Guide to Best Share Trading Platforms for Beginners – Forbes Advisor Australia

Choosing a trading platform to begin your trading journey can seem overwhelming, especially with so many different platforms on the market. The above list can help you determine the best trading platform to suit your needs as beginner, whether it’s because of its educational resources, its simple-to-understand brokerage fee structure or its intuitive design interface.

Other factors you should consider when comparing trading platforms as a beginner include:

Customer support

What type of support can you expect from the platform? Does it offer an in-app instant messenger service, or a 24/7 hotline? Are there in-depth FAQs available to help answer your questions? Have other customers reviewed the service’s customer support in a positive manner?

Fractional shares

Fractional shares are exactly as the name suggests: a fraction of full shares. When a platform offers fractional shares to traders, it means the trader can invest in companies that they otherwise may not have been able to afford (due to the price of the full share). Not all share trading platforms offer this feature, but it is beneficial to beginner traders who aren’t wanting to invest a large amount of capital straight away.

International trading fees

For platforms that offer international trading, you’ll need to understand the international trading fee structure on top of the general ASX trading fee tier. Many easy-to-use platforms make it simple for traders by keeping their fee tier structures identical, whether for international trading or ASX trading. Regardless, this isn’t always guaranteed, so it’s important to check what the fee structure will be should you wish to trade on other markets such as the Nasdaq.

Related: What Is the Nasdaq?

Alternative market access

Along with access to international markets, a beginner trader may be interested in being able to access alternative markets throughout their trading journey as well as traditional share trading. This could include trading in ETFs, forex, or cryptocurrency. Note that there may be different fees for these alternative markets as well, so you’ll need to understand any additional charges that may be applicable.

CHESS-sponsored shares

When choosing a share trading platform, it’s important to understand whether your ASX trades are going to be CHESS-sponsored or not. While the terminology may seem confusing, it’s quite simple: CHESS-sponsored shares means the ASX has a direct record of who owns which shares by issuing traders individual holding identification numbers (HIN). This will then help you prove ownership of shares in the unlikely event that the platform you are trading with collapses.

Live pricing

Another feature that beginner traders may find desirable in a share trading platform is a live pricing capability, which is where the platform reports the ASX in real-time. This is beneficial as the market changes throughout a single day of trade, so having the most up-to-date values can help traders make more informed choices. If there isn’t a live pricing feature available, this means the prices will be delayed–sometimes by up to a few hours.

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Discounts or bonuses

When shopping around for a share trading platform, it may be worth considering if there are any discounts (such as your first trade fee-free) or bonuses that you can enjoy every time you make a trade (such as loyalty points for partner programs).

Nevertheless, while these offers may seem enticing, it’s important to weigh up their value against the other considerations of a share trading platform: for example, there’s no benefit in enjoying your first trade free if the subsequent fees are going to be much higher than you would pay elsewhere.

At the end of the day, the right trading platform for you will depend on your own needs and trading goals. Thankfully, there are many free trials or demos available today for you to try out different services before choosing the right one or committing any money.

Demo Account

Starting out on your investment timeline can be intimidating to say the least, so look for platforms that allow you to open a virtual account, or ‘demo’ account, so you can practise before you invest any of your money. Demo accounts are great for testing the waters, as well as building confidence, so you can better understand the markets you’re investing in. Pearler, MooMoo, eToro and IG all offer paper trading or demo accounts.

Data research: Mia Dunn