Some of these smaller options include well established Investment Trusts such as Baillie Giffordās Pacific Horizon IT, which is really popular (includes Sea Ltd, JD.Com, Alibaba, Tencent).
I have an ISA which has this and x4 other ITās in the portfolio, most of which are in the free part of FT (Scottish Mortgage, Edinburgh Worldwide, Allianz Tech etc).
I invest a tidy sum in the portfolio this year and currently due to trading costs with HL do this once a year (I.e x5 trades a year). Iād happily switch to FT for the option to make these trades on a monthly basis but not cost effective with a Ā£10 a month
Plus option.
ISA Platform fee - Ā£45 Capped
Trading Costs - Ā£7.50 (if I use the monthly DD option at Ā£1.50 a trade and cancel immediately).
The Ā£3 ISA with FT is really good value but the additional Ā£7 a month just to trade one additional stock in my portfolio which is behind the paywall is really not attractive.
Especially as more features are yet to be announced/implemented.
I think the new PLUS should be no more than Ā£5 per month until the offering has been expanded. Currently Freetrade is charging double what Stake is but offering fewer features and stocks.
With this and nothing on the roadmap about offering āaccreditationā to enable the purchasing of US ETFs I will not be moving my portfolio to Freetrade.
I think any discomfort with the Plus account could be solved with the democratic option of āpaying a fixed amount monthlyā or else āa small percentage on the capital gain acquired in the sale of a Plus shareā. In this case, the choice could be made in the application for the Plus account. Thus, everyone would have the opportunity to participate and, at the same time, contribute to the growth of Freetrade. For example, those who constantly invest could opt for the fixed, while those who invest little money or do so sporadically would choose to pay the percentage on the sale (with gain). What would be better for the FT: everyone contributing and happy, or just a few contributing?
The real answer to FT listening is to move out, to a real free trading platform, that has had limit orders for years and doesnāt suddenly move the goalposts. T212.
If everyone is such fans of trading212, just go use it until your hearts content - no one is going to stop you, no one is particularly concerned ā¦ whatās there to achieve posting it here?
I have a Freetrade and Trading 212 general investment account and a Hargreaves Lansdown S&S ISA. Ideally Iād like to close both investment accounts and just keep the ISA.
Ideally that would be through Freetrade as I really like the product but itās bottom of the list at the moment for the following reasons: -
From a trading perspective I wouldnāt need a Plus account in terms of added features, but two ITās in my portfolio are now behind the paywall. Iām not paying Ā£10 a month just two trade in these two stocks. Therefore, Plus as a price point for me is really unattractive, compared to the other two options.
I agree that the pie/auto invest option with the competitor is vv good.
No 2 is not a deal breaker but added with one means Iām not going to invest with FT.
What would change my mind?
A rethink of what stocks are behind the paywall - Donāt put popular investment trusts behind it.
The ability to have a Ā£3 ISA account and trade in Plus stocks at a nominal cost.
Reduce Plus subscription fee to something far more competitive Ā£5-6
As I can get most shares I need on T212, with no cost and the pie/investment option, thatās where Iām leading too. As I said itās a shame as I really like the Freetrade platform.
People seem to be forgetting that Trading212 began their business journey in 2005, and were operating for about 11 years before entering the UK marketā¦ think of all the money they made by letting people rip themselves off with CFDās that allowed them to build the platform they have, with the features it has.
Freetrade have been live for around 2 years and are trying to do it the right way. Look what theyāve achieved in that time. Think about what theyāll have achieved 11 years from launch.
Do you actually know whatās being offered, though? I donāt wish to seem rude, but I doubt most do. That means youāre speculating as to its value before you actually know.
We can see whatās on the websiteās Plus page, yes. However, thereās the " And much, much more." part. We as users canāt know what the full offering will be. Right now, almost everyone is speculating. Iād wait until it actually launches to assess its value to you. It will of course be an evolving set of features. Additionally, I was told that there will be a yearly/advanced discount at some point. I wasnāt told details. If I were guessing, though, Iād assume it would be the standard 2 months free. Iām already fine with Ā£9.99 a month myself, so roughly Ā£100 a year would be great for my circumstances.
I donāt believe that youāre right about users looking elsewhere. This is of course my opinion - as is your statement that users will look at other platforms - but I believe that most truly new investors will want the big name stocks. I believe theyāll look in to Freetrade because of a big name future IPO - say Airbnb - and/or because a friend recommended the app to them. I donāt think most friends/social media posts on the subject will suggest that people look into investing in general, or look at 3 different apps that let you do it. People they know - or an ad - will suggest Freetrade specifically. As long as they can find the stock(s) that they initially want, I think theyāll sign-up.
The first experience needs to be great for a service thatās new to someone to keep them around. I tried out T212 for its free share offering and didnāt like the interface one bit. Iāve used a paid broker in the past and the software was terrible. Now, it needs to be good for me to care. Google and Apple have set standards for user experience and Iām no longer willing to tolerate poor design. Thatās why T212 didnāt keep me around.
Some potential users will absolutely check out all the options, narrow it down and perhaps choose a competitor. I donāt think thatās how most will approach it, though. I think that most target users for FT are brand new or fairly rookie investors. Those who are used to using other services- HL etc - may seek out the best possible value for money. There are plenty of potential users out there, though and I think those who will be put off by some stocks being Plus only represent the extreme minority. They might be louder when complaining, but I believe there arenāt very many of them.
I really do think the simplest solution for FT to resolve the complaints most are raising is to just do what others have suggested and charge a Ā£1-2 fee for trading in plus stocks. This would also open up an extra revenue stream for them from users who would never have got plus but might want a couple of the stocks behind the plus paywall occasionally. I feel like this would address the major complaints people have and also stop FT from losing customers to other providers who might have certain stocks in plus for free.
ISA rules only allow you to pay in one ISA a year. If I could change right away, I might do that. I am now locked in with FT until next April. Hence I am posting here. It might be that in a few months time, T212 will not be as interesting as it is today. Also, had robin Hood been launched, people would probably be mentioning them instead of t212. RH seems more similar to FT.
As a āNewā investor (ISA) maybe some of my insight could be helpful in the matter.
My main reasons for choosing FT over other brokerages were due to:
Minimal costs/0% commission trades, visually appealing interface and the mobile application.
I was aware that FT was a new player amongst the other brokerages, lacked many features and also had a smaller pool of stocks to invest in but, it suited my needs since I could still invest in the stocks I wanted at the lowest possible value and since then, the growth has been great with improved services and many more stocks to choose from.
Now, with regards to FT Plus, I feel for the first time a limitation. I think a separation in the pool of stocks is a bad idea since it has taken away from my experience. Also given the price of Ā£9.99/month, a new investor like myself with an initial sum of Ā£1000/2000 or so, Plus wonāt be an option.
So the question now is, what do I do? Personally, I would continue using my ISA with FT and not opt for Plus. Iāve begun researching other platforms for the extra stocks and features I might one day require which isnāt ideal.
Right now, I trust FT and the team behind this growing app and hope the decisions made will help overcome such matters.
The idea is that new investors are encouraged to stick with simple buy & sell orders, and the relatively safe stocks available to free investors. When their portfolio size, sophistication, knowledge, and risk apetite grow, they may opt to sign up for Plus and use advanced order types and buy riskier, less liquid stocks.
As a new investor, what is it that you want from Plus? You mentioned the pool of stocks, so if thatās the case, do you think Freetrade have misjudged which stocks they believe are good for new investors? Or is it just a matter of the feeling of being limited that you donāt like? Genuinely interested, even though this message sounds attacking (I donāt mean it that way at all).
I joined Plus account on Sat. Have to say overall I wasnt pleased about having to do it. My only reason was that two stocks I had that were doing quite well for me had become pay walled! While it does suck that FT have done this, my only hope is that they REALLY do start listening to our requests more, especially those who have joined Plus. As many on here say, right now Plus for Ā£10 a month on top of the ISA fee really doesnt give you a lot, so the very least they could do is start to action our requests as we are now paying a premium.
P.S. - they could also allow for the Plus to be paid as an annual fee as its yet another item that gets added to the monthly list of money being extracted out of my account.
T212 could begin monetising their ISA customers at anytime in the near future. T212 may wish to steal as many FreeTrade customers as possible until FreeTrade becomes unviable AND THEN slowly begin monetising. So be careful when making your choice.
FreeTrade have already proven that they wish to grow the business ethically and transparently with its users and investors. Ā£120pa is beyond my reach so I do hope they figure out a more tiered approach.
and sorry my English.
