"Wunderbar" as Freetrade offers German stocks

Volkswagen, Puma and Bayer are amongst the big-named stocks Freetrade customers will be able to buy and sell after the fintech challenger inked a deal that it believes will make it stand out from rivals.

The UK-based mobile app trading platform has struck a deal with Equiduct and CBOE to let its British investors trade directly on the German stock exchange.

The deal comes amid a boom in retail stock trading, particularly during the pandemic, with customers, many of them younger, finding time and money to invest via their smartphones.

Freetrade, founded in 2016, plans to offer its customers similar investment opportunities with other European exchanges in the coming months.

Announcing the deal in a blog post. Freetrade said: “We’ve gone direct to pan-European exchanges to offer you the best possible experience.

“This makes Freetrade one of a few brokerages in the UK offering direct access for retail investors to European markets.”

Unlike rivals which allow investors to trade European stocks through a third party, Freetrade’s offering is direct with the German stock market.

It means that Freetrade investors can trade German shares with zero commission, just foreign exchange charges.

Other big names on the exchange include Daimler, Porsche, Adidas and Siemens.

In total, Freetrade users will be able to access 40 stocks on the main index of the exchange, the DAX.

While Freetrade Plus members will be able to trade stocks outside the main index.

Last year, Freetrade hit one million customers and surpassed £1bn in assets under administration.

Freetrade is currently the second-largest retail broker by the number of trades on the London Stock Exchange.

Adam Dodds, CEO and co-founder, told the Evening Standard: “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.”