Today, investment platform Lightyear announces the addition of stop loss to its order types, a feature requested by 60% of investors on the platform, according to a survey of nearly 600 users. This comes alongside the launch of both SWIFT payments for USD, and 400 new U.S. stocks. 

Stop orders for US stocks will now be available on the Lightyear platform alongside market, limit and repeat orders. From today, consumers and businesses can set a price on any whole US stock which – when reached – will automatically trigger a buy or sell transaction. This helps investors manage potential gains and losses on autopilot, without having to keep tabs on daily fluctuations. They can buy a US stock in the early stage of a rise in its price, to hopefully capitalise on a breakout, or sell as soon as the stock price falls to the pre-set stop price, to limit losses.

An example of how an investor might place a stop order would be if they buy 50 shares of a stock that’s proved quite volatile in recent months, for $200, then sets a stop-loss order at $150, and a take-profit stop order for $250. If the stock price drops over the next few days – as soon as it falls below $150 – the stop order will get triggered and the stock sold; let's say the stock gets sold at $145 – the investor loses $55, but has protected themselves from further losses should the stock price continue to decline. If the stock price rises instead – as soon as it reaches $250 – the stock is sold and the investor makes a profit of $50+. This order type helps investors manage potential volatility so that they’re less exposed to big market swings and can keep their portfolios more balanced.

Stop orders will be free for Lightyear users, just like all other order types on the platform. This is not the case with a number of other neo-brokers offering this type of order. 

Lightyear is also launching 400 new US stocks for European customers – including Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, American Superconductor, Rent the Runway, Rigetti Computing and Tillys – and SWIFT payments (a type of international transfer sent via the SWIFT international payment network), so customers can send and receive USD. 

These three new features are the latest of a number of recent launches by Lightyear; others include its first exchange trade commodity (gold), BlackRock Money Market Funds and business investment accounts.

Martin Sokk, CEO & Co-founder of Lightyear says: “While the IPO market has warmed up for some companies, other businesses are battling against bankruptcies. Meanwhile, earnings season has delivered share-shifting results. So, we’ve built stop orders to help investors sleep better at night, knowing they’re protecting their assets from this market volatility. Lightyear customers can now place market orders, limit orders, repeat orders, and stop orders (on US stocks). We’re prioritising features and products that allow investors to be more successful, with no extra fees.”

Lightyear, headquartered in London and founded by early Wise alumni Martin Sokk and Mihkel Aamer, was born in September 2021 from personal frustrations with investing in Europe. Hidden fees, confusing user experiences and lack of access to international markets was very much the norm.  From BlackRock money market funds to ETFs and stocks from major US and EU exchanges, the platform has been expanding its offering with new launches every few weeks. The latest addition of this new order type allows Lightyear customers to further enhance their investment strategies.