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The comparison reads the same evidence fields used by broker profiles, so users can scan scores, regulation, costs, platforms, withdrawals, and caveats side by side.

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VS field	Pearler pearler.com ETF BrokerMutual Fund PlatformMutual Fund	DEGIRO degiro.com ETF BrokerMulti Asset BrokerETF
Decision summary
Overall score

Trust score	84	100

Cost score	82	92

Platform score	80	92

Withdrawal score	78	89

Best for	Australian buy-and-hold investors · ETF dollar-cost-averaging investors · Investors wanting CHESS-sponsored ASX holdings	European self-directed investors seeking low-cost access to stocks and ETFs · Investors who prefer web/mobile platforms and exchange-traded products

Watch out	Not designed for short-term/active traders · Country availability/restrictions are not disclosed as a concise country list · US and Micro products rely on third-party partners/cus…	Needs verification

Trust & regulation
Regulators	Australian financial services are under Sanlam AFSL/Pearler AR structure; US clearing broker Alpaca is FINRA/SIPC member. Source	Primarily supervised by BaFin and Bundesbank in Germany; Dutch branch registered with DNB and supervised by AFM and DNB. Source
License numbers	AR 1281540; Sanlam AFSL 337927; Openmarkets AFSL 246705; Cache Investment Management AFSL 514360; Cache RE Services AFSL 494886; super partners include AFSL 229757/500032/226319. Source	Financial licence number not disclosed in reviewed official sources. Commercial registrations found: flatexDEGIRO Bank SE HRB 141330 on flatexDEGIRO Bank SE imprint; DEGIRO UK footer states HRB 105687; Dutch Branch KvK 82510245. Source
Regulated entities	Pearler is AR 1281540 of Sanlam Private Wealth AFSL 337927; ASX products use Openmarkets AFSL 246705; US products use Alpaca Securities; Micro fund issued by Cache (RE Services) AFSL 494886. Source	DEGIRO is operated by flatexDEGIRO Bank Dutch Branch, a branch of flatexDEGIRO Bank SE; flatexDEGIRO Bank SE is a licensed German bank headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. Source
Negative balance protection	Not applicable / not disclosed for long-only shares/ETF investing; no negative balance protection guarantee found. Source	No negative balance protection found. Official account-profile page warns losses can exceed deposit and result in a negative Balance for derivatives, margin and short-selling services; margin profiles are legacy-only. Source
Investor compensation	US securities clearing broker Alpaca is FINRA/SIPC member; ASX holdings are CHESS-sponsored/HIN-based; cash/trust and partner structures vary by product. Source	Cash in flatexDEGIRO Bank SE Cash Account protected up to €100,000 per customer under German Deposit Guarantee Scheme; investor compensation covers up to 90% of non-returned assets, max €20,000 per customer; UK FSCS does not apply. Source
Restricted countries	Pearler says information is not an offer in jurisdictions where Pearler is not registered or able to market its services; no concise accepted/restricted-country list was found. Source	Available via listed country selector in Europe/UK; US persons are not accepted; UK onboarding for new clients was temporarily unavailable on the reviewed UK page. Source

Trust & regulation

Regulators

Australian financial services are under Sanlam AFSL/Pearler AR structure; US clearing broker Alpaca is FINRA/SIPC member.

Source

Primarily supervised by BaFin and Bundesbank in Germany; Dutch branch registered with DNB and supervised by AFM and DNB.

Source

License numbers

AR 1281540; Sanlam AFSL 337927; Openmarkets AFSL 246705; Cache Investment Management AFSL 514360; Cache RE Services AFSL 494886; super partners include AFSL 229757/500032/226319.

Source

Financial licence number not disclosed in reviewed official sources. Commercial registrations found: flatexDEGIRO Bank SE HRB 141330 on flatexDEGIRO Bank SE imprint; DEGIRO UK footer states HRB 105687; Dutch Branch KvK 82510245.

Source

Regulated entities

Pearler is AR 1281540 of Sanlam Private Wealth AFSL 337927; ASX products use Openmarkets AFSL 246705; US products use Alpaca Securities; Micro fund issued by Cache (RE Services) AFSL 494886.

Source

DEGIRO is operated by flatexDEGIRO Bank Dutch Branch, a branch of flatexDEGIRO Bank SE; flatexDEGIRO Bank SE is a licensed German bank headquartered in Frankfurt am Main.

Source

Negative balance protection

Not applicable / not disclosed for long-only shares/ETF investing; no negative balance protection guarantee found.

Source

No negative balance protection found. Official account-profile page warns losses can exceed deposit and result in a negative Balance for derivatives, margin and short-selling services; margin profiles are legacy-only.

Source

Investor compensation

US securities clearing broker Alpaca is FINRA/SIPC member; ASX holdings are CHESS-sponsored/HIN-based; cash/trust and partner structures vary by product.

Source

Cash in flatexDEGIRO Bank SE Cash Account protected up to €100,000 per customer under German Deposit Guarantee Scheme; investor compensation covers up to 90% of non-returned assets, max €20,000 per customer; UK FSCS does not apply.

Source

Restricted countries

Pearler says information is not an offer in jurisdictions where Pearler is not registered or able to market its services; no concise accepted/restricted-country list was found.

Source

Available via listed country selector in Europe/UK; US persons are not accepted; UK onboarding for new clients was temporarily unavailable on the reviewed UK page.

Source

Costs & account conditions
Minimum deposit	ASX initial investments must be at least AUD 500; Micro starts from AUD 5. Source	No fixed minimum deposit identified; DEGIRO homepage says users can add any amount of money to the account for free. Bank-account verification search result states minimum EUR 0.01 for linking a new bank account. Source
Spread from	Not applicable: Pearler is a shares/ETF investing platform, not a forex/CFD spread broker. Source	Not a quoted-spread CFD/FX broker field. DEGIRO discloses that bid-ask spreads are implicit market costs and not direct broker costs. Source
Commission	AUD 6.50 per ASX or US buy/sell; prepay discount can reduce each buy/sell by AUD 1.00. Source	Examples from UK fee page: US stocks €1 + €1 handling; LSE £1.75 + £1 handling; selected ETFs €0 + €1 handling; global ETFs €2 + €1 handling; options €0.75 commission. Currency, connectivity, external product and spread costs may apply. Source
Maximum leverage	Not disclosed / not applicable for retail share/ETF investing products; no margin or leverage product found in official product pages. Source	DEGIRO currently does not allow new changes to margin-trading profiles; legacy Active/Trader/Day Trader accounts may have Debit Money / derivatives risk but maximum leverage was not disclosed in reviewed sources. Source
Deposit fee	Free to deposit and receive dividends for ASX and US Invest; Micro has nil establishment/contribution fees per FSG/PDS summary. Source	No deposit fee disclosed on UK fee page and homepage; deposits listed as FEE €0 / no deposit-withdrawal fees. Source
Withdrawal fee	Pearler pricing says users can withdraw and close their account any time; managed-fund FSG summary lists withdrawal fee and exit fee as nil. Source	No withdrawal fee disclosed on UK fee page and homepage; withdrawals listed as FEE €0 / no deposit-withdrawal fees. Source
Inactivity fee	No inactivity fee found in the checked official pricing/FSG pages. Source	No inactivity fee; UK fee page lists inactivity fee as €0. Source

Costs & account conditions

Minimum deposit

ASX initial investments must be at least AUD 500; Micro starts from AUD 5.

Source

No fixed minimum deposit identified; DEGIRO homepage says users can add any amount of money to the account for free. Bank-account verification search result states minimum EUR 0.01 for linking a new bank account.

Source

Spread from

Not applicable: Pearler is a shares/ETF investing platform, not a forex/CFD spread broker.

Source

Not a quoted-spread CFD/FX broker field. DEGIRO discloses that bid-ask spreads are implicit market costs and not direct broker costs.

Source

Commission

AUD 6.50 per ASX or US buy/sell; prepay discount can reduce each buy/sell by AUD 1.00.

Source

Examples from UK fee page: US stocks €1 + €1 handling; LSE £1.75 + £1 handling; selected ETFs €0 + €1 handling; global ETFs €2 + €1 handling; options €0.75 commission. Currency, connectivity, external product and spread costs may apply.

Source

Maximum leverage

Not disclosed / not applicable for retail share/ETF investing products; no margin or leverage product found in official product pages.

Source

DEGIRO currently does not allow new changes to margin-trading profiles; legacy Active/Trader/Day Trader accounts may have Debit Money / derivatives risk but maximum leverage was not disclosed in reviewed sources.

Source

Deposit fee

Free to deposit and receive dividends for ASX and US Invest; Micro has nil establishment/contribution fees per FSG/PDS summary.

Source

No deposit fee disclosed on UK fee page and homepage; deposits listed as FEE €0 / no deposit-withdrawal fees.

Source

Withdrawal fee

Pearler pricing says users can withdraw and close their account any time; managed-fund FSG summary lists withdrawal fee and exit fee as nil.

Source

No withdrawal fee disclosed on UK fee page and homepage; withdrawals listed as FEE €0 / no deposit-withdrawal fees.

Source

Inactivity fee

No inactivity fee found in the checked official pricing/FSG pages.

Source

No inactivity fee; UK fee page lists inactivity fee as €0.

Source

Markets, platforms & payments
Tradable assets	ASX shares/ETFs, US shares/ETFs, managed-fund Micro options and self-directed super investments. Source	Shares, ETFs, bonds and derivatives such as options and futures; DEGIRO product pages also describe investment funds availability. Source
Trading platforms	Pearler website and Pearler mobile app. Source	DEGIRO provides a web/desktop trading platform (Webtrader) and mobile apps for iOS and Android. Source
Account types	ASX Invest supports multiple accounts (individual, joint, trust or minor); Pearler also offers Micro, Super, HomeSoon and Headstart products. Source	DEGIRO account/profile types include Basic, Active, Trader, Day Trader and Custody. Active, Trader and Day Trader are legacy-only and new margin profiles are no longer available. Source
Deposit methods	AUD Cash funding via Invest & Cash/app; bank account linking uses Basiq or small deposit; PayID/direct debit/PayTo via Zepto; USD ACH and Wire details are available for US bank accounts. Source	Manual bank transfer from a verified linked/reference bank account; deposits must use the account base currency. Source
Withdrawal methods	Withdraw cash from AUD Cash to linked primary bank account through website or mobile app. Source	Withdrawals go back to the primary registered/linked bank account; only uninvested cash in the Cash Account can be withdrawn. Source
Withdrawal processing time	After a sell order, funds must settle for 2 business days before they are available for withdrawal; deposit holds can apply. Source	Withdrawals may take up to 2-4 working days; transfers can take up to 2-3 working days to complete. Source

Markets, platforms & payments

Tradable assets

ASX shares/ETFs, US shares/ETFs, managed-fund Micro options and self-directed super investments.

Source

Shares, ETFs, bonds and derivatives such as options and futures; DEGIRO product pages also describe investment funds availability.

Source

Trading platforms

Pearler website and Pearler mobile app.

Source

DEGIRO provides a web/desktop trading platform (Webtrader) and mobile apps for iOS and Android.

Source

Account types

ASX Invest supports multiple accounts (individual, joint, trust or minor); Pearler also offers Micro, Super, HomeSoon and Headstart products.

Source

DEGIRO account/profile types include Basic, Active, Trader, Day Trader and Custody. Active, Trader and Day Trader are legacy-only and new margin profiles are no longer available.

Source

Deposit methods

AUD Cash funding via Invest & Cash/app; bank account linking uses Basiq or small deposit; PayID/direct debit/PayTo via Zepto; USD ACH and Wire details are available for US bank accounts.

Source

Manual bank transfer from a verified linked/reference bank account; deposits must use the account base currency.

Source

Withdrawal methods

Withdraw cash from AUD Cash to linked primary bank account through website or mobile app.

Source

Withdrawals go back to the primary registered/linked bank account; only uninvested cash in the Cash Account can be withdrawn.

Source

Withdrawal processing time

After a sell order, funds must settle for 2 business days before they are available for withdrawal; deposit holds can apply.

Source

Withdrawals may take up to 2-4 working days; transfers can take up to 2-3 working days to complete.

Source

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