Online brokers have made investing much easier and faster in recent decades. And investors have an increasing choice following a series of new platform launches in recent years. However, when you invest you place a great deal of trust, and maybe money, with the broker you select to transact for you, so it is important to pick the right one. When doing this you should think carefully about how you plan to use your chosen platform, asset security and possible liquidity problems – before handing over large chunks of your money to any one provider.
There is a wide variety of platforms available, from established brokers who offer all listed securities to commission-free apps with a select few of the most traded stocks. So you could use different platforms for different purposes, if you can bear the additional administrative burden, and are aware of the additional costs that you could incur.
Thanks to robust regulation you should be able to safely hold all of your investable assets with one platform, provided that you pick an established and profitable one. Most of the major platforms have client accounts ranging in size from under £1,000 to several million. But whatever your amount of money, you should understand how your platform holds it and what might happen if something goes wrong.