Overall using the best share dealing accounts gives a lucrative opportunity for investors and traders to earn profits, whether from speculation on price fluctuations or by earning dividends from companies in which they invest.
Share dealing is one of two major activities where you can earn significant profits, with forex trading as another major activity. The forex market and the stock market are two of the largest financial markets in the world that see significant trading volumes daily with participation from retail and institutional investors and traders.
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Best Share Dealing Accounts – 4 Key Point Quick Overview
- ✅ What is a Share Dealing Account?
- ✅ Share Dealing Pros and Cons
- ✅ Best Share Dealing accounts
- ✅ Frequently asked questions
What is a Share Dealing Account?
Share dealing involves the process of buying and selling shares of publicly-listed companies on a stock exchange. With a share dealing account, investors can deal specifically in shares, and they buy and sell physical assets, or they deal in Contract For Difference (CDF) trading.
Many brokers offer retail traders and investors access to the stock market, offering thousands of shares that allow these investors the perfect opportunity for portfolio diversification.
Share Dealing Pros and Cons
| ✅ Share Dealing Pros | ❌ Share Dealing Cons |
| You can take advantage of a growing economy because corporate earnings grow as the economy develops and expands. This is because economic growth creates jobs, which creates income, and which subsequently creates sales. | You are at risk of losing your entire investment if a company performs poorly and most investors start selling their shares, which will cause the share price to plummet. |
| It is a way to stay ahead of inflation, as can be seen historically with an average annualized return of 10%, which is better than the average annualized inflation rate. | Ordinary shareholders are paid after bondholders and preferred shareholders are paid if the company is liquidated. |
| Shares are easy to buy through a broker or financial planner. | If you buy individual stocks, you need to research each company to determine whether it will be profitable, which is a time-consuming and tedious activity. |
| It offers you two ways to make profits namely on speculative trading and by earning dividends. | It can be an emotional rollercoaster that leads to mental stress, especially when considering that stock prices rise and fall quickly based on supply and demand. |
| They are easy to sell as the stock market allows investors to sell their stock at any time, because of the high liquidity in the stock market. | Retail investors are in constant competition with institutional investors and professional traders. |
| When you deal in shares, you own the physical stock or share as opposed to when you trade a CFD, which does not allow for physical ownership. | You are subject to capital gains tax and stamp duty reserve tax when you participate in share dealing. |
| It is easier to carry out market analysis on the stock market than on other financial markets. |
Before participating in any activity that requires you to invest real money, it is necessary to weigh the advantages and the disadvantages to decide whether such an investment choice is right for you.
Best Share Dealing accounts
Saxo Bank
Features
Saxo Bank is not only a well-regulated Market Maker, STP, NDD, and ECN online broker but also a licensed bank. Saxo Bank has been in operation for more than 25 years and it is well-known for offering competitive spreads and commissions.
Saxo Bank offers an impressively wide range of tradable financial instruments, with more than 42,000 forex and CFD assets spread across several different markets.
Investors and traders are granted access to a powerful and innovative proprietary trading platform that they can use, sophisticated trading tools, market analysis, and the ability to invest in a variety of cash products.
Pros and Cons
| ✅ Pros | ❎ Cons |
| Well-regulated by several entities | High minimum deposit |
| There is no platform fee charged | There is an inactivity fee is charged on dormant accounts |
FOREX.com
Features
FOREX.com initially only offered access to the foreign exchange market, but over the years, FOREX.com started including several different financial markets in its offering. FOREX.com is one of the top-rated share dealing providers in the industry, with traders given access to a wide range of CFDs in more than 220 different shares.
FOREX.com offers competitive fee schedules that contain low commissions and tight variable spreads. When trading with FOREX.com, traders have access to a powerful web-trader or the use of the popular MetaTrader 4 trading platform alongside a proprietary mobile trading app.
Another benefit that FOREX.com offers is that traders can use margin and leverage, allowing them to open larger positions despite their initial minimum deposit.
Pros and Cons
| ✅ Forex.com Pros | ❌ Forex.com Cons |
| Well-regulated by strict entities | Commission-free trading is not offered |
| A rich history and good reputation | Limited share portfolio |
| Competitive variable spreads charged | |
| Execution scorecard for a proven track record of reliable trade execution speeds | |
| Margin and leveraged trading offered | |
| Wide range of tradable instruments |
Interactive Investor
Features
Interactive Investor is a well-regulated and reputable share dealing provider that caters to both beginner and professional investors. Interactive Investor offers a simplified yet innovative platform, a collection of shares, and a variety of other instruments such as funds, ETFs, Investment Trusts, and many more.
In addition to this, Interactive Investor also offers an innovative screening tool that helps investors sift through individual stocks, shares, funds, and other financial instruments to help them make informed trading decisions based on different metrics such as sector, industries, financial performance, and more.
Pros and Cons
| ✅ Interactive Investor Pros | ❌ Interactive Investor Cons |
| Innovative and helpful screening and analysis tool | Fees are much higher than other platforms |
| Straightforward fee schedule | The mobile app lacks a lot of features |
| Customized plans offered | |
| Dedicated customer support |
Hargreaves Lansdown
Features
Hargreaves Lansdown is one of the top-rated share dealing accounts in the United Kingdom that offers its services to investors from around the world. Shortly after its inception and over the past few years, Hargreaves Lansdown has attracted a substantial following, especially from novice investors who have no prior experience in the stock market.
The account registration and setup with Hargreaves Lansdown is straightforward, and funds can be transferred quickly with the use of a debit card. Once the account is verified, investors can access thousands of shares as well as corporate bonds, investment trusts, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, and more.
Hargreaves Lansdown is also the best choice for investors who want to invest in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of new and upcoming companies, allowing them to be first in line to buy shares for a low price and sell at higher prices or hold the shares until their investment has matured.
Hargreaves Lansdown is also known for providing innovative and useful market insights, technical analysis, fundamental analysis, and several other tools and materials.
Pros and Cons
| ✅ Hargreaves Lansdown Pros | ❌ Hargreaves Lansdown Cons |
| A wide range of instruments offered | High entry-level commissions charged |
| Offers shares, bonds, mutual funds, and several others | CFD trading and leveraged trading are not offered |
| Access to IPOs | |
| Decent and fair share prices | |
| Easy and quick deposits and withdrawals | |
| Dedicated customer service | |
| Industry-leading analysis and research tools |
eToro
Features
eToro is a top-rated share dealing account provider for several reasons. Not only does it offer a user-friendly share dealing trading platform but eToro also caters extensively to new and beginner share traders and investors.
The account registration process with eToro is easy and quick, and once traders have deposited their initial minimum deposit, they have access to more than 800 different shares from international markets.
This includes shares that are listed on the London Stock Exchange, and several other stock exchanges across the United States, South Africa, Germany, Hong Kong, and more. eToro also simplifies the process involved with choosing individual stocks and it offers commission-free trading, the benefit of a small investment amount, and the necessary education and tools that traders may need.
Pros and Cons
| ✅ eToro Pros | ❌ eToro Cons |
| User-friendly and beginner-friendly trading platform | Not suitable for advanced traders or professionals who want to carry out technical analysis |
| Commission-free CFD trading | |
| Flexible funding methods | |
| Copy-trading supported | |
| Leading online social trading platform | |
| Well-regulated by several entities |
IG
Features
IG is one of the largest and most popular online trading brokers in the industry that offers share dealing accounts to investors from around the world. IG also offers the benefit of CFD trading that can be done using high leverage ratios, giving traders a competitive edge and the opportunity to earn great profits.
IG offers investors access to more than 10,000 equities, making IG one of the most comprehensive shares dealing providers in the industry. With an IG share dealing account, investors can trade shares spread across several global stock exchanges from the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, South Africa, and more.
IG charges competitive trading fees and there is no platform fee charged when using any of the trading software provided by IG. IG is the perfect solution for beginner investors while simultaneously offering experienced investors the sophistication they need.
Pros and Cons
| ✅ IG Pros | ❌ IG Cons |
| Trusted broker that has a long and rich history with a good reputation | High minimum deposit requirement |
| Good value share dealing services are offered to beginners and professionals | High commission fees charged on US stocks |
| Leveraged trading allowed and short-selling supported | |
| Spread betting as well as CFD trading offered | |
| Innovative and helpful research tools and materials | |
| Well-regulated in several regions |
Plus500
Features
Plus500 is a popular CFD and forex broker that is also a share dealing provider through CFDs, which means that investors cannot own the physical shares in which they deal, making Plus500 perfect for short-term trading strategies aimed at earning profits from price fluctuations.
Plus500 allows traders to use leverage while they trade a wide range of financial instruments, and the proprietary trading platform offered is robust, reliable, and fast. Plus500 offers commission-free trading, competitive spreads, and a wide range of flexible funding options such as bank transfers, bank wire transfers, credit/debit cards, and more.
Pros and Cons
| ✅ Pros | ❌ Cons |
| Powerful proprietary trading platform | Only supports CFD trading, investors cannot own the physical shares or assets |
| No commissions and tight spreads | The platform is more suited to experienced traders and investors |
Fineco Bank
Features
Fineco Bank is a reputable and top-rated share dealing platform that provides unique solutions for long-term investors. Fineco Bank has an impressive share portfolio of more than 10,000 shares that are spread across different global stock exchanges.
Pros and Cons
| ✅ Fineco Bank Pros | ❌ Fineco Bank Cons |
| More than 10,000 global shares offered | The proprietary mobile trading app does not feature technical analysis tools |
| ISA accounts offered for tax-free investing | |
| Supports CFD trading | |
| Low fixed commission charges | |
| Well-regulated | |
| Powerful trading software |
Capital.com
Features
Captial.com is another popular and reputable CFD trading provider that allows share dealing through innovative trading software with competitive trading conditions. Captial.com offers equities across more than 2,000 stock CFDs from global stock exchanges.
Capital.com also offers commission-free trading on all financial instruments with competitive variable spreads in major currencies, stocks, and commodities such as gold and oil.
Pros and Cons
| ✅ Capital.com Pros | ❌ Capital.com Cons |
| Wide range of stock CFDs provided | Does allow custom trading strategies |
| Educational materials offered | |
| Low minimum deposit | |
| AI assistant offered to help direct trading decisions | |
| Daily trade ideas provided | |
| Excellent charting and analysis tools |
FXCM
Features
FXCM is a well-regulated CFD trading broker and platform that offers commission-free trading and comprehensive share-dealing options spread across several stock exchanges. FXCM is well-regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and provides a fair and safe trading environment to both beginner and professional traders.
Pros and Cons
| ✅ FXCM Pros | ❌ FXCM Cons |
| Offers MetaTrader 4 | Only offers CFD trading |
| Well-regulated by FCA | Does not offer as many shares as other providers on this list |
| Commission-free trading | |
| There is an innovative mobile trading app provided | |
| Great market insights provided | |
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Frequently asked questions
What makes a good online share dealing account?
A good online share dealing account provider has low and competitive trading fees, a wide range of share options, user-friendly and reliable trading software, and a range of investment research tools.
What are the fees charged by Share Dealing Account Brokers?
Share dealing Account brokers typically charge several different fee schedules such as account fees, international market fees, currency conversion fees, dealing charges, and several others.
Can you use leverage on a Share Dealing Account?
If you are using a share dealing provider that only offers share dealing you cannot use leverage. Only CFD trading brokers offer the use of leverage and with this, you cannot own the physical share or asset.
What is the minimum deposit for Share Dealing Accounts?
This will vary from one account to the next and there are share dealing brokers that allow investments from as little as R14.00.
Can I use a Share Dealing Account if I have no prior trading experience?
Yes, you can start to share dealing even if you are a beginner, but you may want to consider starting with mutual funds. These are managed by fund managers and have lower risks involved.
How can I make money from investing in shares?
You can earn profits when you speculate on the increases/decreases in share prices and you can also earn dividends from shares.
Are Share Dealing Account Brokers regulated?
Yes, these share dealing brokers are regulated.
Top 4 Brokers
