IGâs one of the few brokers I havenât used over the years.
Iâd be interested to know from those who have: whatâs the platform like?
How does it compare to FT feature-wise?
Are CFDs etc clearly delineated?
I donât mind 212âs implementation as you can ignore CFDs relatively easily. Itâs segregated and not pushed on customers nearly as much as you might expect.
With eToro, on the other hand, I often found it hard to work out if what youâre actually buying is the underlying asset or a CFD masked as such.
While FT may be continue to be run as a separate entity, youâd think there are opportunities for efficiencies and integration between the two.
IG are one of my favourite brokers and I think both their mobile app and desktop interface are second to none. If you ever get to use the platform youâll notice the speed of the execution of trades happen in an instant compared to FT which takes a few seconds and which can often lag when US markets open. Hopefully, IG can help with this. I was considering leaving FT ( not because of the crowdfunding issue; I was never involved with that) but decided to stay due to FT now having IG as a parent company which I believe will be very beneficial.
I am sadden by the news as I liked Freetrade being independent. My biggest worry is IG Group making us pay more for a product that could get worse over time. So we end up switching to IG for better features or advance investing over FTâs soon to be basic investing platform. I know that sounds silly but you can never take anyoneâs word at full value. Just look at those who invested in Freetrade who lost out in the end, makes me glad I stayed invested in the public markets instead of funding start-ups.
I guess Robinhood would be my go to if it has the ISA and FSCS protection. Iâm sure they will at some point. But I would rather stay with Freetrade, it felt like it was going to be the Robinhood of the UK. Maybe it could be with IGâs help but for now it seems the FT investors have been screwed over the most. I hope no one else is going forward. We had a few good wins over the last few months. Getting fractional shares back was good news for me personally! So I really want Freetrade to keep doing well and improve as we go into 2025.
I have only bought small companies on 212, which were not available on freetrade.
Can take a week for an order to go through sometimes longer.
You have to add an extra 10% cash to your purchase or they may buy more than you want, then sell the excess with you paying all the costs⊠seriously.
They may refuse to buy becauseâŠthis is weird: The maximum you can buy of PROC is 400 shares (40p a share I owned way over 400 all bought on 212). This restriction maybe lifted in the future. Which it was. The reason was risk to 212 which was never explained.
I think you can draw parallels of IG with CMC & CMC Invest. One company with a multi brand strategy. Two different apps with different target audiences and different pricing, one for advanced traders and the other for simple investing.
I really doubt price increases make sense as Freetrade would have made these already to boost the valuation for the short term benefit before selling. The benefit of buying Freetrade is the platform which allows for free trades in the UK, free trades are in the name and I canât see this fee structure changing.
If IG invest the ~ÂŁ10m that Freetrade needs then features and improvements will arrive at a faster pace. They can leverage IGâs maturity and expertise.
FT have a team in Australia where IG also has operations, they could launch it there. I imagine IG has no interest in Europe and thatâs why Sweden closed down.
So when we get out ÂŁÂŁÂŁ back. Do we reinvest or just get the f out. Difficult decision. I wouldnât ever go through crowdcube again. They just get bought out cheap and pay the ceo a lump sum
V clear
Yes, crowdfunding is risky. Yes, you expect to lose everything. But freetrade was literally the golden egg of Crowdcube. If they are shafting everyone, the companies selling drinks and bike parts and other nonsense on Crowdcube have zero chance.
Viktor Nebehaj really screwed over his investors. Happy i only lost ÂŁ200 fun money, seeing people losing thousands while Viktor takes the money for his poor decisions is wild.
The thing I dont understand, is why the three different raise/share types have different payout/pricing? From CCâs email the breakdown is as follows:
The amount that you will receive will be ~ÂŁ1.205 per A Ordinary / B Investment share, ÂŁ2.08 per Series B1 share and/or ÂŁ2.60 per Series B3 share.
This seems pretty strange, as the A/B raises were the original/earliest entry points, with the B1 and B3 raises coming later in 22/23 - surely it should be a single price?
My original investment from 2018 also appears to be entirely missing from the Carta system, anyone else having this issue? I can only see my 2019 shares on the platform⊠despite having a CC share voucher/certificate.
The timing of the acquisition was pretty good considering the large pullback in markets affecting valuation multiples and presumably FT revenues & AUA.
You could argue they should have waited for another 6-12 months for a better price, but that comes with the risk of finishing with a lower amount and the opportunity cost of having money tied up with a fall in markets.
Iâll be sticking with FT, as largely a round 1-3 investor.
All my shares were from R2 and R4, so Iâm actually in profit on all of them. I was disappointed in the price, but Iâm over that now. This actually puts me in profit overall from all my crowdcube ventures combined, and I still have a couple of potential winners left.
Graphene Composites is the biggest, they have been making lots of positive noises. their products are on the market and generating revenue.
Next is Nanusens they have a round open on crowdcube at the moment. still quite a bit of risk with this one, but if it pays off it could be a good one.
also have small investments in wisealpha, who are still trading, and finisterre who seem to be doing OK
Edit: I also have ADVANCED BLAST & BALLISTIC SYSTEMS, forgot about that one
Same, invested in GC too. Modest amounts compared to what I had in freetrade but I do love how those guys update their investors. I should have seen the writing tbf with freetrade.
2025/26 is going to be a make or brake for most of my investments. I have invested ÂŁ110,000 since my first Dec 2018 monzo. I have 5 Bankers that should get me close to ÂŁ110,000
Monzo-Moneybox-Finisterre-LAKA Insurance-Penfold
It was 6 bankers but Freetrade ie Dudds and Vik screwed up, with the goal at their mercy.
Crowdcube is no good . Obviously any good company making money will be bought out and ther gonna meet these ceos with cash in hand girls properties in Dubai etc. one man takes a million the rests fall
