What are people’s views on all these fee free investing platforms now available?
I’ve used Trading 212, Prosper and investengine. The one I’m sticking with is investengine as I prefer their set and forget it approach.
I know people are concerned about some of these being new and not profitable but I think I switched to Starling in their first year so I don’t think that really bothers me.
I use Trading 212 for ISA and non-ISA savings and also my S&S ISA. They’ve been trading in the UK since at least 2016 so I’m not concerned about them going under.
I particularly like that I can move dividends from my S&S ISA to my Cash ISA instantaneously.
I do like the trading 212 app but it does bother me a little bit how it encourages reckless behaviour.
I’m still waiting for investengine to allow transfers in for their SIPP and at this rate trading 212 will probably beat them to it.
I think it depends how the fee free investment platform is funding itself, because if the sums don’t add up I don’t want years of drip-feeding money in to disappear only to have to call on the FSCS to get what I can out. eTorro and T212 seem to be funded by people making risky bets in the CFD market and losing, which seems like it could be a systemic risk to the platform if they get it wrong or those customers quit gambling on something they barely understand.
It also depends on whether the platform allows transferring shares out if I need to. Freetrade was a prime example of a fee-free platform that didn’t let you transfer your assets out, making me think I didn’t really own my shares in the first place.
I treat platform fees as a cost of doing business (like rent), but if those fees support the long-term viability of the platform without them needing to resort to enshittification, I don’t mind paying it. Ultimately I think you get what you pay for and if you’re not the one paying, I would want to know who is.
I transferred all my shares from Freetrade to HL a couple of years ago without any issues. Took less than a week.
Depending on the amount you’re talking about, AJ Bell works out well at a fiver per share trade, £1.50 for funds. Not so good under £10k or so perhaps, but there’s their cheaper version, Doddle, which is fine for smaller amounts.