We’ve put together a series of reviews on stock market trading platforms. We’ve asked professional Muslims to review the stock trading platform they use. Each review has been done in an interview style.
The platform eToro was founded in 2007. In addition to offering the usual stocks, ETFs, etc. eToro has two major unique selling points (USP). First, eToro markets itself as a ‘social trading’ platform. So, just like how you can browse other people’s profiles on Facebook or LinkedIn, it’s possible to browse another investor’s profile on eToro, where you can see the short and long term trades, profit levels and their news feed. The second USP is the ability to ‘copy’ other investor’s trades automatically. The platform boasts over 16 million global users.
Our thanks goes to Abu Yahya for his review of eToro. Though originally from London, Abu Yahya is currently residing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where he is a Lecturer of English at a Saudi University. He graduated from King’s College London in 2009 with a BA in Religious Studies and went on to complete an MA in Middle Eastern Studies at the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) in 2010. In 2012, Abu Yahya completed a PGCE (secondary) at the Institute of Education. When Abu Yahya isn’t trading on the stock markets, he’s usually travelling the world.
1) How and why did you get into trading?
Like many people, I had time on my hands during the first lockdown. I was open to the idea of investing, I looked into it and decided to take the plunge.
2) Why do you use Etoro over another trading platform?
I didn't choose eToro as my first trading platform, it's actually my third trading platform that I tried out, after having bad experiences with other trading platforms in the past. Etoro was the only one that I felt comfortable with.
3) When did you sign up for Etoro?
August 2020.
4) How did you find the sign up process?
It was really straight forward and one of the easiest sign up processes out of all the trading platforms that I tried out. The sign up process is similar to how you would sign up for a social media account as a post to a systematic account.
5) What are the three best things about eToro?
It lists all the stocks on a single page.
It's easier to discover new companies.
It has the option to keep your trades separate within the same company.
6) What are the three worst things about eToro?
The number of stocks you can buy is limited.
The social media feel to the platform -I think it’s not useful; it takes away the seriousness of how much money you may be dealing with.
The buying price of a stock can be a lot higher than the actual price.
7) How reliable is eToro?
Yes I would say the platform is reliable. The platform has been out for a while now which gives me confidence that the platform is not so bad. I have seen much worse and also the platform is being used internationally which shows more reason as to why eToro is reliable. People are also using the platform for long term investments as well.
8) What is eToro’s customer service like?
It is good because they assign one person to you to talk to if you have any problems, but on the whole I've never had to use customer service. Everything is straightforward. There are other platforms which ask for your bank account number which you have to send through and then wait a couple of days to get a response back from the customer service.
9) Do you have any trading tips for fellow investors?
Choose your assets (in whatever you're into like stocks, currencies or maybe Bitcoin) carefully. Each asset class has its own advantages and challenges, so try familiarising yourself with each one. Also stay up-to-date with recent news and upcoming financial events.
11) Does eToro in any way help you be sharia compliant?
I’m not sure if it does, every platform has a stats page which has a bit of information on it.
12) Would you recommend eToro to anyone else?
Yes I would, if I was to recommend any trading platform to anyone it would be eToro, because for other platforms, if you are going to pay for their service and the service is not good then it's not worth using it. Also other platforms aren't as reliable as eToro in terms of pricing even though it's commission-free, it's actually not free [because you’re paying in other ways, such as being overcharged on the spread].
Interviewer and scribe: Adil Ajmain
Thinking of signing up to eToro? Please consider using our referral link. It'll help us keep the service free to use. Jzk. Risk warning:
eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.
Please note that CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Past performance is not an indication of future results.
Cryptoassets are volatile instruments which can fluctuate widely in a very short timeframe and therefore are not appropriate for all investors. Other than via CFDs, trading cryptoassets is unregulated and therefore is not supervised by any EU regulatory framework.
eToro (UK) Ltd. is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the license FRN 583263.
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