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Broker Comparison

AJ Bell vs IFC Markets

Compare AJ Bell and IFC Markets side by side: fees, regulation, platforms.

AJ Bell

AJ Bell

UK long-term investors and pension savers

AJ Bell is a UK investment platform founded in 1995, offering stocks, ETFs, funds, bonds, ISAs and SIPPs acro…

VS
IFC Markets

IFC Markets

Forex and CFD traders seeking synthetic instruments

IFC Markets is a multi-asset CFD and forex broker founded in 2006, offering MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and i…

Head-to-head comparison

AJ Bell vs IFC Markets
Feature AJ Bell IFC Markets
Minimum deposit - -
Stock trading fee £5 per trade; £3.50 per trade for frequent dealers (10+ deals in previous month); £25 by telephone -
Regulators FCA BVI FSC, Labuan FSA
Best for UK long-term investors and pension savers Forex and CFD traders seeking synthetic instruments
Markets & account
Stocks
-
ETFs
Forex
-
CFDs
-
Crypto
-
Bonds
-
Funds
-
Ready Made Portfolios
-
Investment Plans
-
Isa
-
Sipp
-
Savings Vaults
-
Margin
-
Demo Account
-
Multi Currency
-

Pros & cons

AJ Bell

AJ Bell

Pros

  • FCA-regulated with FSCS protection up to £85,000
  • Share and ETF custody capped at £3.50/month in ISA and dealing accounts
  • SIPP platform fee capped at £10/month
  • Wide investment range: 4,000+ funds, 3,500+ ETFs, 16,000+ shares across 24 markets
  • No withdrawal or inactivity fees
  • Regular investing with no dealing charge from £25/month
  • Which? Recommended Provider for eight consecutive years (2019-2026)
  • ISA, SIPP, Lifetime ISA, Junior ISA and dealing accounts all on one platform

Cons

  • No demo or practice account
  • No fractional shares
  • No cryptocurrency trading
  • Fund platform fee is not capped, making it expensive for large fund portfolios
  • FX conversion fee up to 0.75% on international trades
  • Basic charting tools compared to dedicated trading platforms
  • No multi-currency account - all holdings converted to GBP
IFC Markets

IFC Markets

Pros

  • Minimum deposit from $1 on micro accounts
  • Proprietary NetTradeX platform with GeWorko synthetic instrument creation
  • Floating spreads from 0.4 pips on major forex pairs
  • Over 650 tradable instruments including forex, indices, stocks, commodities, ETFs and crypto CFDs
  • No inactivity fee
  • Free demo account available on all platforms
  • Swap-free Islamic accounts available
  • Negative balance protection for retail clients

Cons

  • CySEC licence voluntarily renounced in November 2024; remaining regulators are BVI FSC and Labuan FSA, which are lower-tier
  • Fixed spreads on MT4 start at 1.8 pips - wide compared to industry average
  • Bank wire withdrawals carry a fee of approximately $20 plus bank charges
  • No social or copy trading functionality built into the main platform
  • Spain's CNMV issued a warning against IFC Markets in December 2024 for operating as an unregistered firm
  • US, Japanese and Russian residents cannot open accounts
  • NetTradeX interface is considered visually dated by some reviewers
  • Limited third-party analysis integrations (no Trading Central or Autochartist)
AJ Bell

AJ Bell

AJ Bell is a UK investment platform founded in 1995, offering stocks, ETFs, funds, bonds, ISAs and SIPPs across 24 international markets.

Visit AJ Bell Read review

Your capital is at risk. Other fees apply.

IFC Markets

IFC Markets

IFC Markets is a multi-asset CFD and forex broker founded in 2006, offering MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and its proprietary NetTradeX platform with unique synthetic instrument creation tools.

Visit IFC Markets Read review

Your capital is at risk. Other fees apply.

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