Freetrade strikes deal to offer direct access to German stocks giving investors the chance to snap up shares in big names like Adidas and BMW
- Freetrade has struck a deal to offer investors direct access to German stocks
- The deal will keep costs for users down as trades will not go via a third party
- It lays the groundwork for a further expansion into Europe
Freetrade users can now buy big ticket stocks like Adidas and BMW after striking a deal to offer investors direct access to the German stock exchange, laying the groundwork to further expand into Europe.
The launch of German stocks follows the arrival of Finnish stocks on the platform last month.
Users can also now buy and sell Dutch stocks, and will soon be able to buy Swedish, Portuguese and Austrian shares.
Investors can now buy shares in German stocks like BMW without incurring extra charges as Freetrade secures direct access
Rival platforms currently let customers buy and sell European stocks but do so through a third party system that charges a fee.
Freetrade will become the first zero commission retail platform in the UK to link directly to exchanges in Europe via CBOE and Equiduct, usually reserved for institutional investors, rather than using the CREST system.
‘Freetrade’s customers will enjoy cost-effective access to liquidity in thousands of stocks and ETFs, and their participation in our market will deepen and further diversify the liquidity available to all our participants,’ said Natan Tiefenbrun, head of equities at CBOE Europe.
The partnership means costs are kept low for users who can buy and sell most German stocks with no commission or charges, just foreign exchange fees.
‘The addition of European stocks to the platform is a key step for us as we begin our expansion into Europe and beyond,’ says founder and chief executive Adam Dodds.
‘Freetrade’s unique direct to market access and proprietary brokerage platform helps to unlock cost-savings that we can pass onto our customers through a simple and low-cost investment experience.
‘We will continue to add more European exchanges to the platform as we expand across Europe.’
Other big names listed in Germany include Daimler, Porsche, Siemens and Deutsche Telekom.
Access to other European markets mean investors will be able to access popular European stocks like Volvo in Sweden and Just Eat and Heineken in the Netherlands.
It is the first time the platform has offered its users access to European stocks. The platform, which lets its users trade for free, launched its app in 2018 with the aim of democratising investment but it has only offered UK and US stocks and ETFs until recently.
It has built a loyal following in large part because of its referral system which promises a free share worth up to £200, which has helped push customer numbers to over 1million and see it double its valuation from £270million to £650million in under a year.