Our industry news and analysis covers product and corporate updates from investing, trading and currency transfer providers. We also analyse significant market movements in the most popular UK shares, US stocks, commodities, indices, and currency pairs. It is designed to help you make more informed decisions about what to invest in, what to trade and when to execute currency transactions.

Moneyfarm launches a new individual share dealing service
Wealth manager Moneyfarm is expanding its offering by introducing a share dealing service. The money manager’s co-founder and CEO, Giovanni Daprà, announced the launch of the new service, which will initially be rolled out to UK customers as part of a phased deployment to the entire Moneyfarm customer base. Invest in companies for the long-term

Hargreaves Lansdown cuts JISA and LISA fees
Hargreaves Lansdown has cut the cost of its JISA (Junior ISA) and LISA (Lifetime ISA) accounts. This is good news as Hargreaves Lansdown is generally acknowledged to be not only the largest provider of direct-to-consumer investment services but also the most expensive. HL Removes Junior ISA Fees The Junior ISA is aimed at those under

Goodfolio closes down it’s investment platform
Impact investing platform Goodfolio has written to its clients to tell them that it is closing down and that clients must sell out of their investment and transfer their funds, away from the platform within 30 days. ESG fails to gain traction Goodfolio says that it has been unable to attract sufficient business to the

Is ESG investing falling out of favour with UK investors?
US broker Charles Schwab has published the results of an online survey, it conducted among 1000 UK investors. The survey found that the appeal of companies with strong ESG credentials among UK Investors had fallen by -7.0% since February 2021. Amid the ongoing cost of living crisis, almost 70% of investors prioritised maximising their returns

XTB, kicking and punching it’s way to $1bn
XTB, with a little help from major sponsorship and partnership deals with fighters like Conor McGregor, and football manager Jose Mourinho XTB is now worth over $1bn. Jakub Zablocki taking profit The Co-founder of XTB Poland’s billion dollar broker announces his intention to sell 6.0% of the compnay. The main shareholder of Polish margin trading

Degiro stops onboarding new clients in the UK
Degiro UK the UK subsidiary of Pan-European low-cost stock broker FlatexDegiro has stopped onboarding new client accounts at least temporarily. The broker wrote to its marketing affiliates and partners today to say that it was pausing UK acquisition campaigns and client onboarding for regulatory reasons, without saying what they might be. In its brief communication

US banking crisis helped to drive Q1 CFD volumes at Capital.com
Capital.com has published data and insights on its CFD turnover, which reveal that the regional banking crisis, seen in the first quarter of 2023, drew retail traders into the CFD market. Banks down, brokers up… Capital.com publishes quarterly trading highlights and other information in the Pulse report. The latest release of which shows that CFDs

CMC Invest add ESG screening, analyst recommendations & fundamental data
CMC Invest, the recently launched investing and savings platform owned by CMC Markets, has added the ability to set your ESG preferences, analyst recommendations, alongside expert opinions on individual stocks, more fundamental data and analysis, as well as increased in the number of assets that can be accessed via their investment app. ESG preferences CMC

Hargreaves Lansdown Active Savings is now offering a £100 cash ISA bonus
Save £10,000 or more with HL Active Savings and get a £100 bonus Best savings rates are currently 3.2% easy access and 4.7% fixed term 34 different savings accounts and providers to chose from What is Hargreaves Lansdown Active Savings? Hargreaves Lansdown’s Active Savings product was launched by the investment broker in 2018 and lets

Saxo Bank receives a BBB investment grade rating from S&P
Danish-based broker Saxo Bank has received a coveted BBB credit rating from S&P. The bank which can trace its roots back more than 25 years, is also on the cusp of being recognised as a Systematically Important Financial Institution, or SIFI, in its home state, by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, the FSA. S&P BBB

Wise announces increased fees and charges
Money transfer and payments app Wise is increasing some of its charges and fees. The company prides itself on its low-cost approach to the conversion and transfer of foreign currencies. Despite that, it’s raising the fees associated with payment and conversions in Euros and Great British Pounds. When will the fees apply and how much is

Primary Bid re-launches a desktop version of its app
PrimaryBid the fintech that aims to make new issues and placings accessible to retail traders and investors have launched a desktop version of its mobile App. PrimaryBid, which can trace its roots back to 2016, has, until now, only been available as an App on mobile devices and not on desktop computers. But from this

Plus500 revenue and customers numbers up, again…
Plus500 the Israeli-based but London-listed margin trading broker has posted its Q1 2023 trading update, which looks impressive in terms of revenue growth, new customer numbers and average revenue per user. Customers and revenue increase Plus500 reported that it has grown revenues by 64%, when compared to the final quarter of 2022, the firm generated

InvestEngine raises another £2m via Crowdcube valued at £27m
ETF-focused Fintech InvestEngine has closed another successful crowdfunding round on Crowdcube, with the commission-free investment platform picking up almost £2.0 million in new funds. InvestEngine valued at nearly £30m InvestEngine had targeted £1.25 million from its latest crowdfunding round, which was managed by Crowdcube, however, it comfortably surpassed that figure and raised £1.94 million. This

eToro charts it’s way to the top of Twitter
eToro has partnered with one of the most high-profile businesses on the planet, Twitter, which of course is now owned by one of the world’s richest men, Elon Musk. The joint venture between the two companies has been marketed as a way for Twitter users to trade stocks, Cryptocurrencies and other assets via the eToro

WiseAlpha raises another £1m via crowdfunding site Seedrs
WiseAlpha, a fintech startup dedicated to fractional bond trading and ownership has announced a new fundraising round, via the crowdfunding platform Seedrs. Unlike equities bond markets are not easily accessible to retail investors. Bonds are often denominated in units of 100,000 dollars, pounds or euros and bond issuers have traditionally focused on institutional investors, rarely

Andy Bell warns on unprofitable Fintech investment platforms
Andy Bell, the founder of the investment platform AJ Bell, has warned investors about the future of unprofitable Fintech firms. His comments come hard on the heels of news that environmental wealth manager Clim8 is shuttering, and that impact investing platform Tulipshare is closing its brokerage arm. A lack of profits and an inability to

Tulipshare pivots ethical investing to become a Pledge Your Shares platform
Fintech start-up Tulipshare wants to shake up the boardrooms of some of the world’s largest companies, by bringing activist investors together and using their combined voices to lobby for lasting and meaningful change in business practices. Who are Tulipshare and what do they stand for? North London-based Tulipshare, which is an appointed rep of FCA-regulated