Those online trading platforms that allow you to buy fractional shares in Ireland make it easier to start investing in stocks.
With fractional shares, you can buy a piece of almost any publicly traded company , including some of the biggest companies in the United States, which trade for hundreds of dollars a share.
Share prices took a bit of a tumble in 2022 – and now may be a good time to think about buying shares. However – the price of shares could still have further to fall.
What are Fractional Shares?
A fractional share is when, instead of buying a whole share in a company, you buy a portion of it.
For example – maybe someone wants to invest in Microsoft , but can’t afford, or doesn’t want to risk, the price of a single share which is around $340. With fractional shares – they can choose to invest a smaller amount of money and buy a portion of a share. If they buy $34 worth of a $340 Alphabet share – they will end up owning 0.1 of an Alphabet share .
Fractional shares are a good way for beginners to start investing in shares. Maybe they don’t want to risk a lot of money or can’t afford to pay the high prices for a single share in some of the most expensive stocks such as Apple , Markel ,Berkshire Hathaway, Microsoft, Alphabet, Autozone ,NVR , Booking, Chipotle and Meta.
Buying fractional shares can be really useful for regular investors who want to invest a set amount of money each month into a company.
When you buy a fraction of a share, you are treated the same as any investor with a full share. You make the same percentage gains and get the same benefits of stock ownership. You also take on the same risk of loss.
Note – Degiro doesn’t currently allow customers to trade in fractional shares – nor do the Irish stockbrokers Davy or Goodbody.
Some Online trading platforms in Ireland that allow the purchase of fractional shares.
Below we have listed some of the best brokers in Ireland for buying fractional shares and compared their fees.
Fractional Shares on Etoro
Etoro offers access to hundreds of shares on several stock exchanges around the world (But not Dublin).
They don’t have access to all the stocks on each exchange – but they do have a good selection.
For example : (Checked Sept 2023)
NYSE – 1206 stocks ; NASDAQ 881 stocks
London LSE 283 stocks ; Frankfurt 118 stocks
All of the stocks and shares available on Etoro can be bought fractionally.
The minimum trade size is just $10.
Etoro charges NO Commission on the fractional buying or selling of shares and they also pay the stamp duty for you on UK shares, which is 0.5%.
If you are considering investing in UK-based Investment Trusts, Etoro also has a few of them available. The same NO fees apply and there will be no Stamp Duty to pay.
Examples of Investment Trusts available on Etoro include:
| City of London Investment Trust | Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust | Temple Bar Investment Trust |
| European Opportunities Trust | Monks Investment Trust | Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust |
| F&C Investment Trust | Mercantile Investment Trust |
More information about Investment Trusts
Etoro charges a currency conversion fee of 0.5% if you directly deposit or withdraw Euros by bank transfer. This is because all account balances at eToro are denominated in US dollars.
However – These currency fees can be avoided by using the free eToro Money App to make deposits in Euros and convert to USD at the interbank rate.
Debit/credit card, Paypal and Skrill deposits that are not in USD will incur a 1.5% currency conversion fee.
More about using Etoro in Ireland here
Your capital is at risk. Other fees apply. For more information, visit etoro.com/trading/fees
Etoro operates in Ireland and more than 140 other countries and has over 11 million users.
Irish residents who access eToro will use eToro (Europe) which is based in Cyprus and regulated by the Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission. It uses EU passporting rules to allow it to operate across the single market.
Fractional Shares on Lightyear
Lightyear is one of several new online stock trading platforms to appear on the scene in Ireland and the UK in recent years .
Lightyear first launched its trading app in the UK market in 2021 and expanded into Ireland and most of Europe in the summer of 2022, using Estonia as its base.
The provider of investment services is Lightyear Europe AS. Lightyear Europe AS is authorised and regulated as an investment firm by the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority.
Lightyear offers the opportunity to buy fractional amounts for a large proportion of the US shares available on their platform.
For shares on the US markets, Lightyear charges a 0.1% execution fee (10c minimum, capped at max. $1).
There will also be a 0.35% currency conversion fee if you use Euros to buy the shares because they are priced in USD.
Lightyear does not charge any inactivity fees, there are no one-off or monthly charges to open an account or to deposit, hold and withdraw funds.
Example of Lightyear charges: Fees on the purchase of $50 worth of Berkshire Hathaway shares = $0.10c plus $0.175 currency conversion fee. Total 27.5c (USD) . This is about€ 0.25 EUR.
When you invest, your capital is at risk.
Sign up with a promo code MONEYGUIDE, deposit at least €50 and get 10 trades for free.
T&Cs apply. Capital at risk
You can open an account online at Lightyear .
Lightyear has the added advantage that it pays interest on any uninvested cash. The current interest rates are shown below.
| Lightyear Interest Rates | |
|---|---|
| Currency | Interest Rate |
| Euro | 3.25% |
| GBP | 4.5% |
| USD | 4.5% |
Fractional Shares on Trade Republic
Trade Republic is based in Berlin and has reached over a million customers since launching its investment app in 2015. They launched here in Ireland in October 2022 .
Investing in fractional shares, also called stock slices, is possible on Trade Republic ,with hundreds of selected shares. The minimum amount for fractional investing is 1 EUR.
One very useful feature of Trade Republic is its Savings Plans . You can set up automated purchases of shares or fractions of shares called savings plans. All purchases are free of charge as part of a savings plan. There is just a flat €1 fee when you sell.
You can set up a savings plan that includes a set amount to be invested at regular intervals into your chosen stock. You can choose to buy weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or quarterly. A savings plan can be stopped at any time without penalty. This could be ideal for small investors .
Outside of savings plans, there is a flat fee of €1 per trade
All Stock and ETF orders of Trade Republic customers are routed through Lang & Schwarz Exchange, an electronic trading system operated at Hamburg Stock Exchange.
Trade Republic are supervised by the Federal Bank of Germany and BaFin (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority)
You can open an account at Trade Republic
Always remember that Investing involves risks. You could lose your deposit.
Fractional Shares on Bux Zero
Bux Zero is another online trading platform that allows you to buy a small selection of fractional Shares .
All trades of US shares on BUX Zero are 99c and there is a 0.25% foreign exchange fee.
Trades of EU shares cost €1.99 each.
They also charge a €2.99 Service Fee each month – which makes them expensive for small time investors
See the table below for a comparison of the fees when buying fractional shares.
The BUX Zero trading platform is run by BUX which is a European mobile brokerage company, based in Amsterdam and London. BUX Zero is regulated by the AFM, The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets.
You can sign up to BUX Zero here.
Always remember that Investing involves risks. You can lose your deposit.
Comparison of Fees When Trading Fractional Shares
| Buy $100 slice of Tesla share each month for 2 years. Sell after 2 years for $3000 | Total Share Dealing Fees and Commissions. |
|---|---|
| Trade Republic (Savings Plan) | €1 |
| Etoro (Deposit and Withdraw EUR via eToro Money App | €4.75 |
| Lightyear | €19 ($21.10 USD) |
| Interactive Brokers (Deposit and Withdraw USD) | €22 |
| Revolut | €27 |
| Interactive Brokers (Deposit and Withdraw EUR) | €66 |
| Bux Zero | €109.02 |
*The fees with Revolut could be lower if you only trade once a month.
Fractional Shares on Revolut
You can choose from about 1000 US-listed shares on Revolut (Nasdaq and NYSE). All shares can be bought as fractions. All trades are in US Dollars and the minimum purchase is $1
- Trading fees are 0.25% of the trade with a minimum fee of €1
- 1 trade a month is free for Standard Revolut accounts.
- 3 free trades a month for Revolut Plus accounts.
- 8 free trades a month for Revolut Premium
- unlimited free trades a month for Revolut Metal accounts
- There is also a shareholding / custody fee of 0.12% a year. (i.e $1.20 on $1,000 worth of shares) .
As with all the above brokers – the value of investments can go up as well as down and you may receive less than your original investment or lose the value of your entire initial investment.
More here about Revolut Fees and Charges in Ireland
See our full Comparison of Share Trading Fees in Ireland