Recommend me a S&S ISA Platform

[caduceus]

Good morning PHers. I need a stocks & shares platform for this year's ISA allowance.
I'm currently using T212 and its fantastic, but don't want to have too much in one place in case the unthinkable happens. FCS only covers up to 85k.

I don't want Hargreaves as they're too expensive.
Something similar to T212 where I can buy US stocks with low fees. Not Etoro.
Can anyone recommend a user friendly US stock S&S ISA please?
Thanks in advance.

Cad

[Greenmantle]

Adding to the list of "usual suspects" above

InvestEngine
AJ Bell

Obviously do your own research!

[xeny]

caduceus said:

Good morning PHers. I need a stocks & shares platform for this year's ISA allowance.
I'm currently using T212 and its fantastic, but don't want to have too much in one place in case the unthinkable happens. FCS only covers up to 85k.

Have you read https://monevator.com/maximising-fscs-protection-f... or similar?

[Countdown]

I thought that share investments were separate from the FSCS protection?

[caduceus]

xeny said:

Have you read https://monevator.com/maximising-fscs-protection-f... or similar?

That makes for grim reading, but good info. Thank you.

[caduceus]

Greenmantle said:

Adding to the list of "usual suspects" above

InvestEngine
AJ Bell

Obviously do your own research!

I have one AJ. It's a contender.

[z4RRSchris]

Freetrade.

[caduceus]

Has anyone used or are currently using XTB?

[AyBee]

I use Interactive Investor, but iWeb also decent I think.

I'm not entirely sure the £85k rule is an issue...if your money is invested then you've bought the shares and you still own those shares whether your S&S provider is liquid or not, the only thing that would be difficult if your S&S provider goes bust is getting access to trade in and out of them.

[Panamax]

Countdown said:

I thought that share investments were separate from the FSCS protection?

I believe you are correct in your thoughts, there should essentially be no "platform risk". The risk is in the underlying investments. Cash on the platform itself should be protected up to £85k FSCS.

N.B. Unlike cash deposits or unit trusts etc Money Market Funds do NOT have any FSCS protection.

N.B. Company shares do NOT have any FSCS protection.

Many platform fees get cheaper in % terms as the ££ on the platform increases, and some platforms cap off at a maximum annual charge however much you have invested.

[ferret50]

I hold both an 'invest; account and a 'Stocks' ISA with T212.
I also hold two similar accounts with Interactive Investor.

In both cases, I own the shares held, so the £85k limit, if I ever reach it, is not a worry, it refers to 'cash' held in these accounts, not shares.

[greengreenwood7]

if you like the idea of 'flexibility' - then IG; can take out however much you want during a fin year, and can top back up by that amoiunt during the SAME fin year.
i've found that handy to pull funds for eithe remergency 'projects' or to top up my GIA and then revolve from that back into the ISA.....

[NowWatchThisDrive]

While it's pretty clear with savings on deposit, FSCS protection and the £85k (soon to go up I believe) thing is a bit muddled and not always well understood when it comes to investment. Essentially it does apply to shares held in a nominee account, but comes into play for platform malfeasance/fraud as opposed to commercial failure (and obviously not for loss due to poor investment performance!). In the event of commercial failure with no legal wrongdoing, you're in principle protected by the fact your assets should be segregated from the platform's own (so the £85k is irrelevant), and the regulator's obligation to find a new home for those assets. Although note that that the process of them finding that new home may take several months, during which time you're likely to be out of the market.

Maintaining accounts with multiple platforms is arguably prudent on that basis, or in case one suffers an extended outage through IT cockup/cyberattack etc. The most sensible thing you can do is just stick to well established and well capitalised, profitable platforms with sound compliance track records. Personally I use two household names - one being among the UK's largest and until recently a FTSE 100 constituent, the second being part of a Big Four bank - each of which I hold many multiples of £85k with, and I'm very relaxed about that. I wouldn't go anywhere near any of the new disruptor/"free" (read: unprofitable and inexperienced) platforms though, or those whose parent companies reside in whiffy jurisdictions.

[bitchstewie]

NowWatchThisDrive said:

While it's pretty clear with savings on deposit, FSCS protection and the £85k (soon to go up I believe) thing is a bit muddled and not always well understood when it comes to investment. Essentially it does apply to shares held in a nominee account, but comes into play for platform malfeasance/fraud as opposed to commercial failure (and obviously not for loss due to poor investment performance!). In the event of commercial failure with no legal wrongdoing, you're in principle protected by the fact your assets should be segregated from the platform's own (so the £85k is irrelevant), and the regulator's obligation to find a new home for those assets. Although note that that the process of them finding that new home may take several months, during which time you're likely to be out of the market.

Maintaining accounts with multiple platforms is arguably prudent on that basis, or in case one suffers an extended outage through IT cockup/cyberattack etc. The most sensible thing you can do is just stick to well established and well capitalised, profitable platforms with sound compliance track records. Personally I use two household names - one being among the UK's largest and until recently a FTSE 100 constituent, the second being part of a Big Four bank - each of which I hold many multiples of £85k with, and I'm very relaxed about that. I wouldn't go anywhere near any of the new disruptor/"free" (read: unprofitable and inexperienced) platforms though, or those whose parent companies reside in whiffy jurisdictions.

Pretty much where I am.

IWeb, II, Vanguard (not for this use case), AJ Bell etc.

[Ry.Clarke]

I’m using AJ Bell’s DODL for Sipp and Isa/Lisa. Hold funds only here.

I use T212 for stocks (Very small, £20 a week)

[caduceus]

Thanks for the replies all.
I ended up with XTB in the end. Did try Etoro S&S ISA and got misinformed about being able to buy US stocks in it. Not impressed.
Money isn't even in XTB yet and the customer service has been very good. Fingers crossed it remains.

[foliedouce]

caduceus said:

Thanks for the replies all.
I ended up with XTB in the end. Did try Etoro S&S ISA and got misinformed about being able to buy US stocks in it. Not impressed.
Money isn't even in XTB yet and the customer service has been very good. Fingers crossed it remains.

Good luck, I opened an account with XTB, they were all over me with immediate responses until the cash landed, now they won't even respond to a change of address request. I fear my money is trapped with them.

The guy I dealt with was called Richie Aviles - clearly only interested in sales with zero after sales service. I'm emailed him a few times now for help and radio silence, but before the cash landed he responded in minutes.

So beware anyone looking at XTB