Thursday 7 May 2015

Loved By the Good? Fee-free Broker RobinHood Looking to Expand Internationally--Anyone Used Them?

Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen,
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his band of men,
Feared by the bad, loved by the good,
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Robin Hood.

Just a quick post today, which (if you're a UK investor you will be relived to hear) has nothing to do with the General election.

I have just read that the fee-free American stockbroker, RobinHood is set to launch itself globally.

It received $50 million in order to do so with it targeting the Australian nation first.

Assuming that they are looking to expand in the Anglophone world first--for convenience sake, I presume--it is quite possible they will land a digital foot on the shores of the UK sometime soon.

In preparation for this possibility I thought I would send out a request for opinions about the broker.

Are they "feared by the bad (stockbrokers)" and "loved by the good (investors)"? Or is such a positive experience as fictional as the tale of Robin Hood himself? Woudl anyone in the UK be interested in using them?


Why Do I Care?

Good question.

As regular readers no doubt know. I have been interested in investing a little of my capital in US companies sometime in the future.

I have no direct exposure to US companies currently (though I found out this morning I will have some soon as a full cash return from the Catlin purchase is impossible... three XL Group shares coming my way then!)

Nonetheless, with an eye to directly investing in US companies I have a couple of barriers which prevent me from doing so.

As it stands, it is a little expensive for me to use my current broker to do so. As a result, I have looked a little into US brokers which accept UK investors on their books. So far, though, all avenues have thrown up certain issues which have prevented me from seriously considering US investing.

In such circumstances, you can no doubt see why RobinHood may be of interest to me if it does eventually launch in the UK.

But are they any good? I'd be fascinated to know.

Opinions Requested!

Have you used them in the US? Were they any good?

Also, for those future Australian users, do pop back and tell us your experiences?

If you're in the UK or elsewhere, would you be interested in using such a company's services? Any worries?

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4 comments:

  1. I actually emailed them to ask if they could please launch in the uk...

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I contacted them about it too. Asking if they were coming to the UK they, understandably, stated that: "We're taking it country by country at first!"

      Will be interesting to see whether they do head to the UK. If they do, I suspect they will get a strong response!

      We will see!

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  2. Very interesting - thanks for highlighting this, DD! I just hope that this doesn't tempt people (like me!) to trade too often!

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    Replies
    1. My pleasure, weenie.

      I know what you mean.

      One of my unsubstantiated concerns sort of emerges from this. As so many of their customers are first time investors and trading is free does that mean they are more likely to sell out of their investments at the first sign of trouble and take away their money. If so, how financially secure is the company if they make their money from cash held in customer accounts, etc.? I don't know about this but would like to know more.

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