Invest in the London Stock Exchange

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is the main stock exchange in the United Kingdom and is the largest stock exchange in Europe. The main index on the LSE is the FTSE 100 which is the 100 largest stocks on the London Stock Exchange. Also on the LSE is the FTSE 250, which is the next 250 largest stocks on the exchange after that first 100.

Find out more about this major stock exchange and how you can invest in the London Stock Exchange.

How does the London Stock Exchange work?

The stock exchange started in 1698 and was originally called “The Course of the Exchange and Other Things”. It was simply a list of the price of stocks and commodities posted at a coffee shop. It was made more formal in the 1800s, with a set of rules and a fee to be part of it.

A company doesn’t need to be British to be included. It’s got stocks from over 60 countries worldwide.

Companies in the London Stock Exchange include:

• Royal Dutch Shell
• Unilever
• HSBC
• AstraZeneca
• BP
• GlaxoSmithKline
• BHP
• British American Tobacco
• Diageo
• Rio Tinto
• Reckitt Benckiser
• Vodafone
• RELX Group
• Lloyds Banking Group

Ways to invest in London Stock Exchange

1. Buy shares in specific companies. If there are specific companies that you’re interested in investing in then you can just invest in those. You can’t realistically invest in all of the companies on the LSE.
2. Invest in the FTSE 100 or FTSE 250 indices. There are several ways to do this, so check out our dedicated pages on those indices to decide how you want to invest.

How much does it cost to trade on the London Stock Exchange?

That depends on which trading platform you use. The good news is that, assuming you’re investing from the UK, you won’t incur a currency conversion fee (which you might if you were buying Netflix shares on the Nasdaq, in dollars, for example).

Here are some of the fees for some top providers. We’ve listed the standard commission for a trade and the best commission. The best commission can have some kind of condition, such as if you trade more than 10 times in the previous month or if you invest a certain amount. Check out the specific provider reviews to find out how to qualify for the best commission on offer with a provider.

Compare investment services

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Product	Finder Score	Min. initial deposit	Price per trade	Frequent trader rate	Platform fees	Offer
Promoted 9Excellent eToro Finder AwardFree Trades	9Excellent	$50	£0	N/A	£0	Go to site Capital at risk More info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Promoted 9Excellent IG Free TradesOffer	9Excellent	£0	£0	From £0	From £0	Up to £100 in free UK shares for new customers who invest at least £20 by 15 August. Capital at risk. T&Cs apply.	Go to site Capital at risk More info Compare product selection Compare	loading
Promoted 9.2Excellent XTB Free Trades	9.2Excellent	£0	£0	N/A	£0	Earn up to 4.5% interest on uninvested cash.	Go to site Capital at risk More info Compare product selection Compare	loading
9.3Excellent InvestEngine Finder AwardFunds OnlyOffer	9.3Excellent	£100	£0	N/A	0% - 0.25%	Get a welcome bonus of up to £100 when you invest at least £100. Use code "FINDER". T&Cs apply.	Go to site Capital at risk More info Compare product selection Compare	loading
8.5Great Hargreaves Lansdown Finder Award	8.5Great	£1	£11.95	£5.95	£0 (0.45% for funds)	Go to site Capital at risk More info Compare product selection Compare	loading
9.1Excellent Freetrade Free TradesOffer	9.1Excellent	£0	£0	N/A	£0	Get a free share worth up to £100 when you sign up and deposit at least £50. T&Cs apply. Capital at risk.	Go to site Capital at risk More info Compare product selection Compare	loading

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Finder Score for trading platforms

To make comparing even easier we came up with the Finder Score. Costs, features, ease and range of investments across 30+ platforms are all weighted and scaled to produce a score out of 10. The higher the score the better the platform – simple.

Read the full methodology

Why should I invest on the London Stock Exchange?

The London Stock Exchange is one of the largest in the world and is the largest in Europe. There are some major companies on it, like the high street bank HSBC, supermarket Sainsbury’s and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

Written by

Zoe Stabler DipFA

Senior writer

Zoe was a senior writer at Finder specialising in investment and banking, and during this time, she joined the Women in FinTech Powerlist 2022. She is currently a senior money writer at Be Clever With Your Cash. Zoe has a BA in English literature and a Diploma for Financial Advisers. She has several years of experience in writing about all things personal finance. Zoe has a particular love for spreadsheets, having also worked as a management accountant. In her spare time, you’ll find Zoe skating at her local ice rink. See full bio

Zoe's expertise

Zoe has written 154 Finder guides across topics including:

• Share dealing
• Reviews and comparisons of trading platforms
• Robo-advisors
• Pensions
• Banking