Stake Launches In UK, Brings US Markets To Palms Around The World

Stake, a commission-free trading app for stocks and ETFs, launched Wednesday in the United Kingdom. Stake’s co-founder and COO, Dan Silver, spoke with Benzinga regarding the firm’s prospects.

What Is It?

Stake is a commission-free, fractional trading application that allows global access to U.S. markets.

The idea behind Stake emerged in 2009 when Stake’s founder, Matt Leibowitz, sought a better way to invest in the immense innovation, diversity of companies and advanced liquidity available in the United States.

"When we founded Stake, it was all about democratizing the U.S. markets. We believe that the U.S. is where it’s at, as it represents 40% of the world’s market cap," he said.

According to Silver, existing solutions, prior to the founding of Stake, made investing in the U.S. seem difficult: "Our premise was how can we -- with advancements in technology -- bring U.S. markets into the palm of people’s hands around the world?"

The firm currently operates amongst a strong Australian base; Silver said his firm aspires to cater to markets beyond Australia and the United Kingdom.

"We're taking it into the United Kingdom next, and we'll be going beyond its borders shortly afterwards."

The firm’s core offering includes:

• Commission-free instant trades
• Real time market data
• Market, limit, and stop orders
• Priority access to new listings

The Differentiator

“Fundamentally, people have been executing trades forever.”

Stake differentiates itself with features like day trading of fractional shares on unsettled funds.

“We have fractional shares so people can invest $72 in Amazon,” he said.

Additionally, Stake targets the simplification of regulatory compliance.

"How do you actually make it simple and easy to sign up within five minutes? We complete their U.S. tax forms automatically and allow them to transfer their local currency across, at a competitive rate, in a timely fashion," Silver said. "Funds hit the account the same day."

Next Steps: Leverage Passion, Know-How To Expand

Stake aims to leverage its team of derivatives traders, data scientists and engineers in expanding and improving its product suite.

"Our core focus is how do we actually make sure that our execution and trading experience is great and it continues to improve," said Silver.

Stake aims to add more advanced order types, fundamental data insights, and trading capabilities through a new concept called subscription brokerage packs.

"For us, it’s really about providing a full suite of instruments. To do that we introduced brokerage packs [to] make sure that we can continue to reinvest back into the products, provide higher sophistication and continual product development."

To find out more on how you too can invest in U.S. stocks and ETFs, visit hellostake.com.