US broker Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) has announced that from today its FCA-regulated arm Robinhood UK Ltd is launching futures for UK clients, enabling clients to trade index, energy, metals and currency futures directly in the app Robinhood and in Robinhood Legend. Clients can access CME Group’s 40+ futures products — including S&P 500 futures, oil, gold and more — with low fees, seamless access on mobile and desktop, and one-click ladder execution.
Robinhood UK added options trading earlier this year.
Futures are exchange-traded contracts that represent agreements to buy or sell an asset at a specific price at a future date. Contracts are standardized in terms of contract size, expiration date and trading hours. They are available for trading almost 24 hours a day in a variety of different asset classes including indices, energy, forex and metals.
Futures trading will roll out to eligible UK customers in the coming weeks — with a contract fee of $0.75 per trade and real-time market data at no extra cost. Other costs apply, such as regulatory fees and interchange fees.
Jordan Sinclair, President, Robinhood UK said,
“In the UK, futures trading has traditionally been seen as the preserve of institutional investors, with limited resources to help retail traders get started. Today, we’re starting to change that. We’re bringing futures trading to the UK with an intuitive mobile experience, smarter tools, training and information and some of the lowest fees in the industry.”
Julie Winkler, Chief Commercial Officer at CME Group said,
“Futures offer retail traders a fully transparent, cost-effective way to participate in some of the world’s most liquid markets. We are delighted to be working with Robinhood to educate and empower their UK customers to access these new opportunities.”
The parties said this is another important step in Robinhood’s journey to become the number one platform for active traders worldwide. The futures launch adds to Robinhood’s suite of products for UK active traders, which also includes options trading and Robinhood Legend, the advanced desktop trading platform.