Barclays (LSE: BARC) is a London-based bank that offers retail, commercial, investment, wholesale, and private banking services in markets across the world.
A FTSE 100 company, Barclays is recognised as a systemically important bank of global significance.
Read on for more about how you can buy Barclays shares.
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*The interest rates are true as of 11.01.2023
* Finty will be paid a referral fee, including financial promotion if you open an account and deposit funds through some of the links on this page.
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Step 1: Choose a broker
Barclays is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LON: BARC) and the New York Exchange (NYSE: BCS). If you want to buy their shares, you’ll need a broker with access to one of these stock markets. Fortunately, there are many to choose from. You can refine your choices using Finty’s comparison.
Things to consider before deciding on a broker include their commission on trades, what markets and tradable assets they have available, if they support fractional share investments, what their foreign exchange fee is when buying on overseas markets, and the general usability of their trading platform.
Step 2: Transfer funds to your account
When you’ve chosen a broker and registered your account, you’ll need to transfer funds.
You can fund your account with a bank transfer or a debit card, although some brokers also accept credit cards and PayPal.
Note that It can take some time for funds to clear into your account depending on the method used.
Step 3: Decide the amount you will invest
Only invest what you can afford. Share values can rise and fall. Depending on the broker you use, it may be possible to buy fractional shares of Barclays, meaning you can decide how much you want to invest without being dictated by the market price.
Step 4: Choose between Shares or an ETF?
Rather than buying their shares, you could invest in an ETF with exposure to Barclays. An ETF is a diversified investment, often based around a theme, e.g. banking. Since they are diversified, they tend to experience less price volatility. They are more geared towards the passive investor.
ETFs with exposure to Barclays include iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (ISF) and iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF (SWDA).
Step 5: Configure an order
Market orders are the easiest since they require practically no configuration: once executed, you’ll get shares at the next available price.
If you would like to be more strategic about your investing, you could configure an order to automatically buy Barclays shares when they reach a specific price. Most brokers also offer the ability to set up a recurring order so you can take advantage of pound cost averaging over time.
Step 6: Place your order
Once you've configured your options, submit your order and buy.
As well as keeping track of the share price, stay abreast of any announcements they make to the market and their company results. Also keep an eye out for press stories about Barclays, their competitors, and the banking industry. These stories can have a significant impact on the price of your shares, for example, changes to interest rates, exposure to financial scandals, impaired loans in economic downturns, new regulations, etc.
For comparison against the broader market, monitor what competitors like NatWest (LON: NWG), Lloyds (LON: LLOY), Banco Santander (BME: SAB), UBS (SWX: UBSG), and HSBC (LON: HSBA), are doing.
Disclaimer: We put our customer’s needs first. The views expressed in this article are those of the writer’s alone and do not constitute financial advice. Advertisers cannot influence editorial content. However, Finty and/or the writer may have a financial interest in the companies mentioned. Finty is committed to providing factual, honest, and accurate information that is compliant with governing laws and regulations. Do your own due diligence and seek professional advice before deciding to invest in one of the products mentioned. For more information, see Finty’s editorial guidelines and terms and conditions.
