VIDEO: How to buy shares

Every day millions of shares are bought and traded on stock exchanges worldwide, but you can?t buy shares in the same way as most other goods and services.

This is because the buying and trading of shares is heavily regulated by financial laws, so to participate in this market purchasers need to have the right arrangements in place.

Individuals who want to buy shares can only do so through certain schemes like managed funds; most shares are bought and sold by opening an account with a stock broker or another licensed third party.

Whichever way a purchaser goes, buying stocks usually involves a fee for brokering the deal as a one off charge for a single transaction or a recurring payment for ongoing services.