Avanza Bank Holding AB is a Swedish online bank based in Stockholm, specializing in savings, investments and pensions. Avanza is the largest stockbroker in Sweden and on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, with 2,188,900 customers and a 7.9% share of the Swedish savings market as of August 2025.[1]
History
Avanza was founded in 1999 as HQ.se.
In 2001, HQ.se acquired Avanza and changed its name to Avanza, which became the largest stockbroker in Sweden, with 80,000 active customers.[2]
In 2006, Avanza acquired stock magazine Börsveckan and launched Placera, a free online newspaper. Placera is focused on equities, funds and savings. The two are editorially independent and are grouped under Placera Media, a wholly owned subsidiary of Avanza.[3]
During the same year, another wholly owned subsidiary, fund manager Avanza Fonder, was launched, along with their first product Avanza Zero, a completely free-of-charge index fund tracking the OMX Stockholm 30 index.