Global investment platform and cryptocurrency exchange eToro has today announced that users can invest directly in shares on the platform where previously only CFDs were available. Users can now buy UK shares, hold shares, cryptocurrencies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and thousands of other financial assets on one platform and in one portfolio.
The investment platform has committed to zero ticket or management fees for users buying shares and fees are included in the spread at just 0.09% per side. For UK shares, eToro will absorb the stamp duty.
“eToro enables people to invest in the assets they want to own, from newly available assets such as cryptocurrencies, to more traditional options like shares or commodities. We want investors to be able to hold all these assets in a single portfolio,” said Yoni Assia, Founder and CEO of eToro.
Assia believes that price matters, and he and eToro think ticket and management fees are “old world” practices that put people off investing:
“That’s why we’re not charging them, and absorbing stamp duty to boot. We’re making it easy to invest, and that means rethinking some of the outdated practices investors might be used to from other investment providers. It also means we’ll continue to expand the range of assets we make available to our 10 million users.”
Up to now, eToro has allowed users to invest in shares on a contract for difference (CFD) basis which lets users apply leverage to investments and take short positions. Today’s development means that users will now be able to own and buy the underlying asset.
Buying underlying assets, or shares, rather than investing via a CFD, will mean that eToro users can:
- Buy shares with the cost of stamp duty excluded from the price
- Receive dividends on the ex-dividend date rather than waiting for issuance
