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IGNORED

Robinhood or Freetrade.


sleepwello'nights

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sleepwello'nights

The broker I use has changed their fee structure and I'm disinclined to continue with them. 

I've noticed mention of free brokers by other posters. How do you get on with them. I applied for an account with Freetrade yesterday, I'm about number 75,000 on their wait list. Anyone have experience of them or Robinhood which I saw mentioned in a post? 

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Unless you're a US citizen/resident you're going to struggle to use Robinhood and even if you were it opens up a whole can of worms. The last thing I read they were in no rush in coming to the UK (but that may have changed). Freetrade, which is the UK equivalent just launched, only available to IOS users at the moment with andriod "coming soon".

We have one user using Freetrade and he's been updating the Credit/Delfation thread. Ultimately it's too early to get a full picture. I suspect you'll be better off sourcing another broker(s) that suits your wealth/porfolio size and type.

Personally I'm only going to use freetrade (when they finally launch an andriod app) for smaller buying and selling and perhaps a bit of short-term trading.

 

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I’m based in the US and use Robinhood. But like A_P I only use it for smaller regular trades where commission can end up being a large % of the overall value. Currently I’m drip feeding a few $100 per month into mining stocks using Robinhood. But I have a big chunk in things like a S&P 500 tracker that I keep with Fidelity instead.

Its good to hear that free trade will offer something similar in the UK

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've heard some dodgy things about these so called "free" trading apps, like they apparently sell your orders to high frequency traders so they they can front run them before your trades are put through. As they say - if its free then you are the product.

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On 21/01/2019 at 10:21, A_P said:

Unless you're a US citizen/resident you're going to struggle to use Robinhood and even if you were it opens up a whole can of worms. The last thing I read they were in no rush in coming to the UK (but that may have changed). Freetrade, which is the UK equivalent just launched, only available to IOS users at the moment with andriod "coming soon".

We have one user using Freetrade and he's been updating the Credit/Delfation thread. Ultimately it's too early to get a full picture. I suspect you'll be better off sourcing another broker(s) that suits your wealth/porfolio size and type.

Personally I'm only going to use freetrade (when they finally launch an andriod app) for smaller buying and selling and perhaps a bit of short-term trading.

 

I'll use Freetrade when Android is released.  Hopefully once the initial period is over and they saturated their Apple subscriptions they'll be forced to speed it up.

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Just had a perusal on the freetrade forums to see if any update on the app for android. Looks like possibly March for a beta app at least.Have to say I'm not impressed with what I see over there. Defo some BS around why one might suddenly find themselves at the front of the the 70k queue :D. Looks like like partake in astroturfing too so be wary of what you read online elsewhere. Reminds me somewhat of the a game a few years back that used investors into the product itself to do their marketing and PR/muscle for them.

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8 minutes ago, A_P said:

Just had a perusal on the freetrade forums to see if any update on the app for android. Looks like possibly March for a beta app at least.Have to say I'm not impressed with what I see over there. Defo some BS around why one might suddenly find themselves at the front of the the 70k queue :D. Looks like like partake in astroturfing too so be wary of what you read online elsewhere. Reminds me somewhat of the a game a few years back that used investors into the product itself to do their marketing and PR/muscle for them.

What do you mean by astroturfing? Not familiar with the term.

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10 minutes ago, Lavalas said:

What do you mean by astroturfing? Not familiar with the term.

Definition online:

Quote

organized activity that is intended to create a false impression of a widespread, spontaneously arising, grassroots movement in support of or in opposition to something (such as a political policy) but that is in reality initiated and controlled by a concealed group or organization (such as a corporation)

From reading their forums they have investors already and are trying to create some form of buy in from the community. Anything negative to be said about them they'll get together jump in and correct the record so to speak. Early days yet as little to fix but they are organised, have already swung over to monvator to get in on the comments section and have tried to fix the negitive app reviews. Although they're easy to see a mile off.

Personally I'd rather an organic approach and let the app/software/product do the talking. Seems like they would rather try and create the allure of a product much further along than it really is. Usually doesn't end well as negative sentiment becomes too strong but given the investment/buy in/early adopters they will probably end up with a small but loyal base.

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Thanks for that, and apologies for the laziness. Was easier to ask you than google actual AstroTurf. I’ll take a look at this later when I’m bored of work...

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  • 1 month later...

FYI Android app is now in beta and will launch fully later in the month.

I've got my account open. Unfortunately their stock universe is a little restrictive at the moment, although plenty to get noobies up and running with enough things to chuck some money into. Sadly no Hasbro, which was going to my first purchase.

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Coincidently just registered for this last night. Seems like a good set up and considering using it to drip feed small amounts in. My ‘portfolio’ is not very diverse so the available stocks is not an issue for me.  

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2 minutes ago, Lavalas said:

Coincidently just registered for this last night. Seems like a good set up and considering using it to drip feed small amounts in. My ‘portfolio’ is not very diverse so the available stocks is not an issue for me.  

There is definitely enough to build a diversified portfolio or passively invest. The list is well rounded considering the the proposition on offer and how new they are. Certainly not complaining at all.  There's a few stocks i've come across I would probably never invest in usually given a £10 trading fee and fx rates with a traditional broker. But like you say drip feeding in small amounts for free changes the dynamic completely. Hopefully they will bring fractional shares soon too. Have to tip my hat off to them even with all the delays, the app seems pretty streamlined and well designed. No instant deposits but my transfer showed up in my account within the hour so not bad at all. I'll probably get some purchases going this week.

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Annoys me that you can only pay into one S&S ISA per year. Why is this?

The difference between Freetrade (free, ideal as a regular saver) and Interactive Investor (cost per trade but access to very large range of stocks) is huge.

I want to use both!

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14 minutes ago, Lavalas said:

Annoys me that you can only pay into one S&S ISA per year. Why is this?

The difference between Freetrade (free, ideal as a regular saver) and Interactive Investor (cost per trade but access to very large range of stocks) is huge.

I want to use both!

I have no idea why that is, does seem bit of a silly restriction. 

You can use both as I will be :D. I use II for my SIPP and ISA. The £90 platform fee is good for me as between my holding size and the trade credits it works out nicely. They do £1 regular trades to so it's not bad, just slightly annoying that it is only once a month. 

tbf with FT an ISA is only really needed once you're over £2k in divs so can always use FT to build up a decent balance and then transfer to an isa or another provider if necessary. You can always buy an sell before the capital gain limit is hit. Ill be moving my paper pm's to FT for that very reason.

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Thanks, that’s useful info. I hadn’t realised II did regulate trades. The answer for me is just to use FT trading account then transfer into an ISA, so it’s not actually a problem I guess.

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  • 1 month later...

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