In India, there are two main types of stockbrokers: full-service and discount. Full-service brokers like Sharekhan and ICICI Direct offer a suite of services including research, advice, and transaction execution. Discount brokers like Zerodha offer transaction execution only. For investors who are comfortable making their own investment decisions, discount brokers can be a good option. But for those who want access to professional advice and research, full-service brokers like Sharekhan and ICICI Direct can be the better choice.
About ICIC Direct:
One of India’s biggest retail stock dealers is ICICIdirect. It is a component of ICICI Group. It serves more than 50 lakh users by providing online trading and investing services. Equity, commodity, and currency trading are among the services provided at BSE, NSE, and MCX. The firm also provides wealth products, home loans, loans against securities, fixed deposits, bonds, NCDs, mutual funds, and other financial services.
The most well-known offering from ICICIdirect is its 3-in-1 account, which combines an ICICI Bank account with an ICICI Trading account and an ICICI Demat account. The 3-in-1 account provides an easy trading process. I-Secure Plan, ICICIdirect Prime Plan, Lifetime Prepaid Brokerage Plan, and Neo Plan are just a few of the brokerage plans that ICICIdirect provides.
A flat-rate brokerage plan is the ICICI Neo Plan. It provides trading in equities futures without a commission. For intraday equities trading, options trading, and 0.55% brokerage for equity delivery, it charges a fixed fee of Rs 20 per completed transaction. This plan provides access to research and trading recommendations, a five-minute reward when selling shares, and low-interest margin financing. One Click Equities, Margin Trading Funding (MTF), Smart Trading features, the simplicity of investing in equity with a Systematic Equity Plan, and many more features are available only via ICICIdirect. It also supports nearby ICICI Bank locations and provides 3-in-1 accounts.
Equity Futures trading is available on the ICICI Neo Plan without a commission. For intraday and F&O trades, it charges Rs 20 in brokerage fees, and for equity delivery, it charges 0.55%. When selling shares, customers of the ICICIdirect Prime plan will pay less in brokerage fees and receive their funds immediately in their bank accounts. Members of this plan can also access unique research. Customers have access to four prime plans: Rs 299, Rs 1,999, and Rs 2,999. Each of these plans provides an upfront decrease in brokerage across all equities and derivative products. Every plan is good for 365 days.
Pros-
- Provides a 3-in-1 account, which makes investing in the stock market relatively simple for novice investors.
- There are several investment alternatives accessible through a single platform.
- Offers a low bandwidth website that performs effectively with a sluggish internet connection.
- The ability to make orders outside of market hours and with GTC (good till cancellation) is quite helpful.
About ShareKhan-
Sharekhan, which was founded in February 2000, is the third-largest stockbroker in India (after ICICI Direct and HDFC Securities). Through its online trading platform Sharekhan.com and its 1800 offices, which comprise branches and franchisees in more than 550 locations around India, Sharekhan offers brokerage services. Through its extremely successful online trading platform and the chain of franchisees spread over nearly the whole country of India, Sharekhan has experienced phenomenal development over the past ten or more years. In the UAE and Oman, Sharekhan is also present internationally.
Sharekhan provides its services to a variety of clients, including NRIs, corporations, institutional clients, and individual investors and traders. Sharekhan has more than 17 lakh customers as of December 2018. On the BSE and NSE, Sharekhan provides trade execution services for the equities cash and derivatives divisions, as well as commodities trading services on the MCX and NCDEX. With Sharekhan, you may also open a Demat account, invest in mutual funds, and buy initial public offerings.
The best investing platform for the Indian stock market is Sharekhan.com. A variety of investment alternatives, share market news, research papers, stock quotations, basic and statistical data on equities, mutual funds, initial public offerings, and much more are offered on the attractive website. The new Sharekhan App has been updated with customer needs in mind and is user-friendly. Along with its brand-new appearance, it provides a wealth of functionality for investors and traders alike. You may now effortlessly start a transaction, monitor your stocks, and manage your portfolio from one location.
Sharekhan Trade Tiger
For retail investors, Sharekhan also provides “Sharekhan TradeTiger,” one of the most popular trading terminals. The Trade Tiger allows regular traders to quickly place and execute their orders and is somewhat comparable to the Broker Terminal. To assist customers with their transactions, it also offers current data and other features on the same screen.
The “ShareMobile” technology from Sharekhan provides trading capabilities via a mobile application. Popular smartphones, including the iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Android, and other models, all have mobile apps available. Sharekhan provides services such as trading in stock, F&O, and commodities, as well as investments in initial public offerings (IPOs), mutual funds, insurance, bonds, and NCDs. Additionally, the business offers a Sharekhan Demat Account and is registered with NSD and CDS as a depository participant.
Sharekhan provides a range of accounts to meet user needs. Sharekhan First Step, Sharekhan Classic, Sharekhan Trade Tiger, and Portfolio Management Services (PMS) through Sharekhan Platinum Circle Account are some of these accounts. Through email, SMS, and Sharekhan.com, Sharekhan’s research teams frequently provide investment advice, stock ideas, quarterly company result analyses, and news notifications for their customers. Investors of all types can benefit from Sharekhan’s outstanding information centre on its website for the stock and commodity markets. Additionally, it provides free training and seminars to investors in person and online. A Sharekhan representative is available to assist with each Sharekhan account both online and in person.
Pros-
- Its robust network in India includes more than 1950 branches.
- Fund transfers between the trading account and other accounts are free.
- When trading from the Sharekhan trading account, the transfer of shares to and from the DP account is free.
- The most widely used trading platform in India is called “TradeTiger.”
- High-volume traders have access to “Prepaid AMC schemes” under the brokerage plan.
- Stock SIP is offered.
- There are options for loans against shares, margin funding, IPO finance, and ESOP funding.
Sharekhan Vs ICICI Direct
The brokerage of ICICIDirect is between Rs 20 and that of Sharekhan is between Rs 0.1 and Rs 0.5%. ICICIDirect and Sharekhan are full-service brokers and Sharekhan is rated 4, and ICICIDirect is given a grade of 4.
Account Type | ICICIdirect ICICI Neo Plan | Sharekhan Classic Account |
---|---|---|
Fixed Charges | NA | |
Equity Delivery | 0.55% | 0.50% |
Equity Intraday | Rs 20 per order | 0.10% |
Equity Futures | Rs 0 (Free) | 0.10% |
Equity Options | Rs 20 per order | Rs 50 per lot |
Currency Futures | Rs 20 per order | 0.10% |
Currency Options | Rs 20 per order | Rs 30 per lot |
Commodity Futures | Rs 20 per order | 0.03% |
Commodity Options | Rs 20 per order | 0.03% |
ICICIdirect | Sharekhan | |
Equity Delivery | NSE Rs 310 per Cr (0.0031%) | BSE Rs 280 per Cr (0.0028%) (each side) | NSE Rs 325 per Cr (0.00325%) | BSE Rs 275 per Cr (0.00275%) (each side) |
Equity Intraday | NSE Rs 310 per Cr (0.0031%) | BSE Rs 280 per Cr (0.0028%) (each side) | NSE Rs 325 per Cr (0.00325%) | BSE Rs 275 per Cr (0.00275%) (each side) |
Equity Futures | Rs 180 per Cr (0.0018%) | NSE Rs 190 per Cr (0.0019%) | BSE Rs 50 per Cr (0.00035) (each side) |
Equity Options | Rs 5000 per Cr (0.05%) (on premium) | NSE Rs 5000 per Cr (0.05%) | BSE Rs 50 per Cr (0.0005%) (on premium) |
Currency Futures | Rs 120 per Cr (0.0012%) | NSE Rs 135 per Cr (0.00135%) | MCX Rs 130 per Cr (0.00130%) |
Currency Options | Rs 5000 per Cr (0.05%) (on premium) | NSE Rs 4220 per Cr (0.04220%) | MCX Rs 3220 per Cr (0.03220%) (on premium) |
Commodity | Group A – Rs 260 per Cr (0.0026%) | MCX (Non-Agri) Rs 230 per Cr (0.0023%) | MCX (Agri) Rs 95 per Cr (0.00095%) |