Thanks for this response. I appreciate the time the company has made to respond to those of us who have become worried and frustrated at the speed of the transfer process.
Could you confirm that our investments arenāt sitting around in cash for too long? Ideally the funds should only be sold down into cash just prior to transfer to the external provider. As others have said in this thread, it isnāt ideal for our investments to be out of the market and sat in cash for too long - especially for those of us who have invested a significant amount.
Youāre right. If youāre doing an in specie transfer securities are not sold down to cash and transferred to your new provider. If youāve requested a cash transfer or if a part of your holdings can only be transferred as cash (ie fractions of a US share) then these will be sold to cash. But only if the receiving broker is unable to take the security in specie.
I specifically requested my funds to be sold and transferred as cash - as I want to invest in a different ETF with my new provider. Also in specie will take a lot longer to process than a cash transfer. Thereās also the possibility that the new provider doesnāt have the same fund(s) as the existing provider so would have to be sold down in that situation.
I am very concerned something bigger than slow processing is taking place. I have been waiting since start of March and still no transfer.
They waive monthly fees if you ask so please do so if not done already (get it backdated!). This unfortunately doesnt cover my losses still though.
My new provider has said they simply cannot get through to freetrade to execute the transfer and now I worry my money isnt safe.
Im aware freetrade failed to attract new investors last year and had to raise prices again because of profitability. Hopefully notā¦
I was planning to transfer only my excess cash away from freetrade but now want to move my funds- does anyone know a good equivalent which means i wont have to sell and rebuy but can transfer the funds across.
Unfortunately the email i received from you guys asked me to sell my investments if i wanted a cash transfer and then never got back to me, despite the several emails iāve sent. Hence why i have been sitting on cash for over a month now. My new provider is telling me freetrade havenāt responded yet.
Telling people your going to do better means nothing if the minimum wait time is over 3 months. I understand Freetrade is trying to grow, and so you donāt want to spare staff on people leaving the platform, but youāre destroying your reputation. Why would people transfer in if you donāt have the correct facility and staff power to transfer people out.
Iāve sent you a DM to chase up this transfer and get this moving. As @Tiv said above, weāve been experiencing a backlog with transfers in and out of the platform. Weāre addressing this as a matter of urgency but of course I appreciate this is little consolation while youāve been waiting.
I understand weāve reached out to your receiving broker on Friday and are awaiting a form from them. So if you can confirm they have shared this to me, Iāll chase up with the transfers team.
They raised Ā£37m last year, from all existing investors and new investors (e.g. Phoenix). The price changes are a switch from growth to profitability and changes in their strategy.
Hope they get yours transfer sorted quickly. I waited a while for one of my two SIPPās to get transferred into Freetrade, one provider was just really slow and the process is manual across brokers and there were complications with mine. The industry would benefit from a 7 day switching service like they have in bankingā¦
I receive notification from FT that they received transfer request and they sent holding details. Reading above should I have to give any more approvals? I do not wan to miss some email/notification and cause delays.
I am sorry to hear that you arenāt having a great experience during the transfer process.
If you would like us to look into your transfer, please reach out to reviews@freetrade.io and I will pick up your chat. Unfortunately, I was unable to find your account under your community name.
Since I did all my moaning, my transfer has gone through, small hiccup with one but Marc seams to be on the case and communication with is is fine
if only it was like this at the start I would have only transferred part of my portfolio as was the plan, now everything is with my new broker
communication is king
Has anyone had any luck chasing this through the ombudsman? Itās been over 30 days and had no progress at all. All the while they earn interest on the cash balance.
Not sure why you bring interest up. If you want to complain you need to make a formal complaint to Freetrade first. They have 8 weeks to respond, if youāre not happy with their final response you can then make complaint to the ombudsman. Itās all on their website
Iāve been waiting about 2 months for a simple partial cash transfer out and support have been non response or vague at best. They initially claimed my other provider used the wrong address without actually confirming whether they have or havenāt received a request and have been unresponsive since.
They also refuse to call my other provider at their request as freetrade ādonāt do phone supportā.
Hugely frustrating and I think Iāve not much left to do than a formal complaint process through the financial ombudsman service.
