Question about costs and charges

First Time Investing 🐣
1

Hi thanks for readings. So I’ve just kind of started getting into stocks and shares and I’ve got an idea of where I want to go with it. Now I think I understand dividends and such, but when i go to buy a share on Freetrade, and scroll to the bottom there is a ? Costs and Charges.

Now I click that and it tells me various things, then it proceeds to give me an example using $5000 over 5 years. And this is where I am curious about:

Freetrade Charges:
All of these are 0 with ongoing charges (£3/month ISA) and transaction costs (£1.trade (instant trade)

So it goes on saying Investment product charges:
One-off charges = £0
Ongoing charges = £675.10
Transaction costs = £23.41
Incidental costs = £0
Total investment product charges over 5 years = £698.51

And then it goes on to tell me the value over 5 years with and without the charges:
With: £5680.70
Without: £6381.41

Now my question is this: I thought freetrade was free? But on the example above im actually losing more than i’m gaining with a 5k investment? Am I confused?

2

Hi,
Freetrade is indeed free if you don’t use an ISA or instant trades. Could you tell us which stock this was? My guess is that you clicked on and investment fund and not a stock. These have ongoing fees that have nothing to do with freetrade.

3

It is BMO commercial Property Trust plc

4

That is - as the name suggests- an investment fund. It has management charges since portfolio managers manage it for you.
If you click on Coca Cola for example, you will see zero charges.

1 Like
5

Ah ok, thanks for clearing that up for me :slight_smile:

6

No worries :slight_smile:

7

Sorry for the bump, if I invest in an investment fund - where are the fees taken from? Do I have to maintain a cash balance with Freetrade?

8

No. The fund manager takes it. Usually those costs are kind of baked in the market price