Putting a Stake in the Ground for the Future of Brokerage

Global brokerage app, Stake, has today launched its beta in the UK. Stake is opening up the world’s biggest and most dynamic stock market to investors outside of the US with the opportunity to trade and invest directly in more than 3,500 US stocks and ETFs. Founded in Australia in 2017, Stake already has 50,000 customers and will officially launch in the UK in February, before expanding across Europe in the coming months, as part of its mission to bring the US market to the rest of the world.

Built by expert traders, software engineers and designers, Stake’s seamless platform was created from scratch to provide an enhanced brokerage experience. From today, UK investors can access Stake’s beta to test the app, simply by signing up online and sending a referral code to friends. As soon as the referral code is used to register, it will be possible to start trading right away with no waiting list, and to be one of the first to try Stake in the UK.

Despite digital brokerage becoming more accessible in recent years, Stake believes investors are still experiencing the limitations of the services on offer and falling prey to opaque pricing systems. Stake gives customers the simplest, most intuitive and sophisticated direct access to the US stock market possible. Established solely to create a better way to buy and sell US shares from outside America, Stake offers direct access to the $31 trillion of investment opportunities the US market represents.

Founder and CEO, Matt Leibowitz said: “We’re on a mission to build the future of brokerage and are hugely excited to be launching in the UK as we expand into Europe. We know UK investors want to take the way they trade US stocks to another level. The UK stock market provides plenty of opportunity, but many of the largest and fastest growing companies in the world are listed elsewhere. If you want to buy shares in game-changing companies like Amazon, Google or Tesla, you have to trade in the US.

“If you want to be hands-on and enjoy making investment decisions, we make it easier than ever to execute, track and trade individual shares and ETFs. Typically, we don’t attract beginners; 77% of our existing customers have traded before and they’ve got some knowledge of the markets. Our customers want to invest globally without having to pay through the teeth for it or being surprised by hidden fees. We don’t think they are being fully catered for in the UK and Stake is here to fill that gap for them. Our personal experience showed us what could be done – and we want to bring that to the rest of the world.”

Currently, opening a US brokerage account from the UK can be difficult – with US tax considerations and forms to fill in. Stake has made it quicker and easier to get set up, streamlining the sign-up process and automating the documentation including the hefty W8-Ben form directly with its US dealer, so the appropriate withholding tax can be applied to accounts and compliance is all taken care of without form filling and processing delays.

Unlike other brokerage platforms that charge FX fees on every trade, Stake only charges a small FX fee when money is converted into USD, as part of its clear and upfront pricing model. There are three tiers of Brokerage Packs to suit customers’ different trading needs: Starter, Unlimited and Black. Starter is free and the others have fixed monthly prices, but all packs will be free in the UK until 1 July 2020. The average deposit of Stake’s customers is around $6,000USD, but users can trade with a minimum of $100USD.

For more information, visit: hellostake.com/UK

Notes to editors:

Stake is a global brokerage app and website that was established solely to give users direct access to trade US stocks from outside America. The platform was built by a team of traders, software engineers and designers to give users a simple, intuitive and yet sophisticated direct to market access. It offers global traders a better way to diversify their portfolios by directly investing in over 3,500 US stocks and ETFs, including Tesla, Amazon and Google. Stake also offers day trading on unsettled funds and the option to buy fractional shares – any dollar amount of any share. With a fully automated and digital sign up process to create an account within minutes, users can access Stake via a completely transparent and upfront pricing system. It offers three tiers of Brokerage Packs to suit customers’ different trading needs: Starter, Unlimited and Black. For more information on the Brokerage Packs and how to access Stake, visit: https://hellostake.com/pricing/.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200122005358/en/