The 4 Best Stock Brokers in Ireland

The stock industry is quite tricky to understand, even for some experienced traders. To learn the ropes, you’re going to need the expertise of the best stock brokers in Ireland.

In this article, we’ve done thorough research on major players in the stock industry and put together a list of our top picks.

You’ll find a comprehensive review along with some pros and cons as well as some answers to FAQs at the end.

How much do stock brokers charge?

Before we get into it, let’s talk a bit about how much it’ll cost to hire a stock broker.

Stock brokers usually earn through fees, commissions, or sometimes even both. These are standard percentages based on how much money they earn on behalf of their client.

This varies from firm to firm and also depends on the kind of service you’re looking for.

See, there are three kinds of stock brokers in the industry: full-service, discount, and online. All three perform various levels of service.

Full-service stock brokers, as their name suggests, give their clients everything from A to Z. This includes tailored brokerage plans, educational resources, and financial advisories, to name a few.

This makes them more appealing to beginners, but they also charge considerably more.

Discount brokers, on the other hand, only perform transactions on behalf of their clients. Since they cost less, they’re ideal for investors looking to cut back on expenses on brokers.

Lastly, online brokers are automated digital platforms that use financial data and algorithms to provide investment advice.

Since they’re automated, they require the least supervision. They’re also the cheapest option and are ideal for experienced traders.

Now that you’re more acquainted with some factors that may affect how much hiring a broker will cost, let’s talk about the fees of our featured entries.

We’ve compiled their rates in the table below. For more info, you can visit their website or contact them directly.

STOCKBROKER	SERVICE	FEES
Davy Select	Discretionary and Advisory Accounts
	Annual Mannagement Fee	1.25% per annum on the value of portfolio
	Equity, ETF, & option dealing	1.65% on first €15,000.00 1.00% on next €15,000.00 0.50% on balance (subject to minimum commission of €100)
	Dealing Fee	0.90% per annum
Cantor Fitzgerald	Discretionary Management Services
	Management Fee	Up to 1.25% (minimum €1,250) + VAT
	Cash Management Charge	0.60% on balances over €5,000
	Advisory Managed Services
	Management Fee	1.10% (minimum €750) + VAT
	Cash Management Charge	0.60% on balances over €5,000
	Commission Charges	€0 to €20,000 – 1.50%
		€20,001 to €40,000 – 1.00%
		Balance – 0.50%
		Minimum – €55
	Execution Only Services
	Administration Fee Rate	0.75% (minimum €300)
	Cash Management Charge	0.60% on balances over €5,000
	Commission Charges	€0 to €20,000 – 1.50%
		€20,001 to €40,000 – 1.00%
		Balance – 0.50%
		Minimum – €55
Goodbody	Account Maintenance Fee	€100 + 23% VAT annually
	Transaction Charges	€25 per trade minimum commission
		1% commission up to €25,000
		0.50% commission on the balance of the trade
Aria	Equities, Preference Shares and Convertibles, Unit Trusts, Investment Trusts and Open-ended Investment Companies (OEICs)
	Dealing Minimum Commission	€25 (transaction value up to €2,000)
	Dealing Commission Scale	1.25% on transaction values between €2,001 - €9,000
		Then 0.5% on the balance above €9,000
	UK and Irish Exchequer Stock
	Dealing Minimum Commission	€25 (transaction value up to €2,500)
	Dealing Commission Scale	1.00% on transaction values between €2,001 - €10,000
		Then 0.45% on the balance between €10,001 - €30,000
		Then 0.10% on the balance above €30,000

The Best Stock Brokers in Ireland 

To come up with our top picks, we’ve considered the following factors:

Account Offerings – We considered the various inclusions that come with opening an account. These are various tools, range of services, and investment and funds selections, to name a few.

Variety of Services – Since people have different styles of investing, we took a look at their service range to give you some options.

Investment Selection – To give you the chance to fully explore the market, we looked at their investment selection, too.

Brokers’ Skills – We eyed entries that have a knack for bringing in good investments for a variety of clients all while ensuring that you make the best financial decisions possible.

Clientele – From private clients to businesses, we spotted entries that are able to serve a wide array of investors.

Accessibility and Support – Considering that they’re holding part of your wealth, we examined how easy it was to contact them.

Platform – We chose entries that had user-friendly platforms that offer useful tools and features that make them easy to navigate.

Additional Services – As the icing on the cake, we looked at whether they offered educational resources, perks, tools, and the like.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s head on to what you really came here for: the best stock brokers in Ireland!

1. Goodbody

CRITERIA	RATING
ACCOUNT OFFERINGS	★★★ (3/5)
VARIETY OF SERVICES	★★★★ (4/5)
INVESTMENT SELECTION	★★ (2/5)
BROKERS’ SKILLS	★★★ (3/5)
CLIENTELE	★★★★ (4/5)
ACCESSIBILITY & SUPPORT	★★★ (3/5)
PLATFORM	★★★ (3/5)
ADDITIONAL SERVICES	★★★★ (4/5)

If you consider experience as an important factor in your decision-making process, you’ll like that Goodbody is a multi-awarded firm that has been in the financial industry for over 145 years.

They specialize in asset and wealth management as well as financial banking. Their clientele includes private clients as well as varying businesses, corporations, and institutions.

For investing, you can choose from advisory services, active trading, or investing on your own. We like the variety since you get to pick the level of broker involvement you’re comfortable with.

Their advisory services help private clients achieve their financial goals. They offer bespoke portfolios catered to monetary goals such as education funding and retirement preparations.

We think it’s worth noting that they’ve racked up quite the reputation for their portfolios. This is because they’re custom-made to clients’ investment objectives and risk appetites.

Anyhow, if you’re into active trading, they can provide you with a dedicated trader to guide you. We think this apprenticeship will help you gain firsthand experience that’ll get you hitting the ground running in no time.

But if you don’t need a helping hand, their trading platform alone gives you the chance to explore more than ten markets with 1,000+ securities.

On the flip side, we weren’t so pleased to find that their trading options are limited to shares and ETFs only. This can be a major turn-off if you want more diverse trading methods.

2. Davy

CRITERIA	RATING
ACCOUNT OFFERINGS	★★★★ (4/5)
VARIETY OF SERVICES	★★★★ (4/5)
INVESTMENT SELECTION	★★★★ (4/5)
BROKERS’ SKILLS	★★★★ (4/5)
CLIENTELE	★★★★ (4/5)
ACCESSIBILITY & SUPPORT	★★★★ (4/5)
PLATFORM	★★★ (3/5)
ADDITIONAL SERVICES	★★★★ (4/5)

In business since the 1920s, Davy has been financially assisting a wide clientele. This includes private investors, professionals, and institutions to name a few.

For private clients, they offer tailored life plans based on a specific goal. We like this service since it helps to guide clients’ focus, efforts, and resources towards a clear objective.

What’s more, clients can pick the level discretionary services– where Davy lets you choose to receive portfolio management only or to receive advisories along with it.

Moreover, if you prefer doing things your way, they also have Davy Select. Here, you have the freedom to invest however you like.

Another thing that’s important to highlight about the firm is that their online investment platform has 7,500+ shares across 30 international markets along with 650+ ETFs and 1,250+ funds.

Because of their impressive global investment selection, we think this makes Davy more palatable for adventurous independent traders or those who prefer a wide array of options.

Even though we think their website is dated, it’s quite user-friendly and straightforward. It has a comprehensive view of the financial market status, profiles of various companies, and tools.

On top of that, they have educational resources such as investor guides that you could check out. Even so, we still think their platform is due for an update.

3. AvaTrade

CRITERIA	RATING
ACCOUNT OFFERINGS	★★★★ (4/5)
VARIETY OF SERVICES	★★★★ (4/5)
INVESTMENT SELECTION	★★★★ (4/5)
BROKERS’ SKILLS	★★★★ (4/5)
CLIENTELE	★★★★ (4/5)
ACCESSIBILITY & SUPPORT	★★★★ (4/5)
PLATFORM	★★★★ (4/5)
ADDITIONAL SERVICES	★★★★ (4/5)

Though quite young, AvaTrade is an award-winning multinational player in the financial field that has garnered a reputation for its progressive trading platform.

An important aspect worth highlighting is they have 1,000+ instruments at your disposal. These include Forex, stocks, cryptocurrencies, indices, and commodities trading.

They also have a ton of trading platforms that are free to download. You can access them on mobile, desktop, or the web, to boot.

Their trading platforms are MetaTrader 4/MetaTrader 5, AvaTradeGo, and WebTrader, to name a few.

Another thing that caught our eye was their vast selection of free educational materials. These resources include exclusive e-books, daily market analyses, articles, and videos.

All of these are available for differing trading levels, from beginner to expert, to help you improve your trading skills and knowledge.

To add to their list of advantages, all these materials are available in several languages. We really appreciate the diversity, as it gives virtually anyone the chance to learn.

What’s more, their customer services are also available in several languages. We think this’ll definitely make communication easier for non-native English-speaking clients.

If you aren’t completely sold yet, you can try out their 21-day demo account for free. This’ll give you the chance to explore their offerings without any obligations.

4. Cantor Fitzgerald

CRITERIA	RATING
ACCOUNT OFFERINGS	★★★★ (4/5)
VARIETY OF SERVICES	★★★★ (4/5)
INVESTMENT SELECTION	★★★★ (4/5)
BROKERS’ SKILLS	★★★★ (4/5)
CLIENTELE	★★★★ (4/5)
ACCESSIBILITY & SUPPORT	★★★★ (4/5)
PLATFORM	★★★ (3/5)
ADDITIONAL SERVICES	★★★ (3/5)

Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland is part of the global financial services firm, Cantor Fitzgerald. Even so, they have local offices based in Dublin, Cork, and Limerick

Their expertise lies in stock brokering and financial advisories for clientele of differing profiles, risk appetites, and investment objectives.

Speaking of investments, their selection is also quite large. They offer Discretionary Portfolios, Global Equity Income Fund, share dealing, and more.

For their stock brokering services, clients can choose among discretionary, advisory, and execution-only services.

What’s more, you’ll be assigned a dedicated portfolio manager or stock broker to guide you in making financial decisions, analyzing the market, and more.

We think this bonus definitely deserves points primarily because you’ll be getting one-on-one hands-on training without additional fees.

While exploring their website, we found it user-friendly but a bit dated. Nonetheless, they offer resources such as articles prepared by their in-house experts.

A cause of concern would be that they don’t mention anything about having their own trading platform. This is quite an inconvenience and may even be a turn-off to traders who want to avoid using third-party platforms.

FAQs About Stock Brokers

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That concludes our list of the best stock brokers in Ireland! With your picks, you’ll surely learn the ropes in no time.

Get in touch with us if you have other noteworthy stock brokers you’d want us to review.

Say, if you’re on the hunt for other ways to make better financial decisions, you might want to check out our other articles:

• Best financial advisors in Dublin
• Best accountants in Galway

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