Building your portfolio

All about appropriateness tests

Do you understand the risks involved in trading certain stocks?

The three most common investor mistakes (and how to fix them)

Bad habits can make for a stressed investor, here's how to avoid them.

OTC stocks and ADRs explained

OTC ADRs are a gateway for adding international stocks to your portfolio.

Investing a lump sum vs pound-cost averaging

Which of the two is the better investment strategy?

How to invest £1,000

Here’s everything you need to know about investing £1,000. We cover how to prepare, what to invest in, and the best ways to make your pounds go further.

The benefits of a long-term investment strategy

A long term investment strategy takes some patience, but it can be one of the best ways to invest.

Should I invest in cannabis stocks?

Do cannabis investments offer a chance of high returns or are they doomed to go up in smoke?

Investing in tech stocks

Technology stocks have dominated the investment landscape for much of the last decade, here's a guide to investing in the sector.

Mistakes to avoid when transferring your ISA

The Freetrade transfers team share their top tips for a smooth ISA transfer.

Dividends and your stocks and shares ISA

Investors love dividends, especially tax-efficient ones.

How to buy US shares in the UK

How to invest in US stocks and what to consider when you do.

Investing during stock market corrections

Stock market corrections can be uncomfortable, it's a good idea to understand how to think about them.

How much cash should I have in my portfolio?

Cash can be a drag on your performance, here's how to think about it.

What are dividend stocks and how do they work?

Find out what dividends are and how they can contribute to the growth of your investment portfolio.

What is commission-free trading?

We explain what commission-free trading is and how it works.

The Japanese nappy conundrum

How to invest in demographic change.

Do I need to get every stock pick right?

How to make money even when you invest in the wrong stock.

I’m up 100%, should I sell?

Buying’s the easy part, here’s how to sell with conviction.

IKEA’s DIY investing kit

Allen keys and portfolios at the ready.

Saving vs Investing: which is best and when?

Knowing whether you’re a saver or investor is an important first step.

Should you use a robo-adviser or build your own portfolio?

Robo-advisers may not always be the right option, even for beginner investors

What even is a stock?

Stocks are probably the first assets to come to mind when we talk about investment.

Why you’ll never invest like a fund manager

...and why you wouldn’t want to.

Why do investors buy government bonds?

All about bonds, and which ones you can buy on Freetrade.

Why can’t I buy IPO shares when the market opens?

Price discovery means investors struggle to buy when the market bell rings

When diversification is dangerous

Diversifying too much can make you lose money

What's a recession?

The UK economy is shrinking for the first time in a decade.

SPACs vs IPOs

The battle between the two looks set to heat up in 2021.

Should I invest in commodities?

Inflation could be the bellwether for the sector in 2021.

My five tips on managing market volatility

Organising your investment toolkit.

My five (and a half) tips to boost your income

How dividends can help you earn some extra cash

Invest like ARK’s Cathie Wood

How to be your own ETF manager.

Invest like a bodybuilder

Five lessons from the heavyweights

How do dual listings work?

We look at how you can end up buying the same shares on different exchanges

Freetrade’s 2021 investment outlook

What should investors be looking out for this year?

Freetrade’s 10 (+1) investment principles

Our pocket guide to getting started the right way.

Five things you shouldn’t do when you invest

We play a quick game of bad investor bingo.

Five things my favourite investors taught me

What can we learn from the pros?

Five alternative income sources for investors

Is there room for music royalties in your dividend clump?

Cash: interested?

My guide on when and how to hold cash, and a little something from Freetrade.

Can you invest like Y Combinator?

You probably can’t fund thousands of companies but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to learn from the start-up incubator

Behave yourself: the gambler’s fallacy

When emotion bleeds into investing

AIM, London's junior market

The exchange has attracted big winners and losers over the years

What are penny stocks and how to invest in them

Don't expect to get rich quick.

Dividends — what are they, and who pays them?

Complete guide to stock dividends, who pays them and how they work towards providing investors with additional income.

Dividend and Conquer!

As the team build up our portfolios, we’re also testing our process for dividend payments. With this in mind, we thought now would be a good time to take a deeper dive into dividends.

Investing Philosophies 101 or how (not) to value a stock

Tariffs, digital taxes, and your investments

What tariffs and digital taxes are and how they can impact your portfolio

Corporate action explained

Corporate action: the phrase alone sounds vague, menacing and a bit like a Ben Affleck movie from the early 2000s. So we thought to demystify it.

Types of investment funds and how we think about them at Freetrade

Funds are one of the most important asset classes to get to grips with when you start investing.

Welcome to Asset Classes

"Asset Classes", an extremely clever play on words.

What is pound-cost averaging?

Today, in our crazy voyage through the investing landscape, we’re looking at cost averaging. 💵

Compound interest explained

Read any article about compound interest and it’s likely to start with a reference to Einstein calling it the “Eighth wonder of the world”.

Deep dive: What is a bond?

Deep dive into what bonds are and how they work

Property vs stocks - Which investment is best for you?

In the UK, property investing has historically been very popular. A soaring property market turned a lot of middle-class boomers into millionaires.

Earnings season: what happens after company announcements

Earnings reports can have a big impact on your portfolio

What happens when a stock goes bankrupt or delists?

We explain what happens when a stock goes bankrupt and how we manage it at Freetrade

What’s a stock index and an index ETF?

The S&P 500, the Dow, the NASDAQ. The big stock indexes/indices are probably the first bits of investing jargon we encounter. Everyone can nod…

What is the time weighted rate of return?

We look at one of the key method's used to calculate your investment return

How does a stock exchange really work?

We explain what happens when you click 'Buy'

What is liquidity?

We explain the term that finance geeks are always on about.

How do interest rates affect my investment portfolio?

Understand how inflation and interest rate hikes can influence your portfolio. 

How to pick your investments

The research you can do to become a better stock picker.

Diversifying your portfolio

And why it's important to prevent you from losing money.

Stock prices and market volatility

We look at what happens when the markets go crazy.

The psychology of investing

How your monkey brain can lead you to make bad investment decisions.