TD Waterhouse Trading Account Opinions please

superhanzzz77

Hello All,

I'm looking to change my broker - currently do this through HSBC invest direct - but there website is terrible - I can't do stop loss type trades and US dealing costs $30 per trade.

My Requirements are:

US dealing - NASDAQ etc
Cheaper trading prices
Good online service
Able to Trade inside S&S ISA
Iphone App (not essential but this would be great feature)

I keep leaning towards TD waterhouse (as they have most of the features mentioned above) - but have seen a few bad reviews online.

Any thoughts on TD from you guys would be much appreciated

Thanks

DavidHayton

Hi! I have been very happy with TD. I have two accounts with them: a Trading Plus Account and a SIPP. (But not an ISA).

Positives:
1. They allow me to trade on the Toronto stock exchange.
2. I can hold Canadian dollars (and several other currencies in the account)
3. Their website is good and, when I have called them, I have not been messed about by customer services

Negatives:
1. I have been stumped occasionally when I want to buy unusual items. Some time ago, I wanted to buy some warrrants in a Canadian split-capital investment fund, but TD couldn't cope with this. Also, TD were quite resrictive when I was awarded some rights in a Canadian rights issue. All I could do was sell them at par-value on the day the rights lapsed.
2. Their FX rates aren't brilliant at +/- 1.75%. If you are planning to repatriate the money to the UK, it will cost you 3.5% round trip.

Other observations,
Since the trading fees are fixed in GBP, the fee charged in CAD has fallen from $25 to $20 as the CAD has strengthened from 50p to 63p ... which is nice.

David

StevieJ

I have been with TD Waterhouse for years (after the bought Skipton dealing service) and still very satisfied, I like find the company research data quite useful but you have to pay £12 every quarter that you don't trade.

superhanzzz77

Thanks guys

Good to hear something positive about them as seen so much negative on the web

As I understand it if your account value is over £6000 then you won't incur the quarterly charges

I too am interested in transferring my existing pension to a SIPP - so will look into this - thanks

DavidHayton

superhanzzz77 wrote: »

As I understand it if your account value is over £6000 then you won't incur the quarterly charges

Yes, this is true (tho' I think the threshold is £5k not £6k). My strategy is essentially buy-and-hold and some quarters I don't trade. But I don't pay inactivity fees because I have more than £5k (of stocks) in the account. (This is the free-standing Trading Account ... there are regular charges on the SIPP that you can't avoid)

Full details on charges:
http://www.tdwaterhouse.co.uk/Choose-an-account/Rates-and-Charges.aspx

David

superhanzzz77

Any more opinions on TD please?

Thanks

bigfreddiel

I use TDW for my s&s isa - its not too bad, not had any problems in the last 20 or so years I've been with them - since the days of SCPs (single company peps - the allowance was £3k as far as i can recall -afaicr)

I do have a question which even TDW have been unable to answer and maybe someone here an shed some light on.

When I view my portfolio in the top right hand corner a negative amount is displayed -£2345.33 for example - this number bears no relation to anything pending, or cash on hand - I called TDW who could not explain it and cleared it for me - it came back a few days later - a different amount tho'

Anyone had a similar experience?

cheers

fj