Which platform for investing ETFs

tradetime

Is this an account in or out of an ISA as it might have some bearing, when I was looking to open an ISA TD Waterhouse said all US ETF orders would have to placed over the telephone at telephone dealing costs, then they decided that you couldn't have US ETF's in their ISA. Personally I found them pretty incompetent.
Afaik iii do not include the purchase of US equities or ETF's in their £1.50 protfolio builder deal, something to be aware of. UK ETF's may be included I don't know, otherwise they cost £10 commission, whilst US ETF's will cost £15. As a broker, they're ok imo compared to their immediate peers.

On the subject of commodity ETF's, if we are talking the raw commodities as opposed to the companies involved in their production etc, make sure you understand the impact of contango on their performance.

sKiTz-0

Not looking to wrap any of the investments in an ISA just yet. Maybe next year if I do well....

Thanks for everyone's replies. The 2 I am favouring most are iii and Halifax, Halifax if only for ease of use and access - I do all my main banking through them.

DavidHayton

tradetime wrote: »

Is this an account in or out of an ISA as it might have some bearing, when I was looking to open an ISA TD Waterhouse said all US ETF orders would have to placed over the telephone at telephone dealing costs, then they decided that you couldn't have US ETF's in their ISA. Personally I found them pretty incompetent.

Thanks for this. My account with TD is outside an ISA. Just to keep the record straight, TD honored the on-line rate when I wanted to buy two Canadian ETFs that the on-line system could not find. I phoned TD, and they put them through at £12.50 each.

Another issue to consider if you are trading large amounts is the FX rate. TD charge +/- 1.75% which I think is pretty steep considering everthing is done electronically. If you are going to buy foreign stocks, it will cost you 3.5% round trip ... that's £350 on £10000. Makes the difference between £1.50 and £12.50 fees pale into insignificance.

Another issue to consider is whether they allow you to hold foreign currency in the account. TD do (in my non-ISA account) so if I sell one Canadian stock and buy another, there are no FX charges. If they didn't, it may be another 3.5% round trip, thank-you-very-much!

I can get round the FX fees (for Canadian investments) by funding the TD account directly from my current account in Canada. But that is an extreme solution just to avoid FX fees ... and there are still (fixed) transfer fees to pay.

Best wishes
David

Tears_of_Jenny

JamesU wrote: »

iii (Interactive Investor)

-care: check if etfs from US can be purchased at £1.50 aswell as UK and EU through the portfolio builder
-check range of etfs available internationally

JamesU

Does anyone know how to check if a specific ETF may be bought through the iii portfolio builder service?

I've been all over the iii website and all I can find are the following snippets of information

"Buy UK shares for just £1.50 with Portfolio Builder our regular investing service".

and

"Investment in ETFs and AIM stocks within Portfolio Builder is restricted to stocks traded in sterling. Eligibility will be confirmed when choosing the stock".

So which one is true? And how do I "confirm eligibility" without first setting up an account?

dougz_2

Tears_of_Jenny wrote: »

And how do I "confirm eligibility" without first setting up an account?

Try asking them? I seem to remember them telling me last year that they could not transfer a particular ETF I held in a selftrade ISA into their ISA because it was the sterling ETF, and on their system they would only trade it in its foreign currency version for some silly reason. It would obviously have incurred unnecessary forex costs etc, so I didnt go with them.

whitty59

You could look at Marlborough ETF commodity fund via Hargreaves lansdown