Stake review: A trading platform for AU and US stocks

What can I trade with Stake?

You have access to 12,000+ US and ASX-listed stocks and ETFs, plus a managed fund that aims to provide monthly income distributions.

But Stake is limited in its options. You aren’t currently able to buy shares listed outside of the US and Australia.

You also can’t trade advanced derivatives such as CFDs or options.

Features of Stake’s basic (free) account

Access some of the world’s biggest brands

By offering access to the US markets, Stake offers Aussies access to some of the biggest brands in the world including the likes of Apple, Tesla, Facebook and Google.

$0 brokerage

Stake has a claim as one of the cheapest CHESS-sponsored brokers and will even remove its brokerage fees, on the assumption you bring across a few friends.

CHESS is the registration system used by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) to register stock ownership. Think of it as an added assurance that the shares are registered in your name.

Stake will reduce your ASX brokerage fees by $1 for every successful referral you make to the Stake platform. They’ll also throw in a free stock if the referral opens a Wall St account too.

This discount period is for 12 months. This means if you refer 3 people to Stake at the same time, you can get $0 brokerage fees on ASX CHESS-sponsored shares for 12 months. Plus you can keep referring more friends to bank rewards.

Fractional investing

On Stake Wall St, instead of buying whole shares, you can invest smaller dollar amounts (minimum US$10). For example, if 1 Apple share costs US$164, you have the option of buying a portion of an Apple stock investing just US$100 if you choose.

User-friendly platform

Stake's platform is easy to pick up, regardless of your trading experience. It's user-friendly enough that you can familiarise yourself with the features in just a few minutes and start trading right away.

Advanced filtering options

Users can apply a range of advanced filters when looking for stocks to trade. For example, you can filter by trends such as most up, most down, most traded or most watched. You can also filter by a range of categories, including food, travel, technology and more. You can even organise results based on the size of the company.

Stake Accumulate

Stake Accumulate is a managed fund that aims to provide income distributions 2% p.a. above the RBA cash rate. Earnings are automatically reinvested at the start of each month with the goal of compounding over time. If the target return isn’t met, the fund has features built in to make up for the shortfall. Plus, customers can move their money in and out with no exit fees.

Discover related stocks

When you select a stock to look at, the platform also suggests a range of related stocks based on what others are trading. This is a helpful tool to discover some lesser-known stocks.

News and analysis

Access the latest news and analysis for each individual stock from various sources across the internet. Plus, access Stake’s own blog and stock commentary too.

Charts and financial data

Stock pages provide a simple view and Expanded View option. Through the Expanded View, you can see trade volume, buy and sell points, point-to-point comparisons and Extended Hours movements on Wall St stocks.

Users with Stake Black can also see Market Depth and Course of Sales on ASX tickers along with Full Financials, Price Targets and Analyst Ratings on Wall St stocks.

Advanced order types

You can choose to buy or sell at market price as well as place a limit or stop order. Trade settlement takes the standard T+1 for U.S. stocks – 1 day on top of the day you made the trade – and you can easily cancel any orders before they've been placed, with no additional charge.

US tax compliant

When you trade US shares as a non-US citizen, you must fill out the W8-Ben US tax form to avoid paying 30% tax instead of 15% on your profits to the US government.

While this can take several weeks and involves lots of paperwork with some other brokers, Stake streamlines the process by automatically submitting the form and covering the fee (around US$5) for you when you open a Wall St account.

Stake Black

For those looking for more advanced features, they can gain access to them through Stake Black. The membership can be purchased for individual markets or for both Wall St and AUS.

Stake Black Wall St will give you access to features such as instant buying power, buy-sell ratings, price targets and full company financials. Stake Black AUS will give you access to market depth and course of sales.

But you will have to pay for the service. If you choose to activate one market only and pay monthly, it will cost $14 per month or $144 for a one-off yearly membership.

If you choose to activate both markets, you’ll be charged $20 per month or $204 for a one-year subscription which equates to $17 a month.

What fees does Stake charge?

Stake has a brokerage fee of $3 on any trade up to $30,000 (AUD for Stake AUS and USD for Wall St) and 0.01% on trades above $30,000.

There are also some additional fees to consider such as the currency transfer (FX) fee when you fund or make a withdrawal from your Wall St account as well as optional fees for faster funding and card funding.

Stake’s FX fee of 55 bps or approximately US$0.55 for every A$100 you convert from Australian dollars into US dollars and vice versa.

These foreign currency conversion fees are standard when trading US or other global equities. But while other platforms may charge this fee for each trade, Stake only charges the FX fee when converting the currency and not per trade.

Stake Accumulate also carries management fees and additional costs.

There are some other charges to be aware of. Below are a few:

List of fees

• Brokerage: $3 brokerage on ASX and US listed securities
• FX fee: 55 BPS on deposits and withdrawals only (~US$0.55 for every AUD$100 exchanged), minimum US$2. Add 0.5% for express (same-day) deposits
• Card funding: 0.5% for debit cards and 2.5% for credit cards
• FastFunds (express): 0.5%

Is Stake safe for beginners?

Stake's limited options actually make the app approachable for beginners.

Given that the platform does not offer riskier assets such as CFDs, newer investors can avoid the temptation of trading with a higher level of risk.

Stake is also regulated by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) and the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Not only is it heavily regulated, but client assets are also protected up to US$500,000 under the Securities Investment Protection Corporation (SIPC).

Who should use Stake?

Stake should appeal to the majority of investors, especially those at the beginning of their investing journey. This is due to the ease of access to the Australian and US markets.

Stake is among the cheapest apps out there with a US$3 brokerage model for US stocks, a $3 fee for ASX stocks and no ongoing monthly fees for standard accounts.

As a comparison, Australia's largest broker CommSec charges from $5 per trade for ASX shares and US$5 for US stocks.

Where Stake becomes less appropriate for investors is when they are after highly sophisticated options or want more in-depth research included with their broker. However, it's worth noting investors do have the option of paying for "Stake Black".

How to get started with Stake

You can create a Stake account in minutes and have your account funded and ready to go that same day.

Download the Stake app or click "Open an account" on Stake’s website. From there, you simply have to follow the prompts and enter personal info, including your name, residential address and contact details.

You’ll need to verify your ID throughout the process, so make sure you have your driver's license handy.