I have just been researching Freetrade, they now offer Treasury Bills, as well as SIPPS, as well as an ISA with no fees.
They do offer some good products, but I think t212 still have the edge at the moment, the higher interest rate on uninvested cash and same day, free withdrawals. I rarely use the t212 card, others might though, so there is an advantage there too.
If Freetrade matched T212 on those things, I think they could be real competition, I am ok waiting for a little bit longer for the sipp to launch on here, but the Treasury bill thing really is attractive for SIPPs, a very safe, long term drip into the SIPP.
Has anyone seen if T212 are launching Treasury Bills?
FreeTrade are also listed on the AIC website and included in their cost comparison. Trading212 are not:
Then there is also Lightyear, RobinHood, Webull.
They all have their benefits and none of them win outright. It all comes down to what you want to invest in.
That said, I think Trading212 is the only broker that gives indirect advice on what shares to buy by limiting how many shares you can trade, or opting not to add to the platform. That’s rarely captured on any metrics comparing platforms.
That’s an interesting take, I think t212 is just cautious adding stocks that it can’t make money out of or is happy to have exposure to.
They’ve just added loads more AIM stocks, which is basically the wild west for investing with high risk stocks.
It’s not up to a broker to protect its users, it is plastered all over the place, This is not investment advice and always do your own research.
If T212 added treasury investments, that would be great for sipps and growing it with minimal risk. Obviously you’d have to have other stocks in it, as inflation could wipe out gains.
You could say that about almost every market lol so a bit moot.
I’m not sure on the TBills point, cash ETFs pretty much cover it. Personally would like to see everything under one roof, but that just increases operating expenses that ultimately get passed on the the consumer.
What’s more important is platform charges - they should be charged to the user on the platform, not back to the product.
I’m tempted to reopen a Freetrade account as they seem to have finally seen the light on the fee structure/pay wall after the IG takeover.
But it’s too little too late as I switched from FT to Prosper, where I’m paying about 0.02% all in for the ACWI. If platform charges are introduced, the fund refund offer gets withdrawn or there’s a big enough incentive elsewhere, I’ll consider moving but I’m content for now.
If I was to use FT again, it would likely be to build a low-cost bond ladder. But, even then, I think a global bond ETF is among the 30-odd that Prosper offers a 100% refund on for ongoing fees, which would push my total costs below 0.02% and save hassle.
I can see why there’s interest in FT. The platform and range are way better than Prosper’s but there’s a lot to be said for simplicity.
It’s reassuring not having the ability to invest your pension in an obscure biotech or mining stock in a few taps amid moment of madness.
