Complex Investments - Buys restricted

Good to know. I think the issue (at least for me) was the surprise removal, there doesnā€™t seem to have been an official post or communication on the removal? So itā€™s caught at least me off guard and it wasnā€™t clear why some but not other instruments were removed. Or why some were removed when there not marked as complex on any other UK broker (not that the FCA give a list) so the criteria seems confusing.

TRIG is still available for example despite their KID stating that it is only suitable for investors who are capable of evaluating the risks and merits of the investment.

NBMI uses the same wording. Itā€™s only for investors capable of evaluating the risks and merits of the investment.

But NBMI was removed and TRIG was not? Even though they state the same thing.

BSIF I can understand, as they specifically state it is not primarily intended for retail investors (though funny enough is available on other platforms without being marked :crazy_face:).

Not to say there arenā€™t other factors in the decision. Itā€™s not like the FCA gives a list.

Thatā€™s is to say, nothing is particularly clear at the moment about what the actual situation is, and itā€™s been over a month. Do we need to avoid other investments which will be removed in the future and buy them elsewhere? Is it just a short term issue?

No communication = panic

Hope to hear from freetrade soon when they have all the info together :slightly_smiling_face:

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I guess you are allowed to panic whether or not there is communication :joy:

There was direct communication from Freetrade to people who had the relevant shares and they were informed that they would not be able to purchase again until procedures were put in place. If you did not have the shares then you can no longer ā€˜discoverā€™ them and correspondingly buy them.

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Which is just slightly annoying as I now have shares living on another broker as freetrade removed them without notice before I could move them.

Theyā€™re all alone :cry:

Hopefully itā€™s not a difficult fix. Itā€™s just a quick questionnaire on other platforms

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Any update on this? Trying to sell, but when I press the sell button, it shows me as having 0 shares (Apax Global Alpha) available. I actually have 100 as confirmed in the portfolio.

Have you got a trigger order placed?

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Doh! :face_with_open_eyes_and_hand_over_mouth:

Cheers @NeilB

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Just following-up on TheRavenā€™s note, would be great to have an update on status indeed. Thanks!

PR

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For anybody that still has an interest in this saga I enquired with Freetrade today if there has been any progress around the restrictions or if it would be resolved for the new tax year and the reply was ā€œwe donā€™t currently have any plans to remove thisā€.

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Thatā€™s very disappointing

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Freetrade lacks competence when it come to picking which investments are complex.
No other brocker I have checked with would put any of the Vietnam investment trusts in the complex sector. One of my investment on freetrade would be in the complex sector on a competent stock brokers. So it appears to be throw a dart attitude to picking what are complex investments.
Hargreaves Lansdowne has a list of complex (so called) investments each one has a questionnaire. You are not using up anyoneā€™s time you pass the questionnaire you can buy you donā€™t you canā€™t.
As an aside it includes bonds? I have always considered them to be the least complex investment.

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Can we get an official line from FT on this please?

As suggested above, can you confirm there are no plans to introduce a suitability questionnaire which would allow clients to buy trusts like VOF, IHR, AEWU, BSIF, SHED etc again?

Iā€™d appreciate some clarity as Iā€™m weighing up whether to open a second investment Isa with another provider in April to gain access to a wider range of investments trusts.

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Would be great indeed to have some visibility given the flow of new features added recently, as losing the ability to access Apax or Oakley or any other trusts for that matter which are not necessarily available with other providers was a key selling point to use Freetrade ā€¦
PR

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I noticed on the announcement about new stocks it mentioned a suitability test - Iā€™ve just checked the stock I hold that was restricted (AEWU) and it now says ā€œTo be eligible to buy this stock, you must answer a range of financial questions. This is because this stock is considered to be complex.ā€

Woooh, I passed. But the market is closed now :rofl:

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Hey everyone! A lot of these instruments that were taken off are now back on behind an appropriateness assessment.

Feel free to check out our latest additions.

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Great news that this has finally been rolled out!

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I didnā€™t believe you would ever sort it.
Pity as I have had to buy some on trading 212
And some in Hargreaves Lansdowne although in the latter case most you havenā€™t put on here anyway. IE debt sector. Will we be seeing them sometime in the future?
I was also going to move my ISA to 212. Totally free there but I really really dislike there site. Oh god itā€™s shite.

Fantastic! This is excellent news. When do you think we can expect Apax and Oakley to be back please?

PR

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Perhaps, the app should show Total hokding, trigger commitments and nett available shares to sell?

This is likely to be a recurring questiin that could be addressed by User Interface change.

Just a thought.

@gswaroop
Could do with an answer on Oakley capital (for instance) as I want it for my ISA next financial year. Save me taking out an ISA elsewhere.