UK Online Platforms that work with US$ and EUROs

bushido1

Hello,

I have an account with HL but I prefer to have my money on two baskets, and also benefit for using the different currencies as well without having to change money around.

Could you please recommend me a UK online platform that seems reliable and that works with $ and EUROs?

After some research I have found TD Investing, but I also heard some negative reviews on that one. Any other names?

george4064

Only one I know is TD Direct Investing, haven't used them myself though (I'm with HL).

bowlhead99

I use TD. Been with them for a decade, they're fine. For any platform, when you're searching for comments online, complaints get disproportionate attention compared to satisfied customers because when it all works well, nobody has reason to go online and mention it. The TD stockbroking service is more full-featured than HL.

IG.com are also competitive for fx rates and buying overseas shares though I'm not sure if they offer a true multi currency account or simply the ability to have your account's reporting currency be dollar or euro instead of sterling. If you were happy to split up your different currency 'pots' you could perhaps do your dollar stuff there and use someone else like TD or others for your other currency. I have not actually used IG for share trading which is a relatively new service for them- but use them for spreadbets, their software platform is good.

As an aside, if your money is in an ISA wrapper for tax efficiency, be aware that you can't hold foreign currency cash inside the wrapper, on any platform - HMRC rules. At TD, only my non-ISA account is actually multi currency.

mapk

Hi Bowlhead, I'm looking at a multi-currency trading account with TD. I'm also planning to move my S&S ISA to a new platform soon, and wonder if there is any advantage in terms of fees and flexibility to holding that with TD too.

george4064

mapk wrote: »

Hi Bowlhead, I'm looking at a multi-currency trading account with TD. I'm also planning to move my S&S ISA to a new platform soon, and wonder if there is any advantage in terms of fees and flexibility to holding that with TD too.

Take a look at this thread: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5405282

It breaks down HL's charges, and compares them to a few other platforms, related to what you are/about to do here

masonic

mapk wrote: »

Hi Bowlhead, I'm looking at a multi-currency trading account with TD. I'm also planning to move my S&S ISA to a new platform soon, and wonder if there is any advantage in terms of fees and flexibility to holding that with TD too.

I find it useful to keep my trading account and ISA on separate platforms for some provider diversification.

mapk

george4064 wrote: »

Take a look at this thread: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5405282

It breaks down HL's charges, and compares them to a few other platforms, related to what you are/about to do here

Many thanks I've been following that thread too, and was actually considering CSD as a new home for my ISA. I recently set up a SIPP on another platform, and now find I'm looking for somewhere that I can deposit US$ and Euros for investment. Just wondering whether I should be trying to consolidate platforms to avoid excessive charges! Sums currently invested in my ISA and SIPP are relatively small. but growing with regular contributions.

bushido1

george4064 wrote: »

Take a look at this thread: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5405282

It breaks down HL's charges, and compares them to a few other platforms, related to what you are/about to do here

Thanks for the link!

I just had a read through it and I am still confident of keeping my money in HL. Some people say it is expensive but it is pretty cheap in my case. Most of my cash is in VWRL (ETF) taxable, so I just pay the cap of £45 per year. Which is one of the cheapest in the market for holding £200k+ in taxable!

Anyways I have 2 doubts relating to the charges of HL that I would like to clarify:
1/ Do you guys know how much would they charge me for £100k VGOV inside an ISA?
And without ISA?
Is it the same (£45 cap) for each of them?

2/ If I have £100k of unit trust (below) in the ISA. Would I get charge (£100k*0.45%=) £450 per year?
https://www.vanguard.co.uk/uk/portal/detail/mf/overview?portId=9158&assetCode=EQUITY##overview

Anyways, as I said I wanted to put some of my cash $ to work and also use that opportunity to have 2 platforms.

3/ What do you guys think about investing through a platform like Interactive Brokers as the taxable account (since it doesn't have ISA option). Is this possible to do it without being a problem with taxes, commissions, etc.? Since I believe that it is located in the USA.

4/ https://the-international-investor.com/brokers/charles-stanley
Here it says that charles stanley holds cash in other currencies. Is this true and can I invest in $ through it?
If this would be true I think this will be my go to option while holding $ and EUROs since I heard good things and read good reviews about this platform.

bowlhead99

mapk wrote: »

Hi Bowlhead, I'm looking at a multi-currency trading account with TD. I'm also planning to move my S&S ISA to a new platform soon, and wonder if there is any advantage in terms of fees and flexibility to holding that with TD too.

The advantage is that holding the ISA with TD as well as the unwrapped trading account will qualify you for a waiver of any inactivity fees on the unwrapped trading account - if you did not also hold a linked ISA, you would need £15k on the trading account or do at least one buy or sell every 6 months. And the annual ISA admin fee is waived if you have more than about £5k in it or if you set it up with a regular recurring subscription.

So effectively, apart from trading fees when you actually have transactions, there will likely be zero fees on either of the two accounts other than the annual percentage platform fee for any 'funds' you hold. Most of what I hold with them is ITs or ETFs or shares, rather than funds, so it is quite competitive for me.

bushido1 wrote: »

I just had a read through it and I am still confident of keeping my money in HL. Some people say it is expensive but it is pretty cheap in my case. Most of my cash is in VWRL (ETF) taxable, so I just pay the cap of £45 per year. Which is one of the cheapest in the market for holding £200k+ in taxable!

I guess £45 is 'one of the cheapest' but if what you hold is just normal shares, ITs, or ETFs - which are not OEICs or unit trusts and so do not need a 'fund platform' or 'custody' service - many brokers would not charge you anything at all for holding your £200k a year. That goes for tradtional stockbrokers and for many fund platforms which have broker services. For example, TD would be zero (fees waived due to high value account) and Youinvest would be zero (no annual fees on unwrapped trading account or ISA if you are not using fund platform services).

Anyways I have 2 doubts relating to the charges of HL that I would like to clarify:
1/ Do you guys know how much would they charge me for £100k VGOV inside an ISA?
And without ISA?
Is it the same (£45 cap) for each of them?

The 0.45% up to £45 is charged on an ISA (which is more admin work for them, HMRC reporting etc) but not on the unwrapped account.

2/ If I have £100k of unit trust (below) in the ISA. Would I get charge (£100k*0.45%=) £450 per year?
https://www.vanguard.co.uk/uk/portal/detail/mf/overview?portId=9158&assetCode=EQUITY##overview

Yes, £450 a year. TD would be £300. Charles Stanley Direct £250. Youinvest £200. Halifax or IWeb, even lower (although beware initial setup fees in year 1)

3/ What do you guys think about investing through a platform like Interactive Brokers as the taxable account (since it doesn't have ISA option). Is this possible to do it without being a problem with taxes, commissions, etc.? Since I believe that it is located in the USA.

They have a UK affiliate. You can still buy on the UK exchange. So taxes should not be any different because the assets you are buying are the same as if you bought them from HL or TD or whatever.

They have inactivity fees (minimum monthly commissions) of $10, or $20 on small accounts, but waive them if you have $100k+ which it sounds like you would if you are going to literally buy and hold £100k of VWRL or VGOV. Their commissions for USD-priced stock is on a percentage basis and uncapped, so if you bought £100k worth of a dollar-priced ETF, it would cost you £50 for the trade, whereas someone like TD or IG would be lower (ignoring FX costs). For some trades they would be cheaper.

I don't know anyone who actually uses them as they are not a particularly UK-focussed offering.

4/ https://the-international-investor.com/brokers/charles-stanley
Here it says that charles stanley holds cash in other currencies. Is this true and can I invest in $ through it?
If this would be true I think this will be my go to option while holding $ and EUROs since I heard good things and read good reviews about this platform.

Note that when most people here refer to 'Charles Stanley' they are talking about Charles Stanley Direct, the affordable DIY platform service; http://www.charles-stanley-direct.co.uk

Whereas Charles Stanley's original core offering as a private client stockbroker is at http://www.charles-stanley.co.uk

I'm not sure that the popular and affordable 'direct' offering allows multicurrency cash to be held - at least, nobody on here ever talks about it as being a feature. Also note they have a minimum annual fee of 0.25% a year (capped at £150) which they only waive if you do 6 trades every 6 months, so in an example of holding £100k of VWRL in an unwrapped account they would be £150 a year instead of £0 at TD or Youinvest or HL.

So, *if* they allow multicurrency cash you would need to be doing some reasonably high value trades each year for the savings from avoiding fx conversion costs to outweigh the ongoing account maintenance fees.

bushido1

Thanks a lot bowlhead!!

bowlhead99 wrote: »

The 0.45% up to £45 is charged on an ISA (which is more admin work for them, HMRC reporting etc) but not on the unwrapped account.

I didn't catch this one.
1/So, with HL, if I hold £100k of VGOV inside ISA I pay £45; and in taxable I pay £0?
Shouldn't it be £45 for each of them like any other ETF?

bowlhead99 wrote: »

Me;
2/ If I have £100k of unit trust (below) in the ISA. Would I get charge (£100k*0.45%=) £450 per year?
https://www.vanguard.co.uk/uk/portal/detail/mf/overview?portId=9158&assetCode=EQUITY##overview
Bowlhead99;
”Yes, £450 a year. TD would be £300. Charles Stanley Direct £250. Youinvest £200. Halifax or IWeb, even lower (although beware initial setup fees in year 1)."

2/ What about if I have £100k of unit trust (below) outside the ISA (with HL)? Is it £450 as well?

bowlhead99 wrote: »

Charles Stanley's original core offering as a private client stockbroker is at http://www.charles-stanley.co.uk

I'm not sure that the popular and affordable 'direct' offering allows multicurrency cash to be held - at least, nobody on here ever talks about it as being a feature. Also note they have a minimum annual fee of 0.25% a year (capped at £150) which they only waive if you do 6 trades every 6 months, so in an example of holding £100k of VWRL in an unwrapped account they would be £150 a year instead of £0 at TD or Youinvest or HL.

So, *if* they allow multicurrency cash you would need to be doing some reasonably high value trades each year for the savings from avoiding fx conversion costs to outweigh the ongoing account maintenance fees.

I believe with HL it would be £45 and not £0. Correct me if I am wrong.

I just decided that I will end up investing my $ and EUROs in TD and the £ and ISA in HL.

Anyways I have still a couple of questions;

3/ I guess that with TD I could also buy VWRL and IWRD in $, right?

4/ With TD, If I have $70k in VWRL ($); and you buy and hold. How much would you pay per year?

5/ How do I know if with a particular fund I have to pay taxes because of those being US stocks and non-UK ones. I am worried about buying a stock in $ that seems good, but then that being a stock from the US and me having to deal with issues because of that.

For example: VTSMX
https://personal.vanguard.com/us/FundsSnapshot?FundId=0085&FundIntExt=INT

bowlhead99

1) HL charge 0.45% for you to use their expensive fund platform services to buy and hold funds (unit trusts and oeics).

If you are buying shares, ETFs or investment trusts, those are all traded on the stock exchange and you do not need the expensive platform services, and it costs HL virtually nothing to hold them. HL will buy or sell them for you for a transaction fee, and then will only charge you the ongoing 0.45% if you want them to administer an ISA tax wrapper for you, and they will cap it at £45.

So, holding your £100k of vwrl at HL costs £45 in an ISA and £0 without the ISA.

2) see 1. Your £100k of a unit trust uses their funds platform and costs £450 whether or not you want an ISA.

3) the currency you buy a share or ETF in depends on the currency it's traded in, on the stock exchange you want to buy it on.

If you are buying IWRD on the London stock exchange, it is priced in GBP and your broker will need to pay the seller in GBP. If you have dollars in your account and need to pay GBP, the dollars will be exchanged for you with an FX translation fee.

If however you buy iShares dollar-priced equivalent of IWRD on the London stock exchange, which goes under the ticker IDWR, it is priced in dollars and your broker will need to pay the seller in USD. If you have dollars in your account, you won't need any fx translation fees to pay dollars. But if you have GBP in your account, you would incur an fx fee.

4) I feel like I'm repeating myself here. On a $70k balance of ETFs or shares, TD would not charge you anything to hold the account whether or not it is an ISA account. Your balance would be big enough for them to waive the fees because they like customers with large amounts of money and you are not using their expensive fund platform services.

For the avoidance of doubt, if the investment of that size was a unit trust instead of an ETF, you would be paying their 0.3% platform fee.

5) if you don't want to buy US investments, start by not looking at the US websites of fund managers like the one you linked.

Look for UK funds (unit trusts or oeics), or ETFs, investment trusts or investment companies which are listed on the London stock exchange and are UK domiciled, or which are domiciled around Europe (e.g. Ireland, Luxembourg or Channel Islands) and have UK 'reporting' status (such as IWRD or IDWR: https://www.ishares.com/uk/individual/en/products/251881/ishares-msci-world-ucits-etf-inc-fund)