Nordnet AB (publ) is a financial services company having a pan-Nordic presence. It is known by its shortened name Nordnet. It was founded in 1996, thereby becoming the first online broker in Sweden.

Nordnet has expanded its services ever since its inception to savings and investment services. It has divided its services into three business areas as Savings & Investments, Loans, and Pensions. 

With its headquarters in Sweden, Nordnet is a broker that initially targeted customers from Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden. The broker reached a milestone of 1 million customers in April 2020.

Nordnet was listed on Nasdaq Stockholm from April 2000 to February 2017 and was relisted in November 2020, with Öhman group being the largest shareholder with 21.64%.

Let's see some of its pros and cons.

Pros 

• It provides a broad category of financial products from shares to ETFs and options.
• It even offers free trading on the Stockholm Stock exchange, subject to the meeting of certain conditions. 
• Its fees depend upon the brokerage class.
• You can invest funds in 21shares Bitcoin ETP and Short Bitcoin ETP.

Cons 

• It provides only select OTC stocks for trading as they are heavily regulated.
• It does not provide the creation of foreign currency accounts for pension deposits.
• Besides brokerage, it also charges an administrative fee of 0.005-0.05 USD for holding each GDR and 0.005-0.17 USD for each ADR holding.

Nordnet is subject to the MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) regulations issued by the EU. These regulations were introduced in 2007 and replaced by two sets of rules MiFID II and MiFIR, in January 2018 to improve the investors' protection. As such, Nordnet annually publishes information on five trading venues used to execute customers' orders for each asset class in the previous year. 

It has laid down an extended suitability assessment for the customers who trade a complex instrument for the first time. Further, as per the Securities Market Act of various countries, it has categorized its customers into different broad categories: Non-professional customer, Professional Client, and Equal counterparties. Accordingly, all customers and certain companies are considered non-professional customers, and they are provided with the highest level of customer protection. 

The Securities Markets Act and the Financial Supervisory Authority rules regulate the fees and commissions charged by Nordnet and how such costs can be paid or received. In addition, the Swedish State Deposit Guarantee covers all Nordnet customers. The maximum compensation per customer is 100,000 euros in the event of Nordnet's insolvency. Thus, the customers can assure themselves about their protection in the event of the broker's insolvency.

Nordnet provides various savings and investment features. 

Multiple account types    

Nordnet offers multiple account types, such as:

• Book-entry account for trading shares, warrants, and options, 
• Share savings account for investing in domestic and foreign listed shares. 
• Savings for a child 
• Deposit account 
• Currency accounts can also be opened in Nordnet's equity and fund portfolio.

Trade Credit 

Nordnet provides Trade Credit against the portfolio to improve the returns as the credit acts as a reserve fund. It allows for paying for the shares purchased only on the trade settlement date (T+2) without any interest penalties.

Trading Platforms 

Nordnet provides trading platforms such as Infront Web Trader and Infront Active Trader. 

The Infront Web Trader offers stock quotes from Germany, Nordic countries, and the USA and is accessible by Active Trader and Level 1 customers for free. 

The Infront Active Trader application provides real-time market information, and you can also use it for creating price alerts. 

It also offers a Nordnet app for tracking investments on phones and tablets, and the watchlist is synchronized between the app and the web platform. 

Digital Counseling Services 

Nordnet provides digital counseling services for free and helps find suitable funds for investment.

Monthly Savings Facility  

Nordnet provides a monthly savings facility that assists in spreading the risk over time. You can choose the management company funds or ETFs for starting a monthly fund saving.

Own Pension Account 

You can use Nordnet to create a pension account to manage pension savings. You can choose to invest among 800 funds and 1000 ETFs or seek the assistance of Nordnet's age-appropriate savings profile.

For most securities, Nordnet uses a brokerage fee system. This means that you pay Nordnet a percentage of the profit you've made on each trade. Nordnet provides different brokerage classes such as Mini, Small, Medium, and Fixed.  

Mini brokerage class is for those who do buy and sell shares up to SEK 15,600 per order. Similarly, Small, Between, and Fixed brokerage classes are for those who buy and sell shares up to SEK 15,600-46,000 per order, SEK 46,000-143,478 per order, and more than SEK 143,478 per order, respectively.

The brokerage for Mini, Small, Between, and Fixed brokerage classes in Nordics is 0.25%,0.15%,0.069%, and 99 SEK, respectively. You can choose the one that suits your needs. 

Shares, ETFs, and Warrants- The brokerage tax for trading in Nordic countries is 0.25%, 015%, and 0.069% for Mini, Small, and Between classes, respectively. Similarly, the brokerage for such instruments outside Nordics is 0.25%, 0.15%, and 0.089%, respectively. The brokerage for Fixed class for trading in Nordics or outside Nordics is 99SEK and 0.079%, respectively.

Standard Derivatives- The brokerage tax for stock and index options in Nordics for Mini, Small, Between, and Fixed is 0.90%, 0.80%, 0.70%, and 0.60%, respectively. The brokerage for trading in Stock Futures is 0.10% for all classes. Further, the clearing fees for Stock options are 0.75% of the premium.

ETPs (Certificates, Mini-futures, and Warrants)- The brokerage tax for Mini, Small, Between, and Fixed is 0.25%, 0.15%,0.069%, and 0.045%, respectively. 

Currency Exchange-  You can exchange currency by yourself, or Nordnet does it for you through automatic change. When you do it for yourself, the charge for currency exchange is 0.075%, and when Nordnet does it for you, it charges 0.25%. 

Unlisted Securities-  The brokerage for Unlisted securities is 0.30% for Swedish securities and 0.35% for Norwegian securities. 

Other service fees-  It also charges additional service fees like 19kr for settlement notes per item and 199kr for bank certificates by post, 1500kr for stamping of shares, 3500kr for voting rights registration in Norway and Denmark. 

Further, Nordnet also provides free trading on the Stockholm Stock Exchange with the Get Started discount for six months, provided 

1. You have a brokerage Mini class. 
2. You are a member of its Social Network, Shareville. 
3. You do a maximum of 500 deals per year.
4. You have a maximum of 80,000 SEK in Nordnet. 
5. You do order placement by yourself.  

Nordnet provides trading in various instruments such as:-

• Shares - You can trade in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Canadian, and US shares through Nordnet. You can also trade in the North American market and US OTC shares on its website and app.
• ETFs -  Nordnet provides global diversification through ETFs investments worldwide like ishares Core S&P 500, ishares Core MSCI Europe, Xtrackers MSCI World, etc.
• Index Funds - Nordnet offers nine own index funds for savings. Three of its index funds, like Nordnet Index Fund Sweden, Nordnet Index Fund Norway, and Nordnet Index Fund Finland, are without management fees.
• Options, Mini-futures & Warrants - It also provides trading in options, mini-futures, and warrants by charging a brokerage fee that varies depending upon the brokerage class.

You can open an account in Nordnet by following the below steps:

• Click the "Avaaasiakkuus" button with Bank ID.
• Fill in the security number and then press "Seuraava."
• Then, fill in your personal information, such as phone number, e-mail address. Next, select the username and password. The stock and fund portfolio account is already selected. You can also choose equity savings to account if you want and must select it separately. 
• Answer a few questions related to your savings.
• Next, continue to accept the terms and conditions. Finally, you need to identify yourself with the Bank ID, and your account will be opened.

The deposits in the accounts can be made in real-time via bank transfers or Swish. Further, there are no minimum deposit criteria. The withdrawals, too, are hassle-free as the deposits.

Nordnet provides a variety of financial instruments to trade. Let's see how you can trade stocks through Nordnet in Sweden.

• First, create an account with Mobile BankID and choose between Investment Savings Account (ISK) and share and fund deposits. ISK is a popular account where you pay standard tax based on the account's value instead of declaring gains and losses.  
• Then, transfer money to your account with a bank transfer or Swish. Nordnet offers free trading for six months on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, up to SEK 80,000 for those with a Mini brokerage class, a maximum of 500 deals, and are a part of Shareville. 
• Once you are interested in buying your desired shares, select the number of shares and click buy. Nordnet also provides Shareville, an investor social network where you can follow other people's investments.

Nordnet has a postal address and phone number for customer service, brokers, and personal loans in Sweden. Moreover, the offer numbers for customer service in Denmark and Finland. They don’t offer a company email for you to reach them.

Nordnet has grown popular in the Nordic countries with its wide range of offered services. It offers various financial products, from shares to ETFs.Its trading platforms, Infront Web Trader and Infront Active Trader, helps in assessing the real-time market information and facilities trading. It also offers Trade Credit to improve the returns. Thus, you can compare it with others to analyze its services and features and choose the best that meets your savings and investments needs.

Nordnet vs eToro

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.

75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.