DEGIRO Review

DEGIRO offers shares trading significantly cheaper than its competitors, charging only £1.75 + 0.022% per trade, with a maximum charge of £5.00. Low fees aside, DEGIRO lags competitors in fundamental research, education, and does not offer ISA or SIPP accounts.

Top Takeaways for 2019

After spending over 100 hours testing nine online stock brokers for UK share dealing, here are our top findings on DEGIRO (beware, your capital is at risk):

• Founded in 2013, DEGIRO has more than 400,000 customers in 18 countries.
• DEGIRO charges the lowest commission fees for all types of assets, including bonds, gilts, trusts, ETFs, and shares. Overall, DEGIRO finished #1 for Commissions & Fees in 2019.
• DEGIRO offers direct access or Smart Order Routing to 30 international exchanges, the second most among brokers reviewed.
• As a result of DEGIRO's focus on low costs, the broker offers practically no fundamental research beyond basic company information.
• DEGIRO's charting platform and mobile app are average at best, offering minimal features and functionality focused primarily around placing trades.

Overall Summary

Commissions & Fees

DEGIRO boasts that its fees are, on average, 84% lower than those of its competitors. During our testing, this appeared to be accurate as fees for trading individual stocks in the UK, Europe, and the United States are significantly lower than any of the offerings from the major UK online brokers.

Even better, no monthly or quarterly managerial/account fees are charged, and there are no charges for opening or closing an account.

The fee for trading individual shares in the UK is £1.75 + 0.022% per trade, with a maximum charge of £5.00. For US markets, the cost is €0.50 + USD 0.004 per share (but with no maximum), while for European markets, the charges range from €2.00 + 0.118% up to €10.00 + .0168%. Most markets charge at €4.00 + 0.156%. There is also an annual charge of €2.50 per the calendar year per exchange traded on (outside of LSE).

Fees for trading funds range from €7.50 plus 0.10% for exchange-listed investment funds up to €75.00 plus 0.10% for non-exchange-listed investment funds. There is also an annual charge for holding unit trusts/funds (a custodial fee of 0.2% per annum).

Although the costs of trading are so low, there is an absence of any significant fundamental research and no educational content. Nevertheless, a frequent trader or an investor seeking a "no-frills" option would likely be attracted by DEGIRO's very low fees.

When calculating annual share dealing costs, trading frequency and account balance are the two most important factors to consider. Assuming a £30,000 portfolio in traditional, taxable share dealing account, here are four scenarios of how much DEGIRO would cost depending on trade frequency:

• 1 deal per month, 12 trades, £5,000 trade value = £34.68 (£1.75 + 0.022% per trade + £0 in annual custody fees)
• 3 deals per month, 36 trades, £5,000 trade value = £104.04 (£1.75 + 0.022% per trade + £0 in annual custody fees)
• 10 deals per month, 120 trades, £5,000 trade value = £346.8 (£1.75 + 0.022% per trade + £0 in annual custody fees)
• 20 deals per month, 240 trades, £5,000 trade value = £693.6 (£1.75 + 0.022% per trade + £0 in annual custody fees)

Platforms & Tools

DEGIRO has a minimalistic platform, trailing top competitors such as Saxo Markets and IG.

Charting: DEGIRO's charting platform is slightly below the average offered across the market. Pop-out interactive charts provide the ability to change the chart types and view 23 technical analysis indicators. You can also see dividends and stock splits. DEGIRO does not offer any drawing tools or the ability to save a chart or chart template, which is disappointing.

Mobile Trading: DEGIRO's mobile app, like the desktop platform, is basic in terms of research offered. Research aside, the app is user-friendly and straightforward to navigate. The ability to create watchlists (described as "Favourites" on the DEGIRO platform) and trade directly from the mobile app is helpful. The Favourites automatically synchronise between the website and the mobile app (which is not the case on some other apps competitors offer).

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Research

There is little to no fundamental research on the DEGIRO platform. Minimal company information is available on individual shares in the key figures section. You can download PDFs of the funds, which offer key information, prospectuses, and fact sheets. However, no further in-depth research or analysis is available.

DEGIRO does offer some market news, although the quality does not compare to brokers such as Hargreaves Lansdown and Barclays.

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Offering of Investments

DEGIRO offers its clients access to a broad range of investments, including stocks, funds, bonds and gilts, ETFs, options, and futures. DEGIRO currently offers access to 30 international exchanges, providing either Direct to Market access or Smart Order Routing (SOR) through Morgan Stanley. All 30 exchanges lie within Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania.

Currently, DEGIRO offers only a general trading account. Unfortunately, UK clients cannot open an Investment Savings Account (ISA) or join a personal pension saving scheme (SIPP).

Education

While DEGIRO's educational offering is limited, the content it does provide is of high quality. Built internally by the company, DEGIRO offers ten educational videos through its Investor's Academy, which covers shares trading and the broader investment journey. Aside from the ten videos, DEGIRO has two additional videos depicting how to buy a stock and how to buy a bond.

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Final Thoughts

If you are an investor looking for a low-cost way to trade stocks, DEGIRO is a great choice. The trading platform didn't win any awards, but it is efficient and straightforward to use.

However, if you are a longer-term investor and require strong fundamental research, or are looking for an ISA or SIPP account type, DEGIRO does not deliver.

About DEGIRO

Established in the Netherlands in 2013 by five previous employees of Binck Bank, DEGIRO offers a low-cost alternative to the current range of brokerage platforms. Low trading fees and charges, alongside an advanced trading platform, have seen DEGIRO grow significantly (it is currently active in 18 countries). According to its website, the company has over 400,000 customers.

The company's user-friendly trading platform allows investors and traders access to global stock exchanges, asset classes, and products. Its low-cost structure is challenging the UK online broking market.