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a comparison of Etoro vs Hargreaves Lansdown
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# Trading

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eToro vs Hargreaves Lansdown: Fees, Platforms and Offerings Compared

If you’re looking to start trading or want to reduce your trading costs, there are plenty of low cost trading platforms on the market. Two of the more prominent brands are eToro and Hargreaves Lansdown, but which one would be the best option for you? Here we offer an eToro vs Hargreaves Lansdown comparison to help you to decide. 

About eToro

eToro is one of the more well-established online brokerages, as it has been around since 2017. It originally began as a forex trading platform, but eToro has expanded its product line to now include stocks, options, crypto, and ETF trading. 

eToro USA LLC does not offer CFDs, only real Crypto assets available.

eToro has also evolved its platform since then to incorporate a social trading experience, which enables users to learn from more experienced investors.

The platform currently has 20 million users across 140 countries who can access cash management, automated portfolios, and commission-free trading. 

About Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown is one of the most well-established brokerage names in the UK. It has been established for over 40 years, and ít continues to be one of the largest investment platforms in the UK, managing over £120 billion for over 1.6 million customers.

Hargreaves Lansdown is a traditional brokerage, but seeing the writing on the wall, with the advent of online brokerage firms, the company evolved to offer its services to a wider client base. 

While Hargreaves Lansdown may have a more costly fee structure, the company offers excellent customer support.

While not typically offered with modern-day brokerages, you can still speak to a real person via the Hargreaves Lansdown helpline. 

eToro vs Hargreaves Lansdown: Services

eToro offers commission-free trading on stocks and ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds), with access to crypto and options. Hargreaves Lansdown is a traditional brokerage providing access to various investment options. 

eToro vs Hargreaves Lansdown: Fees

eToro aims to provide a hassle-free fee structure. The platform is transparent about its fees, which includes a 0% commission when you trade stocks and ETFs. The only complex fee issue occurs when you buy or trade crypto. 

Unlike many other platforms, eToro does not have a fee each time that you buy or sell a cryptocurrency. Instead, there is a flat 1% fee, which is technically the bid-ask spread for each of your trades.

This can be a little confusing since the fees for crypto trading are front-loaded. Instead of incurring a fee when you buy and then again when you sell, here is a “round trip” fee structure. So, you will pay 1% purchase fee and 1% sale fee in advance. 

Besides these, eToro also has an inactivity fee of $10 per month. The eToro withdrawal fees are $5 per withdrawal.

Still, eToro is considered to be one of the lowest-cost platforms right now if you want to invest directly in the stock market.

The Hargreaves Lansdown fee structure is far more complex. As we touched on above, it is far more costly compared to eToro, but we’ll break it down in more detail. 

Firstly, there are no initial charges, so you can open an account for free, but once you begin investing, you’ll need to pay an annual fee. This is 0.45% of your investment fund per year, but it can vary depending on whether you buy exchange-listed or non-listed assets. 

Hargreaves Lansdown also imposes a spread fee, which is approximately 0.07%, and there are dealing fees to buy and sell investments.

These are set on a sliding scale, so the more trades you perform, the lower the cost.

Currently, you can expect to pay between £11.95 and £5.95. These dealing fees are not something that you will encounter with eToro. Likewise, while eToro covers your stamp duty, you’ll need to pay it yourself with Hargreaves Lansdown. 

Finally, if you want to phone trade, there is a 1% fee, with a minimum charge of £20.

eToro vs Hargreaves Lansdown: Platform

eToro has designed its platform to be streamlined and easy to use. To get started, you’ll need to complete a self-guided questionnaire, but once this is complete, you should find the interface intuitive. 

There is a trading tab to view prices, buy and sell with real-time pricing. You will also find the Popular Investor Program and CopyTrade features easy to find on your home screen. This adds a “social media” feel to the platform as you can watch what more experienced traders are buying and selling. This copy trading feature allows beginner investors to copy other, more successful, and experienced clients of the trading platform. eToro has other social features that are worth experimenting with.

You’ll also find embedded ESG ratings, which score assets according to socially conscious factors. You can filter your search results according to ESG score if you are concerned about creating a socially conscious portfolio. 

You can create custom watchlists, which can be synced between the web and mobile platforms, so you don’t need to be tied to your desk. You can set notification alerts, so you can track your interests on the go. 

Hargreaves Lansdown is a brokerage, so there is no particular learning curve to using the platform.

Essentially, Hargreaves Lansdown will buy and sell investments on your behalf. All you need to do is create an account and decide what you want to buy or sell. 

eToro vs Hargreaves Lansdown: Offerings

With eToro, you can invest in a huge range of assets, consisting of more than 3,000 stocks, 22 ETFs, 24 cryptocurrencies, and multiple commodities. You can start with as little as $10, which means that you can also purchase fractional shares. Moreover, eToro also allows trading CFDs. Before using such high-risk instruments, keep in mind that many retail CFD accounts lose money when trading such complex instruments.

As a traditional brokerage, Hargreaves Lansdown offers a far more diverse variety of offerings. You can access over 4,000 stocks, shares listed on UK (the London Stock Exchange), European and Canadian exchanges, ETFs, investment trusts, and bonds, both corporate and government.

Security

eToro has SIPC coverage (Securities Investor Protection Corporation). This essentially provides insurance coverage for up to $500,000, including up to $250,000 in cash to protect your equity assets should the platform fail. 

The eToro platform also has some good security to protect your day-to-day usage, including two-factor authentication and biometrics.

If you trade in crypto, there is a secure eToro wallet to store your coins, but coin transfers can only be made one way. This means that if you move any crypto to a third-party wallet, you cannot transfer them back to eToro. 

Hargreaves Lansdown is an FCA-regulated company, and your funds are protected by the FCSC, which provides up to £85,000 in coverage should the brokerage fail.

As an additional layer of security, your funds are held in a separate trust account, so the money can only be returned to you as Hargreaves Lansdown cannot access the funds.

Other Features 

It is important to note that while eToro does offer educational tools, news feeds, and a community, Hargreaves Lansdown is a traditional brokerage offering access to a wider variety of products, including ISAs and pensions.

eToro vs Hargreaves Lansdown Conclusion: Which is Better

All in all, both Hargreaves Lansdown and eToro are great brokerages for retail investors. The right choice when picking between Hargreaves Lansdown vs eToro will depend on your approach to investing.

If you are a more hands-on trader who wants to use a platform to watch trends, research, and trade in real-time, eToro is likely a good option for you. You can also enjoy a very low fee structure, which will appeal to the cost-savvy trader or those with a modest investment fund.

On the other hand, if you simply want someone to buy and sell on your behalf, Hargreaves Lansdown is more your speed; just be prepared for the hefty fees that accompany this service.

Both Hargreaves Lansdown and eToro have great customer service (with email support) and have no actual trading fees. Still, eToro, compared to Hargreaves Lansdown, is a much cheaper choice.

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