eToro UK Review
What it feels like to trade with eToro
!! Regulator Warning !!
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 61% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
They dont offer MetaTrader and their proprietary mobile investing app is plagues with issues. You can't delete an order after you open it, the buttons don't respond immediately you press them etc.
Best platform for crypto investment and I also like their etoro money app as it is easy to use
Excellent platform for beginner investors and CFD traders alike. Their education is good and the social trading worked well for me. However, customer support is not so great and the minimum investment for investment portfolios should be reduced.
Too much bureaucracy. To open an account took me a while because I kept having login issues and they couldn't fix it till after a some weeks. I proceeded to buy shares which didn't reflect in my account and I had to complain again before they rectified it. I thought eToro was bigger than this
eToro is an FCA regulated trading & investment platform with a $10 minimum deposit for UK traders
| 👨 Broker | eToro UK LTD. |
| 👨 Trading Name | eToro |
| 📅 Year Founded | 2007, Tel-Aviv Israel |
| 👨 Accepts UK Traders? | Yes |
| ⚖ Regulators | FCA UK |
| ⚖ Reference No. | 583263 |
| ⚖ Investor Protection | FSCS |
| ⚖ Dispute Resolution | Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) |
| 📈 CFD | Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, ETFs, NFT |
| 📈 Investment | Shares, Fractional shares, ETFs, Smart Portfolios, |
| 🚀Leverage | 1:30 |
| 🔎Auditors | Ernst & Young |
| 💻 Platforms | eToro Mobile App, eToro Copy Trader |
| 📋Account Types | Personal Account, Professonal Account, Corporate Account |
| 💰 Minimum Deposit | $10 |
| 💰 Minimum Withdrawal | $30 |
| 📞Live Support | 24/5 |
| 🏖️ Inactivity Fee | $10 |
| ✅Why is eToro good? | |
| ❌Why is eToro bad? |
Regulation -10/10
eToro UK LTD is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) & has a local office here in the UK.
eToro UK is also a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.
Funding & Withdrawals -8/10
eToro Minimum Deposit
The eToro minimum deposit is $10.
eToro does not charge deposit fees but when you move a crypto asset into your wallet, there is a 2% crypto transfer fee.
eToro Minimum Withdrawal
The minimum withdrawal at eToro UK is $30.
eToro Withdrawal Time
Withdrawals via eToro Money are instant.
However, if you are withdrawing through other methods such as Bank Transfer, Cards, Paypal or eWallets; it might take between 2 to 10 days to reach your account.
eToro Account Types - 5/10
1. Personal Account
This is a dual-purpose account for both trading & investing. This account can also be used for copy trading.
2. Professional Account
This account is for highly experienced traders/investors with a verifiable track record. It comes with a higher leverage than the personal account, but there is no investor protection for professional traders..
3. Corporate Account
If you want to trade using your company funds, then you need to open a corporate account.
Account Management - 7/10
eToro Money
eToro Money is an online wallet where your deposits can be stored for onward disbursement into your trading & investment accounts.
The eToro Money wallet can also hold cryptocurrency assets.
You can download the eToro Money app to access the online wallet & manage your funds.
How Do I Deposit into My eToro Wallet?
Login to your client area on the eToro website and click on deposit.
Select your deposit currency, enter the amount & select your preferred deposit method then submit.
eToro Account Currency
GBP, EUR & USD base currencies are on offer to UK traders so you can open your account in any of these currencies.
Max. Number of Trading Accounts Allowed
At eToro, you can only open one trading/investment account per client.
eToro Debit Cards
eToro issues GBP Debit Cards to traders who open their accounts in GBP currency & maintain an account balance above $5,000.
Range of Markets - 8/10
CFDs
When trading via CFDs and you get exposure to markets on Forex, Soft Commodities, Hard Commodities, Indices such as NASDAQ, ETFS & Stocks.
eToro does not offer Bond CFDs but you still get exposure to the fixed income market when you trade their Bond ETFs.
Although eToro offers Crypto, it is not available to retail traders.
Investment
1. Real Shares & ETFs
eToro introduced stock investing in 2013. You can buy & own 4,500+ real shares as well as fractional shares on eToro and the minimum you can trade is $10.
When you buy shares on eToro you get voting rights on the company & even if you own fractional shares you still get proportionate voting rights.
eToro pays dividends on shares provided the company is paying out dividends.
The downside with eToro stocks investment is that you cannot transfer your stock portfolio to another broker. You will have to sell the stock and get the cash before moving to another broker.
2. eToro Smart Portfolios
eToro introduced Smart Portfolios in 2016 & offers investors over 65 ready-made smart portfolios to aid diversification.
Smart portfolios enable you focus on achieving your investment goals such as retirement, home purchase etc.
These so called smart portfolios can be categorized into:
- Core Equity: strictly growth stocks such as Meta, Tesla etc.
- Core Dynamic: more of developed equity and lesser of fixed income
- Core Moderate: a mix of fixed income, developed equity, emerging equity & alternative investments
- Core Stability: more of fixed income & less of stock
- Core Income: strictly fixed income investments like government bonds
Fees -7/10
1.Spread
eToro spread starts from 1 pips and EUR/USD average spread is around 1.1 pips.
eToro account type is a spread-only account so commissions are zero when trading forex CFDs.
2. Commission (real shares/crypto purchases & sales only)
eToro UK also offers investing so you can buy & own stocks & even fractional stocks. You also get paid dividend after corporate actions.
Buying of stocks on eToro attracts a commission between $1 and $2.
You also pay a 0.5% stamp duty transaction tax when you buy UK stocks.
You can also buy & hold ETFs on eToro without paying any commission.
When you buy & sell real crypto on eToro you must pay a 1% fee.
3. Withdrawal Fees
eToro does not charge withdrawal fees on GBP & EUR base currency accounts. However when withdrawing from a USD Investment Account, eToro charges a $5 withdrawal fee on every $30.
4. Overnight Fees
When trading CFDs on eToro, you must pay overnight fees.
However, when you are investing (such as buying real shares or ETFs) you do not pay overnight fees. But if you are short selling an ETF, you must pay overnight fees.
Any ETF or Stock marked as "CFD" is going to attract overnight fees & even spreads.
5. Inactivity Fees
eToro UK charges a $10 inactivity fee after one year of account dormancy (meaning no trades being placed).
Trading Platforms -5/10
eToro Mobile & Web
eToro does not offer MetaTrader platforms, instead they have developed their own eToro mobile app & web trader.
eToro combines CFD trading & investing in one app which works on Android & Apple devices.
This two in one approach is convenient because even copy trading is on the app. There is no need to download another app for investing or copy trading.
Although eToro is not a TradingView broker, the eToro mobile/web platforms have TradingView themed charts.
Tools - 5/10
1. eToro Earnings Calendar
The earnings calendar shows you upcoming dates when publicly listed companies will be publishing their financial statements & earnings reports.
When this kind of important financial report is released to the public, it can affect the prices of the stock so this is why earnings calendars are important.
2. Copy Trading @ eToro
eToro offers copy trading to all UK clients. To start copy trading login to your eToro client area or eToro mobile app, open the menu on the left, click on copy trading & select a strategy provider to copy.
The eToro Popular Investor Social Trading Program enables other traders to connect to your account & copy your trades.
Popular investors earn a yearly fee of 1.5% of the assets under their management.
Customer Support - 7/10
Live Chat
eToro UK offers 24/5 customer support and you can reach them through live chat, accessible from your client area.
We tested their live chat and we didnt have to wait more than 3 minutes before we got a response.
eToro does not offer telephone support and instead you can contact them via live chat or by filling a ticket on their website.
Personal Account Manager
eToro does not assign Personal Account Managers to regular traders except you are a member of the eToro Silver, Gold, Platinum or Diamond Club (meaning your account balance should exceed $5,000).
Beginner Education
eToro Academy is a free learning resource that teaches you investing & CFD trading using video tutorials.
eToro UK also has a help-center where you can get answers to frequently asked questions.
Final Verdict - 7/10
eToro is not a bad broker, they give you a platform to trade & invest. However, their strength lies in the investing and less in the trading part.