Most of the investors find it comfortable to select and find their stocks, mainly due to the convenience provided by online trading. However, if you are not confident in investing the best stocks or are a beginner to the stock market, you can hire a stock broker.
Selecting the best stock broker in India is a huge step as you cannot start trading without any sound knowledge of the financial market. This article is aimed at educating beginners regarding how to choose the best stock broker.
Firstly, it is worth remembering that your first broker is not necessarily your broker for life. You can switch to another broker anytime. However, you must start with an experienced broker as a bad broker will ruin your first experience in trading/investing.
Below are a few tips that will help you choose top stock brokers for a pleasant investment experience.
1. Research is the key
Start with conducting your own research. Take recommendations from the expert investors and traders but do not follow them blindly. Research on your own by visiting various stock broker sites and get a general idea about the stock broker, account opening and handling charges, facilities offered, etc.
2. Reputation and past performance
Checking the background of the stock broker can tell you a lot about his work and experience. You can check the reviews and perform a survey by contacting the broker’s existing users. If you are about to use a mobile platform, you can check the app rating on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
3. Brokerage fees and other charges
The stock broker you select should be a part of SEBI registered stock brokers list. This enables the broker to buy and sell shares for their clients directly. The commission charge for performing these services is called brokerage.
Choose a stock broker whose brokerage charges fit your budget. Also, look for other expenses like Demat account opening and handling charges, intraday trading charges, etc.
4. Physical office
Few individuals prefer visiting the local office for contacting the company broker. If you are one of them, make sure the company has a local office that is easily accessible. If you want to place orders on call or in-person through an actual representative, see if this facility is available.
5. Customer services offered
If you are a complete armature to trading and investing, you will need many customer services. Check if your stockbroker gives personalised customer service. A simple way to start is by calling the company’s customer care service.
If it takes a long time for the executive to pick up the call, avoid the broker. A suitable broker will effectively provide customer service without any possible delays.
6. Education tools
Your stockbroker should educate you regarding the financial market. It is important to indulge yourself in continuous learning to become an expert in the trading market. Your stockbroker should provide all the learning tools and explain the concepts until you become familiar with them.
7. Platforms for trading
This is one of the most critical factors to determine, mostly when online trading has ruled the financial market. Check whether the trading platform is user friendly. You can also check the demo videos before using the platform.
Types of Stock Brokers
There are two types of stockbrokers
Discount stockbrokers
Full service stock broker
1. Discount stockbrokers
A discount stock broker only focuses on performing the action of buying and selling for their clients. Their brokerage fee for executing services is much lower than a full service stockbroker. Discount brokers do not give any recommendations on investments, nor do they recommend buying/selling stocks to their clients.
2. Full service stock broker
As the name suggests, a full service stock broker provides all types of services to the clients. He researches, finds and recommends the most profitable stocks and shares to his clients.
Apart from this, a full service stock broker is also involved in buying and selling different stocks and staying up to date with the market trends. He can carry out almost all the services for his clients. The brokerage charges of a full service stock broker are generally high.
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