‘Neo-broker’ Lightyear launches web app to compete with Hargreaves Lansdown

Neo-broker investment platform Lightyear has launched a full web application in an attempt to compete with popular platforms such as Hargreaves Lansdown.

While other start-up mobile platforms (known as ‘neo-brokers’) have begun to explore moving to desktop to compete with platform giants like Hargreaves Lansdown and AJ Bell, they have struggled to make the move to web.

Other neo-brokers such as Freetrade still have their app in beta, while BUX has not yet launched one.

Lightyear, which launched as a mobile app in 2020 and has been experimenting with a beta since last year, now has a full web app, as more than half of its customers said that access to their accounts on a bigger screen was important when choosing a broker.

Since the beta was released, the firm said it had experimented with adding multiple features based on feedback surveys from customers, such as watchlists and earnings data.

Stock screeners are a new feature to both the app and the website launching today, which contain a full directory of stocks and funds with metrics and data, allowing users to filter by specific criteria, as well as see analyst ratings of the stocks or funds.

The directory of instruments is also available to the public, allowing non-customers to get a sense of what the platform offers.

Jani Kiilunen, product lead at Lightyear, said that the release aimed to be the foundation of future iterations of the web platform.

“Lightyear on Web has quickly become one of the most advanced and intuitive web platforms for investing – while other neo-brokers have kept their customers waiting for years or keep very simple versions of their web apps behind paywalls,” he said.

“Many of our customers are advanced investors who prefer investing on the big screen, which is why this has been a high-priority project for us. We want to create tools that allow users to make better investment decisions – whether you’re a Lightyear customer or not.”