Easy Equities is a South African stock trading platform that facilitates trades in tax-free savings accounts, equities accounts, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), cryptos and other investments. As of March 2024 it is the most affordable stock trading platform in South Africa, with investments starting at R0.01. The required minimum investment amount is determined by a variety of criteria; however, each trade has its own minimum investment amount, which might push the required minimum investment amount above R0.01.
EasyEquities offers three types of accounts: the EasyEquities ZAR account, the EasyEquities USD account, and the Tax-Free Savings account. With the USD account, you can start investing with just $10.00. On the other hand, you can start investing with R5.00 in either the ZAR account or Tax-Free Savings account. By providing a low-cost investment platform with minimal transaction fees, Easy Equities is making trading more accessible in South Africa. The company charges only R0.64 for every R100.00 invested in an Easy Equities account.
About Easy Equities
Headquartered in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, Easy Equities is a subsidiary of Purple Group Limited, a Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed company. It was established in 2014 with the goal of creating a user-friendly and low-cost investment platform accessible to all South Africans. The company has a workforce of 200 employees with expertise in various fields such as consulting, web engineering, programming, marketing, and advertising.
As a legally recognized company in South Africa, Easy Equities holds a trading license number 22588 issued by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). First World Trader (Pty) Ltd holds FSCA registration, allowing EasyEquities to operate as a financial services provider. Sanlam, one of the primary shareholders, invested R100 million for a 30% interest in EasyEquities in 2017 and plans to invest another R25 million in 2019 for operating expenditures.
While the company has yet to turn a profit, it is expected to break even in the 2021 fiscal year and generate profits thereafter. Despite its rapid growth with no earnings, Easy Equities aims to dominate the entire South African internet investment sector and reap dividends later on. As of 2020, the company has around 560,000 clients, with an average of 100,000 new clients each year since its establishment.
Easy Equities Products and Services
To commence your investment journey with Easy Equities, you must select an account to invest in, such as the USD, ZAR, or Tax-Free savings account. You can also use multiple accounts for investing purposes. Easy Equities provides free demo accounts for individuals who cannot trade, which can be used for practice. If you wish to enhance your trading skills, you can use either a USD or ZAR demo account or both to gain exposure to online trading.
In addition to selecting an account, you must also choose from various investment options provided by Easy Equities. These investment options, including ETFs, ETNs, Equities, and bundles, are available to both institutional and retail investors and are crucial for investment. This section will address each investment opportunity in detail.
Equity investments through Easy Equities
With Easy Equities’ ZAR or USD accounts, you can begin trading in stocks. The ZAR account permits you to trade shares from 429 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). For international investments in shares, you must choose the Easy Equities USD account, which enables you to trade shares from 452 companies worldwide, excluding South Africa.
Your investments in equities will depend on the company share(s) you desire to purchase, whether local or international. However, please note that you cannot invest in equities using a Tax-Free Savings Account.
ETNs Investments through Easy Equities
Exchange-Traded Notes are available to trade on Easy Equities, with 32 ETNs to trade from the Easy Equities ZAR account. Its’ USD account only has one ETNs which is the iPath S&P 500 that allows investors to get exposure to equity market volatility.
ETFs Investment
With Easy Equities, you can trade local and international ETFs with any of the accounts offered by the platform. Investments in Vanguard, Black Rock, Global X and FirstRand ETFs are all possible with an investment starting from R0.01.
Baskets and Bundles Investment
Perfectly suitable for long-term investment, baskets and bundles provide a huge opportunity to gain solid investment returns in the long run. Baskets are ideally suitable for Tax-Free Investments due to their longevity, therefore, blending well with a long term investment like a Tax-Free Savings will create an investment opportunity that will yield favourable results.
Competitive Advantages of Easy Equities
- Charges low on commission for every trade of just 0.63%.
- Has over 900 companies that one can buy stocks from.
- The platform has diverse products and doesn’t focus on just one product.
- Investment in Easy Equities can be used to plan for retirement since there are low-risk investment opportunities on the platform.
- Easy Equities platform allows retail and institutional investors to open accounts.
- Of all its’s clients, 60% of them came through referrals meaning there is a high customer satisfaction rate.
- The platform is easy to use.
- Can open multiple accounts to invest locally and internationally.
- The platform has local ETFs and ETNs making it the first publicly available investment platform to do so.
- Easy Equities platform is nearly 100% up with 0.01% downtime.
Competitive disadvantages of Easy Equities
- The website can take time to load when not used frequently.
- Doesn’t have many educational tools.
- The platform has limited research on available products.
Conclusion
This trading platform is here to stay mainly because of the financial backing it gets from Purple Group and Sanlam. As much as the company is yet to make profits, it still made a mark in converting and bringing in over half a million clients since its existence.
It is without a doubt that Easy Equities will soon become a Fintech powerhouse due to its expansion policy and cutting edge business idea. It has received favourable reviews on Mybroadband, GooglePlay, and HelloPeter solidifying itself as a customer-centric company.
