UK Stock Broker Comparison | Sharia Analysis – IslamicFinanceGuru

UK Stock Broker Comparison | Sharia Analysis – IslamicFinanceGuru Featured Image

5 min read

Published:

Updated:

Ibrahim Khan

Ibrahim Khan

Co-founder

Choosing an online stockbroker is essential to your investing journey but it is often a rather painful process to work out who to go for. In this article we’ve tried to take some of that pain away by doing a detailed comparison and sharing our personal experiences too.

To start investing, you need to decide on the broker that you will invest through. Once you have a brokerage account, you can transfer money in and out of it – like a bank account.

Below we have compiled a comparison between a number of different types of stockbrokers in the UK. This is not an exhaustive list but it does cover off the various different flavours of brokers you can get – from the large institutional types, to the no-commission challengers, to the high street banks.

Make sure you read the helpful pointers and tips in the sections below the comparison too!

 

Name
(and link)
Asset options Costs/ Fees Account Min. Security Features Trustpilot rating & Customer Service Notes Shariah Compliance

AJ Bell

(Get Started)

Shares, funds, investment trusts
£3.50 per month for ISA.
 
0.25 percent custody charge, £1.50 for funds and £9.95 for shares
£500 Encryption
4.1
 
Helpdesk receiving calls.
One of the largest brokers in the UK.

Education resources include videos, research tools, Shares magazine.

‘Investment ideas’- specialist resources.

(Get Started)

Shares, Funds, Bonds £1.75 plus 0.014% per share.

Currency conversion 0.1%.

Real time figures – £4.50 per month

Education resources include a blog (insights and ideas) and ‘Investor’s academy’.

(Get Started)

Stocks, Funds, Crypto, commodities 0% commission.

Fees calculated on daily basis.

$5 withdrawal fee.

Education resources include market analysis, podcast, News and insights, learning lab, trading school.

Demo account available.

(Get Started)

Stocks, Funds, investment trusts

£0 commission.

£3 per month (stocks and shares ISA).

£9.99 per month (SIPP account).

£2 Waive liability for any breaches of security and instruct users to keep app updated and protect account details.
4.0
 
FAQs, email, and live chat 8 am-9 pm Weekdays 10 am-5 pm Weekend.
Customisable auto-investment option.

Education resources include a forum, blog posts and articles.

(Get Started)

Shares, Funds, Bonds £36 annual customer admin fee.

£12.50 per online trade.

1.25% exchange rate for international trading.

Transaction and ongoing charge for funds.

Education resources include Market News and Insight articles.

(Get Started)

 

Shares, bonds, Funds, Investment trusts Max charge of £11.95 per UK deal.

Max annual charge of 0.45% on funds.

Max fee of 1% charged on currency conversion.

Education resources include Factsheets, market reports, newspaper round-ups, live share prices.

(Get Started)

Shares, Funds, investment trusts
£9.99 a month

£7.99 for all UK and US trades.

Streaming prices and real-time portfolio management (£20 per month).

Currency conversion 1.5%

Education resources include ‘Insight resources’ – impartial editorial, rated lists and portfolios.

(Get Started)

Currency conversion 0.5%

Education resources include Youtube channel with weekly content.

Demo account available.

ISA/SIPP and Tax-Saving Considerations

Brokerage accounts are subject to Capital Gains Tax (on profits over £12,300 a year) and and Dividend tax (on dividend profits over £2,000 a year).

If you’re thinking of investing regularly and think you’ll exceed those thresholds in terms of profits, you may want to use an Individual Savings Account (ISA) or a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) rather than opening a brokerage account due to their tax advantages.

But bear in mind, each ISA is limited to investing £20,000 per year. On the other hand, there are no limits to how much you can invest in a SIPP but tax relief will only apply to a maximum investment limit of £40,000 per year and there are restrictions on how and when you can withdraw the money.

When a brokerage account is right/not right

If you want to purchase and manage your own investments, a brokerage account at an online broker is for you (and the comparison table above is for you). Other options you may want to consider is a managed brokerage account (where your money is managed for you- which you pay for) or a robo-investor/advisor such as Wahed Invest for those that want to be hands-off.

Sharia considerations: CFD Trading, Margin Trading

When opening an account, you may be given the option of a cash account, a margin account or an account that involves CFDs. Margin accounts allow you to borrow money (with interest) from the broker to make trades – this is of course haram so stick to the cash account. Any account involving CFDs (Contract For Differences) are also haram as CFDs enable profiting from price movement without ever owning the underlying assets.

Important Factors to Consider in a Broker

What will you invest in? What features are important to you? What will cost less in light of the aforementioned? If you are a beginner, you should also consider the ease of use, education support, and access to market research.

A few notes of caution

Remember: don’t invest money you need within the next few years because just as you can profit through investing, you can also lose money. How you’re taxed will depend on your circumstances, and the rules can change.

How to Learn Halal Investing Quickly

If you want more information on investing, be sure to  check out our course on halal investing for busy professionals. You can also use our own platform Cur8 Capital to find and invest in Sharia-compliant investments in Venture and Real Estate Capital.

Share via:
View Profile

Ibrahim is a published author and Islamic finance and investment specialist. He is currently the CEO of Islamicfinanceguru and its sister investment company Cur8 Capital. He holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Oxford, an Alimiyyah degree from the Al Salam Institute, and an MA in Islamic Finance. Prior to setting up Islamic Finance Guru, Ibrahim was a corporate lawyer. He trained at Ashurst LLP and then specialised in private equity and venture capital funds at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. He holds a Diploma in Investment Advice & Financial Planning & Certificate in Investment Management. Publication: Halal Investing for Beginners: How to Start, Grow and Scale Your Halal Investment Portfolio (Wiley) Ibrahim is a published author and Islamic finance and investment specialist. He is currently the CEO of Islamicfinanceguru and its sister investment company Cur8 Capital. He holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Oxford, an…

Subscribe to get top halal money tips to your inbox every week

No junk. Once a week. We never sell your data.

We think it's important you understand the strengths and limitations of IFG. Our website is a financial journalism platform. We offer information about investing and saving, but not personal advice. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please request advice from a qualified financial advisor. If you decide to invest, read our important investment notes first and remember that yields are variable, investments can go up and down in value, and you could get back less than you put in. Your capital is at risk.

We sometimes enter into partnerships with some of the companies that we cover e.g. sponsored slots in our emails or a sponsored podcast. We are very serious about our neutrality and manage the conflict of interest here by running entirely separate editorial and commercial teams who do not influence one another. We regularly cover companies who are not our partners as well - the aim is to cover what we think the consumer needs to know about, not who paid for what. Our articles are updated periodically but we can't guarantee we'll be perfect every time nor that our articles will be up-to-date with absolutely all the latest changes. If you think we're veering off-course on our mission, tell us. Your opinion matters to us more than any other.

© 2024 IFG. VC Limited. All rights reserved.