Savings platform Trade Republic launches services in Ireland

Savings platform Trade Republic has launched in Ireland, offering customers easier access to capital markets to help fund their retirement.

The European-founded company offers customers access to investing in more than 8,000 Irish, European, Asian and US stocks, with more than 1,100 ETFs also available.

Trade Republic also offers savings plans that can help Irish users get started more quickly and easily, allowing users to automate investing in the stock markets.

“We have very high expectations of the Irish market,” said Hugo Suidgeest, country manager of Trade Republic in Ireland. “There’s a lot of savings. If we can convince part of those people to start investing, I think the launch will be a success for us.”

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Accounts can be opened through the mobile app and on desktop in a few minutes, and are aimed at those who are both fiscally and physically resident in Ireland. The fees structure for investing has also been simplified, with a flat fee of €1 per transaction for the settlement of third-party fees while savings plans are free of charge.

Founded in 2015 by Christian Hecker, Thomas Pischke and Marco Cancellieri, the platform is pitching itself as a potential counter to the impact of inflation on savings in bank accounts, with people facing the loss of up to 60 per cent of their purchasing power over 10 years.

“The world has dramatically changed versus one generation ago; there are a couple of things that are really, really different and that will bite people 10 and 20 years from now,” said Mr Suidgeest. “First and foremost, it’s inflation. Whereas the cost of living crisis is horrible, especially for those with lower incomes, the silver lining is that it opens people’s eyes to inflation and what it does to your purchasing power. It’s all of a sudden very much in our faces. At that level in Ireland currently, within 10 years, people will lose 60 per cent of their purchasing power.”

The launch will see the company’s reach extended to more than 340 million Europeans, operating in 17 markets as it adds Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia to its services. The Irish operation will initially be managed from the UK, but will have Irish customer service agents. Mr Suidgeest said he expects Trade Republic to base staff in Ireland long term if the company gains traction here.

“Through our easy-to-understand product, we want to encourage everyone to take advantage of opportunities in the financial markets,” says Mr Hecker. “Fifty per cent of our customers have never invested before, and now consider Trade Republic a reference for savings plans and for the long-term growth of their own funds.”

Trade Republic has more than €1.3 billion in venture capital investments by Sequoia, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Ontario Teachers’. It currently employs about 700 people, with a head office in Berlin and several smaller offices around Europe.