The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring Jeremy Skillington, CEO of Poolbeg Pharma has just been released. Listen here.
London South East prides itself on its community spirit, and in order to keep the chat section problem free, we ask all members to follow these simple rules. In these rules, we refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our". The user of the website is referred to as "you" and "your".
By posting on our share chat boards you are agreeing to the following:
The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. As a user you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. You agree that we have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or board at any time should we see fit. You agree that we have the right to remove any post without notice. You agree that we have the right to suspend your account without notice.
Please note some users may not behave properly and may post content that is misleading, untrue or offensive.
It is not possible for us to fully monitor all content all of the time but where we have actually received notice of any content that is potentially misleading, untrue, offensive, unlawful, infringes third party rights or is potentially in breach of these terms and conditions, then we will review such content, decide whether to remove it from this website and act accordingly.
Premium Members are members that have a premium subscription with London South East. You can subscribe here.
London South East does not endorse such members, and posts should not be construed as advice and represent the opinions of the authors, not those of London South East Ltd, or its affiliates.
"Re the FCA £75k cover, if you had ur shares split over 3 brokers, and they all went down, could you claim £75k for each one? I know its a strategy used by some ppl but wondering if it will actually work in the end."
==============================================================
Simon,
The FSCS last year increased protection per share account from £75K to £85K. Spreading a much larger sum among different brokers has some merit. However, a proper broker holds all customer shares in so-called "nominee accounts". They tend to be held in subsidiary, non-trading companies. These nominee share accounts are legally separate from all brokers own funds. If a UK-based broker goes bust, we'll be fine according to current UK law.
Different risks may apply to overseas brokers. For eg. DeGiro based in Holland is very cheap, but their compensation seems be limited to only €20K (Euros). - Cheers.
Jack
A Question
Re the FCA £75k cover, if you had ur shares split over 3 brokers, and they all went down, could you claim £75k for each one? I know its a strategy used by some ppl but wondering if it will actually work in the end.
"jack, now u got my anxiety up with the ii transfer... I did not know there were such problems reported.
it had better not take 4 months, otherwise I wont be able to sell when I need to."
=====================================================
Simon,
It’s a concern. However, this was soon after ii took over TDD late 2017 & it went on well into early 2018. Huge exodus due to ii’s £90 annual charges. TDD customers saw no charges on share accounts. So I’m wonder whether there’s another rush for the exits ahead with these latest ill-conceived increased charges starting 1st June? I suspect many will leave.
Or maybe they're got their act together since as previously many customers complained to the FCA. It was a shambles as seen from many Trust Pilot reviews going back to that particular period.
Please do keep us updated. As for anyone else who may be with ii & goes ahead with a transfer. FWIW, I'd welcome TDD back in a heartbeat! - ATB!
jack, now u got my anxiety up with the ii transfer... I did not know there were such problems reported.
it had better not take 4 months, otherwise I wont be able to sell when I need to.
Im going to get on the phone to my solicitor in advance to see if anything can be claimed regarding that.
one last thing with iweb - they charge £2 per limit order if it doesnt execute... so it looks like HL or x-o maybe best after all this debate...
If you like I will update you with my transfer as the forms been posted already.
Simon,
Thanks again! Some VG points & useful added links. Indeed, HL always much higher up than others as an institutional investor. They're huge! Hence their high SP in FTSE 100. Currently 2,419. But ii are absent. Latter privately owned, hence also not listed on any exchange. Jarvis (JIM epic) has SP of 472.
Thanks also for distinctions between X-O & iWeb, with X-O allowing regular accounts under same login. I'd prefer X-O on this as I'm very careful with online security, but that alone won't swing my decision. As you say, HL may well be my best option.
What Jarvis say re “1-2 weeks” or “2-3 weeks” is indeed how it’s supposed to be. HL, et al, will all say similar. However, look at customer reviews on other sites & ii had huge problems in this department a while back. Numerous complaints last year from ii customers transferring out & stuck in limbo for over 3 & 4 MONTHS. Not all of course, but many such reviews on Trust Pilot circa early 2018 soon after they took over TDD. A huge backlog of transfer requests that brokers being transferred to could do nothing about.
That's my only concern. I'd hate to be trapped if there was a transient spike across markets & I couldn't book gains. So we'll see what Velo's observations tell us next week.
NB: If you've time later, please let us know how any transfer goes for you & how long it took. Thanks in advance. - Regards & GL.
and appears the same with smaller companies
https://markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/profile?s=EOG:LSE
https://markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/profile?s=JOG:LSE
https://markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/profile?s=EDR:LSE
jack,
If that is the case re the 30 sources all being for uk, then you would assume it must add some value for the better, but I think waiting for velos test is the best way to accurately measure that, also interesting is winterflood and peel are on x-o's list... I though they only had uk access, unless those companies have uk and overseas subsidiaries, likely I guess.
In your case HL looks like a good option for you.
As for broker switching, I asked x-o and they said it can take 1-2 weeks if the other broker is active, else it takes 2-3 weeks.
So long as the transfer form is all I need to do I dont mind the wait.
With regards to you using client size as reassurance, heres something u might find of value.
https://markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/profile?s=SXX:LSE
Scroll down to "Institutional shareholders"
I have noticed with alot of big companies, that Jarvis(x-o) is often higher in the list than ii and ig, but usually HL is always above them...
So perhaps ii has more clients than jarvis, but jarvis has fewer clients with more capital?
And one more thing useful, X-O allows you to have unlimited normal accounts(not isa's though) under one login, iweb does not.
cheers
"I am wondering though, of that list of HL's 32 sources, how many of those are for overseas markets like new york, tsx, asx, etc..."
=============================================
Hi Simon,
Thanks & you're welcome. I too appreciate others views on this issue as I'm contemplating a transfer in June.
This from HL’s site seems to answer your good question, quote: “We place all overseas deals with Winterflood Securities Ltd and Peel Hunt LLP. They charge us for providing this service to you.”
On their list of 32 trading venues, those two ARE included. So one assumes the other 30 brokers of 32 listed in that HL link are for UK markets. Mindful of some inevitable complaints about HL, IMO, that seems VG & justifies their standard £11.95 commission for less frequent traders. No added costs on their Fund & Share account. But costs apply to other accounts like their ISA & SIPP.
What reassures me is that HL have over 1m UK clients. Recent report put ii at 2nd largest UK broker with over 300K clients, so well behind. I’m not only looking for better service & cheaper costs than ii’s, I also want a long-term stay. I hate switching brokers! I've read it can be time-consuming & may result in lost opportunities due to accounts being inaccessible during transfers.
Indeed, TD Direct used to be TD Waterhouse. They changed their name shortly before ii bought them. I originally ended up with TDW after latter bought eTradeUK, a discount broker who were also excellent. Hence I also don't rule out X-O or iWeb & their standard low costs regardless of how much one trades.
Whilst, as mentioned, I've had some very active years with real shares, OTOH, some years I don't trade via shares for 8 months at a time. In future, it could be much longer. Especially in a longer economic downturn. I'm more active with spread-bets. So as with those like you, I can see ii costing me a lot of avoidable charges over time.
Indeed, I too look forward to Velo's observations. If he sees no difference, I may opt for X-O or iWeb. - Regards.
Hey Jack.
Thanks for replying, Excellent post.
I am wondering though, of that list of HL's 32 sources, how many of those are for overseas markets like new york, tsx, asx, etc...
When you say TDD, was that td waterhouse? as in before ii bought them out?
Velo, hope you do the tests... will look forwad to it, however I have already posted my application of transfer from ii to x-o.
"I cant yet believe that ii / hl offer superior quote prices over x-o / i web - the reason being because out of the 20 or so people who have told me they recommend iweb / x-o, all have said they came from ii / hl and they would never go back, some even mentioning they thought iweb / x-o offered better prices."
===================================================================
Simon,
You may be right re iWeb & X-O. The people I've spoken to on other sites rate them as more than good enough. But for eg. my own experience with TDD since 2010, doing over 70 to 75+ trades some years, was excellent execution prices. Often beating market. Better than ii's. That rendered TDD's £12.50 commission as seeming a few quid cheaper than £12.50. But that's less of an issue for anyone rarely trading.
Obviously I can't confirm how good or poor HL are. HL have over 1 million clients. UK's biggest broker. So bound to be some clients who find fault. I've yet to decide where I'll go to.
Will be interesting to see what Velo notes in his execution price comparison test next week & thanks for that in advance, Velo! Appreciated. - ATB to both!
"Jackdawson, Can you point me to where it says X-O has 5 different sources to get better execution prices and to where HL claim to have 32?
All that glitters isnt gold. ii is pure proof of that, a horrible service but designed in away to look dominant, authoritative and official"
============================================
Hi Simon & Velo,
No problem, Simon. It's a w/end & I'm sure others are fine with some O/T helping others make best decisions. FWIW, I only found out due to having same idea as you, ie. ii's new price increases for inactivity. I'm also considering X-O, iWeb or HL? Important decision transferring. Before that, I want to collect my LLOY dividend payable next week & book my VOD & SBRY divis, both XD's 6th June. Also note, reportedly, accounts are inaccessible during transfers. They can last from weeks to over 3 months (if client reviews on Trust Pilot are to go by).
Link & key quote from HL’s site.
https://www.hl.co.uk/shares/quality-of-execution-report
“Our focus is on you and getting you the best price on your deal. When you ask us to place a deal for you, we’ll get prices from up to 32 different places. And you’ll get the best price."
From X-O's site.
http://www.x-o.co.uk/order-execution.htm
“Jarvis places significant reliance on the following execution venues. - Execution venues. UK Equities and exchange-traded products.
Winterflood Securities
KBC Peel Hunt
Shore Capital Stockbrokers Ltd
Knight Equity Markets
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe
Hope that helps. As I said, my former broker TDD had no added fees & offered superior execution service . Now, if over next 20 years one has periods of inactivity that total, say, 50 months, conceivable with real shares even for those like me in downturns, ii think it's fine to take nearly £500 from client accounts at £9.99 a month. For those less active, I can see why people are leaving. Their free commission credits last 90 days. Fine for those trading frequently without longer breaks, otherwise a gimmick. - Regards.
Simon, with Jack's input, your initial post has now resulted in setting me off on my own quest.
I will run some dummy test quotes on Monday, or later in the week if overly busy, and report back here under this thread, on the results of a three way test between:
iWeb . v . AJ Bell . v . HL
and try to have all three open at the same time live on tabs, for ultra fair comparison.
I'll use VOD as the first test then a smaller share (Hils) that I 'felt' I had received a poor price offer from iWeb.
- It'll only be possible to get buy price comparisons in this experiment, but that will do.
Jackdawson, Can you point me to where it says X-O has 5 different sources to get better execution prices and to where HL claim to have 32?
All that glitters isnt gold. ii is pure proof of that, a horrible service but designed in away to look dominant, authoritative and official
x-o / iweb on the other hand look basic, but thats all I actually want.
If the truth was told ii and x-o probably both run on similar technology and use similar api's... one just charges you for all the bells and whistles bollocks, and for "advice" in the form of terrible articles written by people who never seem to know what they are talking about.
I dont want to pay additional charges for all that useless crap, Just want to buy wat I want on a basic interface that works.
I cant yet believe that ii / hl offer superior quote prices over x-o / i web - the reason being because out of the 20 or so people who have told me they recommend iweb / x-o, all have said they came from ii / hl and they would never go back, some even mentioning they thought iweb / x-o offered better prices.
Velo, thanks for the info, noted your experiences with iwebs charges
Meant to mention I was with Selftrade many years ago. Loved it then, but it got sold and their platform changed.
It looked like somebodyhad hired a teenager to do it in their bedrrom. Dreadful after that. I was out fast. So nil points for Selftrade they were £12 odd per trade back in the day, too.
.
Jack @ "...They use 32 different places to get best execution prices.....For regular traders, what you save in cheaper commission can cost you in worse execution prices.."
That must be it, one of the reasons I prefer HL
A few weeks ago I sold a share that had more than doubled in price. I'd held it so long that I had forgotten that if you caught it on the wrong day the spread could bite you on the bum, or that's what I thought until your reminder of HL's 30 odd places to check for best price.
I was using iWeb to sell it. Hardly done any selling on iWeb - all buying mostly. The price offerred was obnoxiously low. Checked HL and thir prices seemed much, much keener.
Confused I checked AJBell. They too were better than iWebb but dearer than HL
Thinking it was just a blip I returned to iWeb and the price on offer had gotten better somewhat but still not as good as the other two. Didn't dare waste any more time so had no option but to accept the sell price of iWeb.
A little bit dissapointed by the net funds received I went back for a third round of checks and yep HL was the best and it wasn't a blip. I felt peeved all that day, muttering: They saw me coiming, the blaady rob dogs etc.,etc., etc.,
But you've just reminded me how much of HL I take for granted. The only reason I don't have ISA's in HL is fear of a broker bankruptcy, so I spread my funds around for safety should brokers go under. Think I'll do a bit more checking and comparisons with say dummy buys on all 3 brokers and compare. I might yet open an ISA within HL if it pans out.
Want to check if that heavy SIPP monthly fee would count towards letting me off a bit for an ISA account with them.
That's another thing, HL available to speak to, by phone all Sat mornings. No chance with the other two Isa brokers.
"2) HL is the best in the country but pricey, it's got all the bells and whistles - bootiful plarform; beware it'll ruin you for any other platform -but you will fall in love with it."
=========================================================
Hi Velo,
I can well believe it. Reading their site indicates not only an impressive range of services, but they use 32 different places to get best execution prices. X-O has about 5, which is still good for a discount broker.
I'm with ii, for now, but for those only holding & rarely ever trading, I agree with others that iWeb & X-O are worthy contenders. Others I know who use them say they're fine., despite being not as diverse in the range of investments they offer & using plain vanilla sites. But that's to be expected from cheaper brokers.
For regular traders, what you save in cheaper commission can cost you in worse execution prices. For eg. I was with TD Direct before ii took over. Though TDD's standard commission was £12.50, they had no added fees for share accounts & they invariably got market beating execution prices. This meant one saw the £12.50 commission as cheaper in real terms. I'd welcome back TDD anytime! - Regards.
Yes got an iWeb account for a new ISA a year or two back. Was searching for a cheap as chips, broker - and this is it - a fiver a trade Bazinga! Mission accomplished.
But a very dull, no frillls, basic platform - waddya expect for a fiver? :)
- (But I have been spoilt using the platform of one of the country's best broker's, more of them in a moment.)
Before that I had and still do have in active use an A.J Bell account at £9.95 per trade and charges of a couple of quid per quarter.of £7.95 - less if you just have a a couple of grand in.
Freebie - Keep a minimum of £4k in this account and you get Shares magazine free every month. Online only these days.
Their platform is okay but I had issues with them being down, and iffy phone response, so really searched for a cheap un and got iWeb. Both platforms are okay , but if you want the best platform experience by far, telephone help etc., then it's no contest - it's HL - Hargreaves and Lansdown.
I thoroughly and highly recommend them above all others - but they are pricey. Keep my 6 figure SIPP in there - £11.99 per trade and £16.99 per month MONTH account fee. Doesn't put me off. They're good. The best. Recomended.
Also don't be afraid that there's some law that says you're only entitled to one broker - If it's for your ISA's you could open a new account every year - I've got 5 accounts all told. Each for a different purpose.
That reminds me - don't go for an ISA account with IG - as many say here and there. It's rubbish for ISA's. Best keep IG for what they're the best at - spreadbetting.
Also have an account with SpreadEX another spreadbetter.
Nicer charts than IG but for spreadbetting on a regular basis it's IG for me.
SpreadEX is for easing complications - one for shorting the other acc for longs
To sum up:
1) iWeb is bladdy cheap, but basic platform.
2) HL is the best in the country but pricey, it's got all the bells and whistles - bootiful plarform; beware it'll ruin you for any other platform -but you will fall in love with it.
I use Iweb and I'm very happy with it. There's a £25 set up fee, after which you only pay £5 per trade plus stamp duty. Dividends arrive in the account on the evening of the day they become payable. I rarely trade (no good at it!) but I've never had any issues.
Have any of you gentlemen used X-O(by Jarvis) or iweb-sharedealing(by Halifax)??
Interactive Investor will be increasing there fees starting from June 1st (from £22.50 a quarter to £40/£80), its long overdue I left ii while its still free to exit/transfer (II has sucked ince the website update last year)
x-o and iweb offer a simple flat trade-only fee of £5.95 per trade and have no inactivity or monthly/yearly admin charges...
I am a medium term holder so having zero fees other than the tradecost is ideal for me.
I'd like to sort this out over the weekend so if you have any suggestions let me know.
Cheers