And so it begins⦠Free Trading Tweet
Heard it was close so I gave a nod to this last week in the Robinhood thread
Theyāve gone the appointed representative route, with fractional shares from day one, instant trades only, and itās available across Europe.
Here is the more detail on Revolut trading offer
As an investor I did fear this day, but you know what?
Bring it on Revolut ! Weāll take you.
They have US stocks only (no ETFs, no UK/EU stocks, no ISAs - although they do have fractionals and free instant trades, as well as a broad eu rollout). Definitely the weaker platform rn. Hope that persists.
Freetradeās first mover advantage is only on 40,000 customers vs 6m, with a handful of stocks vs (all?) US stocks. And theyāve beaten Freetrade to fractional. This is not good news and presumably has come sooner than Freetrade anticipated.
Agree and also think its a rising tide against outdated incumbents - which is positive.
However, somewhat disappointing about fractionals for US shares in comparison to Freetradeās progress - given that US shares is where fractionals is most valuable with high individual share prices.
I think revolut has a broader rollout, and that does concern me, as does their US fractionals.
But⦠their offering seems far weaker than FT right now - I would never touch a platform without ETFs (or ISAs). If you consider investor home bias its even more unattractive a platform to their (EU) user base, given US only stocks.
Theyāve gone to market with a minimum viable product, and thatās a relief. Iām concerned, but this could have been a lot worse. Feeling positive.
Yeah agreed itās an MVP. Freetradeās product is not leaps and bounds ahead though. Robinhoodās real counterpart one could argue is Revolut and not Freetrade⦠they just started with different products. The Freetrade team just need to get cracking and complete the investment platform so they donāt get left behind.
Itās limited to 300 U.S.-listed stocks on NASDAQ and NYSE. No ETFs either. The US-only universe of shares appears also to be a restriction of Revolutās execution arrangement with US fintech DriveWealth, i.e. they are a layer on top of DriveWealth rather than providing a proper UK brokerage account. And no ISA, which is a deal breaker for me.
Iām sure this is just a first step in their journey, but personally I had higher expectations of their launch with so many users and capital, and the fact that they had announced it already more than a year ago.
The more disappointing their launch the betterā¦
So itās only rolled out to āMetalā users, where you have to pay 13 pounds a month?
Especially with the drama at Hargreaves over the Woodford funds! HL being where most of the UK assets/customers are. To capture these you need trust as well as offering SIPPās, ISAās and portfolio transfers
40000 signups ? But how many actually transact ?
Just been in DriveWealth website.
Freetradeās investment platform plus Freetrade as full stack broker vs DriveWealth: B2B business opportunity route to Freetrade rather than just B2C?
I agree, Freetrade also launched with a MVP. Android came 8 months later, as did ISAs. Fractional shares are still a way off, and even though Freetrade offer ETFs, the range of stocks on offering is so limited right now. Revout are going to be launching to a huge user base, and Iām sure they will be more competition on the way. Fingers crossed Freetrade get the investment platform completed ASAP, or I fear they will be left behind.
I reckon youāll see a lot more offerings build on top of DriveWealth. They offer a good API at reasonable cost and can offer UK investors fractional US shares from day one. You simply canāt match it compared to executing US trades on the UK market with a UK market maker adding their cut in the fx charge. Outsourcing your back office comes with a risk and reward. Those who are willing and able to utilize services like these can make it faster to market - which isnāt a bad thing now the race is on! I know for a fact that a few of the big market players are looking at a DriveWealth integration as the cost of running stockbroker services inhouse is starting to bite! You need to weigh that against what you give away and the lack of clarity and control you have when things start to go a little wrong. I should know! Years ago I had to insource an operation like this as the outsourced provider relationship simply broke down. Do it well and it can work. Do it bad and who knows where youāll be.
Sounds like this is the best option for people who want to trade US stocks however itās not really free is itā¦
For long term investors building a well diversified portfolio, the revolut offering doesnāt meet their needs.
Revolut has got a lot of coverage on this so far. The plus side is Freetrade is getting mentioned alongside them, like in these articles
Viktor Nebehaj, Freetradeās chief marketing officer, told CNBC that though parts of Revolutās trading feature bear an āuncanny resemblanceā to his companyās app, he welcomed the competition.
Having more choice is fantastic,ā Nebehaj said. Itās definitely healthy to have competition, it keeps us on our toes. Freetrade said it saw a video demonstration of the product prior to its release.
A lot of publicity as you would expect from Revolut but the longevity in the game is customer service when things go wrong. Itās going to be tough challenge for Revolut in this area judging from their ops capability. I am confident about FTās well thought through plan and execution, supported by super helpful and capable customer support.