I agree, it was the right move.
With the EU expansion the cost cutting im guessing will be a huge this just means Freetrade will be saving a lot more money while being profitable building up cash reserves for future investmentās and once they ready for the EU market they wont have to have any future crowdfunding
Not going to please everyone but if they now focus on JISA/ LISA/ Mutual Funds etc it will be worth it in my opinion.
Absolutely agree
This is not an area I know much about. Are mutual funds really that much of a silver bullet?
Agree that with limited fundraising opportunity we have to focus. With hindsight, the Swedish venture was probably doomed since the large investment fell through a while back.
Also agree we need to focus on āstickyā investments by ensuring tax wrappers are fully supported.
As well as self-directed Iād imagine an auto-pilot ābalanced portfolioā offering that can be personalised (for, say, SIPP) could be helpful to get people in.
Education through an active forum would then give them confidence to self direct more over time.
Now itās August, presumably you have plans for what you want to deliver before 2025 at least.
Itās only fully featured if you include mutual funds.
For more than 20 years people mainly invested in them so the idea is it would let them get a lot of AUM if HL is charging 0.25-.45% and FT charges nothing or just a fixed annual fee or a combination like with the ETFs (some free tier mutual funds, some for paid accounts only)
I wouldnāt call it a stand alone silver bullet, or FT would have done it already, but a combination of improvements should contribute to growth. A modern platform undercutting rivals on Mutual Funds should have good appeal, combined with a more mature web offering, expansion of Treasuries (unique), and considering the existing features. It should attract larger clients and the larger the offering becomes (JISA, employer contributions etc) presumably the more effective advertising is.
I would love Freetrade to launch a JISA. Letās get generational investing
That bit is not really Freetradeās fault. Moving from HL to Freetrade has allowed me to diversify much more, because without commission I can afford to be in a larger number of smaller positions. This has been positive for my portfolio.
I am disappointed in the whole Sweden thing though.
The statement āFreetrade let me to investā is legally questionable. If they pointed a gun at you, then you should take action. So letās not blame Freetrade for something that they canāt control.
Guys I think you will find that @JimSmith was showing a bit of humour
I deleted my earlier commentā¦
What I mean is due to FT being much cheaper than other platforms back when it launched I invested in a lot of Investment Trusts that are still well below purchase priceā¦ So for me moving to FT has been a big mistake - yes itās my own fault I get thatā¦ Iām not blaming FTā¦ But financial I would have been much better off if Iād never moved to FTā¦ Thatās it
Although itās clearly not Freetradeās fault, as you accept, I think there is something in your post.
As great as commission-free brokers are in terms of removing barriers to entry, there is another side to the coin.
For example, it makes it much easier to take your pension and do something dumb like put it all in a penny stock or leveraged ETF.
On balance, equal access to markets is a great thing but as with any progress really, there will be unintended consequences.
That Ā£12 fee with HL really used to focus the mind as well. I know I bought and sold a lot less when there were such fees involved!
Wondering whatās the purpose of a Crowdfunding pitch deck when in reality the company takes a completely different turn. In a pitch deck there is always Scenario A and Scenario B but somehow we ended up in scenario C which was not even mentioned
Iām glad that Viktor, as the new CEO of Freetrade, has the freedom to pivot the business as required and isnāt locked into something written on a powerpoint presentation many years ago.
Indeed, heās already had to make some tough decisions like withdrawing from Sweden. He clearly wants to be laser focussed in making Freetrade a success in the UKā¦
You make a legitimate point. You have an investment thesis when you buy an easily tradeable investment. When the thesis changes [be it management, vision, market environment etc] you may decide this is not what interests you and you can exit. The key thing here is that the share is tradeable. But when the share is not tradeable you have to hold on to something that you donāt believe in. This is one of the risks of crowdfunding when there is no easy exit. Buyer be-extra-aware.
I honest to god canāt wait to get out of this. I could have turned this company into a unicorn 2 years ago. Believe me! From day one I complained about the slow progress of this company and everytime I criticised they closed my account. They wouldnt pay software engineers or staff enough money to stay with Freetrade and add value to the company.
Look at where we are now in comparison to Revolut/Monzo/Moneybox etc.
Why wait almost 3 years to achieve an operating licence in Sweden at probably a cost of touching Ā£1 million and then do ZERO marketing. What on gods earth is all that about?
The thing is @Jim_mcgrain
For balance I could point to other fintech startups that have failed completely or were bought out for buttons.
No other company except possibly Monzo and Revolut had the support of hundreds of thousands of investors/supporters etc.
Is it that bad