Fortuneo vs AJ Bell — which broker is better?

Pros

• Starter makes the first Euronext order of up to EUR 500 each month free and charges 0.35% on every other order (the price list sets no minimum); Progress charges EUR 4.90 up to EUR 3,000 and Trader Pro EUR 9.50 up to EUR 10,000
• No opening, account-keeping or custody fee on the PEA, PEA-PME-ETI or compte-titres
• Arkéa Direct Bank holds a French banking licence from the ACPR, and the ECB lists it among the entities of the significant Crédit Mutuel group
• FGDR protection of EUR 100,000 on cash and EUR 70,000 on securities per investor and institution
• PEA and PEA-PME-ETI with IFU tax reporting; inside the plans the legal cap of 0.5% per online order limits brokerage on small orders
• Broad range: about 30,000 shares, more than 12,000 ETFs, 49,000 funds and 7,500 bonds, plus about 42,800 turbos, warrants and certificates
• Currency conversion at the next-day rate plus 0.12%, and a free Live Trader desktop platform with real-time Euronext prices
• Phone support six days a week (Monday to Friday 08:00–20:00, Saturday 09:00–18:00), plus chat and e-mail in the app and client area

Cons

• Effectively for residents of France: the PEA needs French tax residence, and from abroad only French nationals can open the compte-titres
• Expensive outside Euronext and the US: German, UK and Swiss orders cost 0.20% with a EUR 20 minimum plus EUR 30 of foreign-broker fees on every tariff
• One tariff per account and EUR 60 to switch; on Starter a US order also costs at least EUR 50
• We found no options, futures, CFDs, crypto, fractional shares or automatic ETF savings plan in the published offer
• Live Trader needs Java 8 or later and does not run on phones or tablets; site, app and support are in French only
• Closing a PEA or PEA-PME costs EUR 85, and moving securities out costs EUR 15 per line (capped at EUR 150 for a PEA)

Pros

• Custody charge on shares, ETFs and investment trusts capped at GBP 3.50 a month in the Dealing account and ISA, and GBP 10 a month in the SIPP — GBP 42 and GBP 120 a year respectively
• GBP 1.50 online fund dealing is among the cheapest on any UK platform, and regular monthly investing is free from GBP 25
• Share dealing at GBP 5.00, falling to GBP 3.50 in any month following one with 10 or more share deals
• Listed on the London Stock Exchange under AJB as a FTSE 250 constituent, with published audited accounts and FCA regulation
• Which? Recommended Provider for eight consecutive years, 2019 to 2026 — the only investment provider to achieve that run
• Six-day customer support: phone 08:00–19:00 on weekdays and 10:00–14:00 on Saturdays, plus live chat and secure message
• Free transfers in and out, free withdrawals, free cash holding with interest paid, and no inactivity fee
• 24 international markets and a deep menu — over 4,000 funds, over 3,500 ETFs, over 400 investment trusts, bonds, gilts, ETCs and warrants

Cons

• The 0.25% custody charge on funds is uncapped up to GBP 250,000, so a GBP 200,000 fund portfolio pays GBP 500 a year where a flat-fee platform charges under GBP 100
• Foreign exchange starts at 0.75% on the first GBP 10,000 of a trade, with a further 0.5% taken when overseas dividends are converted into sterling
• Six of the 24 international markets — Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa — are telephone-only with a GBP 10,000 minimum order, which effectively puts them out of reach for most retail portfolios
• No options, futures, spread betting, CFDs, direct crypto or fractional shares, and no demo account to test the platform first
• In-house research is thinner than Hargreaves Lansdown's: a favourite-funds list and Shares Magazine content rather than a full analyst desk with written coverage of individual holdings
• Sterling is the only cash currency, so a round trip in a US share crosses the FX spread twice with no way to hold dollars between trades