UK's Second Largest Broker, Trading 212, Eyes Automated Investing, European Dominance

Benzinga will be holding its annual Benzinga Global Fintech Awards, a day of dealmaking, networking, and recognition in the financial technology space, on Nov. 10, 2020.

In recognition of those disruptive innovators creating positive and diverse change within the financial services space, Benzinga chatted with Ivan Ashminov, co-founder at Trading 212.

Lockdowns Fuel Massive Growth

Alongside the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, investors around the world flocked towards highly engaging activities, such as day trading.

In light of the impressive rise in retail trading volumes, Trading 212, a commission-free broker, saw its number of accounts funded rise to 600,000 in 2020.

“Over the last few months we hit a few major milestones,” Ashminov said. “We had probably 400,000 account openings this year, which makes us the second biggest broker in the U.K. in terms of number of retail accounts, and we’ve also surpassed 1 billion in client assets under management.”

The company’s core product portfolio consists of no-fee fractional investing in over 3,000 global stocks, ETFs, foreign exchange, and derivatives products, as well as educational videos, community forums, and analysis tools.

Consumer-Focused Innovation

In a Benzinga interview earlier this year, Ashminov emphasized a focus on customer-focused innovation.

“We are very much driven by the suggestions and feedback by our community,” he said. “We did a lot in terms of improving our systems capability and we are handling the loads well in terms of user experience and features.”

The company recently honed in on automated and sustainable investing with AutoInvest and Pie.

The tools, though released under beta, enable people to start building their portfolios, which Trading 212 calls Pies, via an easy to use automated investing and rebalancing technology.

“I think automated investing is a big part of our future since it gives us a great opportunity to innovate and cut costs for the clients,” he noted. “Even though day trading is the hot topic at the moment, it will go away, just like any such cycle where suddenly everybody wants to day trade and speculate.”

Ashminov noted that the product is absolutely free and caters to the new generation of investors that demand simplicity and low cost.

“A new generation is coming and they have high expectations for user experience. They don’t want excess fees and commissions. They want a slick interface and no small prints in their contracts,” he said. “They’re very much self-directed and we’re catering for that.”

European Growth Accelerates

“In terms of growth, we really want to see the same level of growth we are experiencing in the U.K.”

Trading 212 aims to become the most reputable and reliable trading platform across Europe. In line with this goal, the company is in pursuit of investment banking licenses, helping inspire further confidence among investors.

“The next phase is to innovate with new tools and to democratize not just trading and investing, but wealth management in general.”

To learn more about Trading 212, click here.