and a limited product portfolio that doesn’t include bonds, investment trusts or funds.
About Trading 212
Trading 212 is a London-based company licensed by the FCA, FSC and CySEC which has become renowned for growing its client base by 20 times to over 2 million in just a few years, with client assets growing by 50 times to over £3.5 billion during the same period. Upon launch in 2017, Trading 212 was the first share dealing platform in the U.K. to enable retail investors to buy and sell shares with zero commissions.
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