Iāve generally liked Trading 212 for the simplicity/UI and low platform costs, but Iām starting to think about longer-term scalability and whether it makes sense to diversify more across platforms.
Interested in:
Which brokers people use alongside or instead of Trading 212
Whether you stayed with app-first brokers or moved to something more traditional
Experience with execution, FX fees, support, ISA/SIPP availability, etc.
One of the big players, IG, have just dropped their commission rate to zero. Thatās worth a punt. The only other zero commission platform I know of is Free trade.
I use Fidelity and AJ bell for SIPPs. Fidelity is more basic but offered Pension Protection Age to 55 if opened before Nov 2021.
AJ Bell I like because it offers Index Linked GILTs to buy online(not needing to call like other brokers).
Scottish Widows(ex iWeb) for one ISA due to no fees to hold, Ā£5/trade, but offers free regular investments. I use this for funds as no charge.
Basically free if you use their regular investment and not selling
T212 I use to buy for no transaction fees and low FX, but keep switching to either HL(not anymore as they change their fee structure), either AJ Bell- not sure yet.
Freetrade is mostly free now if just using ISA / SIPP and you donāt need the faster withdrawals & better support. But their FX fees are significantly higher than T212 and Robinhood.
This works out ok for me, as I hold my UK ETFās and Investment Trusts on Freetrade and then my individual shares (foreign and UK shares) on T212 for the lower FX fees.
I have to say, I quite like using Freetrade as an alternative broker to get around limits. Iāve tried against HL, and the prices they get and execution speed is almost on par. The interface on Freetrade is definitely sub par to most (better than Santander at least), but cant beat their execution times.
Its a shame the need to hold split positions, personally I see it as a means of āindirectā advice when 212 limit how many shares one can buy in a company.
If you go for the standard Investment or ISA account it seems like the only fee IG charge is a 0.7% FX fee (which is a higher fee than T212) however it seems like there are no commissions or platform fees. Portfolio transfers in and our are also shown as being free.
Therefore, Iām guessing that with a standard account if you only invest in investments listed in Ā£ it is free. This is great, especially for passive investors investing exclusively in GBP-listed ETFs or for investing in UK shares.
A couple of caveats to be aware of:
As per the link above: āIG SIPPs are administered by Options Pensions, who charge a Ā£205 annual fee and may charge for transferring investment not currently held in a SIPP.ā
The āmulticurrencyā account still has commissions such as Ā£3 for every trade in UK shares or 0.1% for āEuropeanā shares with a minimum of ā¬10. So itās probably important to consider this when selecting whether you want the account with the 0.7% FX fee (commission free) or not. I imagine for most customers the commission free account would be better.
Overall itās more expensive than T212 but still really competitive compared to the vast majority of brockers and a useful alternative to be aware of, especially if you want to diversify across brokers, which I would consider.
Thank you for sharing @sheepfoot, itās quite interesting.
Does anyone on here have an account with IG and if so can you provide some thoughts on the experience as a client and user?
I like T212 and I like the development of new features and offerings (Pie, SIPPs, etc), which is important. My main point at the moment is that itās a real pity that the rate of development over the last few years has been much slower than the amazing development around 2019-2023 and that has enabled competitors to catch up. It would be great to continue developing including the addition of new markets as mentioned above (hoping for Japan, Hong Kong and other european markets to be added).
Iām aware that SIPPs have been launched this year which is a major development and I hope T212 continue developing at a fast speed if possible. I also understand that it may be more challenging to develop things than earlier on.
I use T212 for my ISA where I do general trading, 3x etfs and dividend stocks investments.
I also use Freetrade ISA to keep my excess over 85k FSCS protection limits, currently only for gilt purchases. Once I get my first interest from gilts I will decide as with freetrade I am not sure if there are any charges as they are focussed on making money and a bit worried they may have some fine print on charges. Like they do not allow limit orders on Gilt purchases in basic accounts.
I started with InvestEngine (IE), I would not touch them now. IE is very slow compared to T212, they only trade once a day, they only deal in UK ETFs, their settlements take up to a week and their customer service is very slow (assuming you get a reply). There are no real advantages for IE compared to T212. I have no experience of Lightyear.
Iām small fry and wouldnāt reach any position limits, but I was interested to see what other platforms people use anyway. I would agree with @PStaveley regarding his views on InvestEngine. I have been with them a couple of years and whilst I have not had an issues with them (yet), they are very slow in their trades, which are pooled together and done once per day. I once had a trade take almost one week to settle. Most of the time it is about two days. I would suggest if anyone is looking elsewhere for additional trades, look at Trustpilot reviews and read their forum comments before committing to them. I was thinking of moving a small ISA from then to here, but find the poor communication with them one of the reasons for leaving it there, at least for now.
