SVS Securities - shut down?

johnburman

Interesting discussion, but the point is that *all* the brokers are regulated and all have some sort of compensation system in place and all have some sort of segregation of assets.  Point is how good are all of these?  We sort of know the FCA and FSCS, but what about the Dutch and Italian?  And what about the dual regulated TRADING 212, here in the UK and the Bulgarian regulator?

It is not a Waitrose v Lidl argument.  It is a FCA UK broker   v Foreign regulator.  AND the foreign may be better, or like Iceland going bust in 2008 they may be hopeless   

Alexland

As we have seen with SVS a platform failure it is already complicated enough without needing to get your head around applying for overseas compensation and there are plenty of UK domiciled platforms offering good value for various different investing needs.

Having said that my biggest Vanguard ETF is Irish with no protection so maybe I should visit to check they are not operating out of a van? Oh dear they are driving away with all my money...

masonic

manorhouse said:

Degrio ( who i am with ) compared to bloke unloading from back of van.
Do you want to have another think about that masonic ?

Some, but not all of the practices Degiro get up to behind investors' backs have been mentioned in this thread already, most notably the stock lending. I'm not sure if it's been mentioned that they don't have instant execution (most orders are fulfilled through the obscure Chi-X exchange), they will also try to match your trades in house so you don't get the best available price. They don't offer tax-efficient accounts. If that's not enough, there's no FSCS protection (good luck with the Beleggerscompensatiestelsel if you ever need to call on it)... and still no visibility over what happens at the end of this year when investors may be ineligible to claim even under the Beleggerscompensatiestelsel.

So the analogy with the bloke unloading from the back of a van is quite appropriate. You're definitely giving up a lot for that low price. Perhaps you're ok with that, but I couldn't in good conscience advocate anyone investing a meaningful amount of money through a service like that.

pafpcg

masonic said:

johnburman said:

masonic please list them.  Who "gives you an overall saving vs SVS, but with a much better reputation, and UK regulation and FSCS protection."  Very few, if any; but please prove me wrong.

Compared to SVS (buy and sell = £16, no custody charges), there is...

iWeb (buy and sell = £10, one off £25 opening fee), Jarvis (buy and sell = £12, no custody charges), potentially AJ Bell (buy and sell = £11.50 if using regular investing service, plus up to £30pa custody charge), Interactive Investor (buy and sell = £8 if using regular investing service, £24pa custody charge if you trade at least once a month) depending on usage. Even Halifax Sharedealing and Hargreaves Lansdown can come out cheaper for unwrapped accounts if you make use of their regular investing services to place your buy orders.

But for the buy-and-hold, low-frequency investor that's just two!  And only one (JarvisX-O), if a joint account is required.

masonic

pafpcg said:

masonic said:

johnburman said:

masonic please list them.  Who "gives you an overall saving vs SVS, but with a much better reputation, and UK regulation and FSCS protection."  Very few, if any; but please prove me wrong.

Compared to SVS (buy and sell = £16, no custody charges), there is...

iWeb (buy and sell = £10, one off £25 opening fee), Jarvis (buy and sell = £12, no custody charges), potentially AJ Bell (buy and sell = £11.50 if using regular investing service, plus up to £30pa custody charge), Interactive Investor (buy and sell = £8 if using regular investing service, £24pa custody charge if you trade at least once a month) depending on usage. Even Halifax Sharedealing and Hargreaves Lansdown can come out cheaper for unwrapped accounts if you make use of their regular investing services to place your buy orders.

But for the buy-and-hold, low-frequency investor that's just two!  And only one (JarvisX-O), if a joint account is required.

Well quite. There are a multitude of different pricing options, so people would need to pick the option that works best for their behaviour. A buy-and-hold, low-frequency investor holding just a single multi-asset fund and topping it up (or drawing it down) once a year will have a different best option than a buy-and-hold investor with a dozen holdings who rebalances once a year and tops up (or withdraws) more regularly.

So, as I said, it wouldn't be hard to find a broker that gives you an overall saving vs SVS. Which one will depend on your personal circumstances, but I doubt there is anyone who would be unable to find a cheaper provider than SVS from within that shortlist.

For me Interactive Investor works out cheaper than JarvisXO and iWeb, because regular investing is commission free.

manorhouse

This is meant to be the idea of a site like this, i have been with Degiro for over 4 years and learnt  things from masonic post .
I much prefer to set a day limit when i deal you can set this very near a best price you get elsewhere and better it, most times .
I web charge an extra £2 on the share dealing for limits ( they dropped that on the ISA )  i would not set a limit for more then one day ( i web let you set it for 30 days ) imagine in these markets ?
You do not have to have all you investments with one provider so no isa no problem.
I thank God i was not all in with SVS .. moved to Degiro when they put the prices up might of been a meany to some, but wasn't that lucky in hindsight.
Had moved about 50% of portfolio out by the summer .
All of my deals since February have been with Degiro was annoyed they cut the margin they allow against the portfolio value , right at the height of the fall preventing me from piling in . ( they charge less then 2% apr , HSBC used to charge 6% )  they appear to have a  stricked risk department which seems to oversee all the others .
They will often prevent you from adding to holdings in certain AIM stocks.
And prevent some altogether from the platform . 
I guess the in house dealing might sometimes go in your favour as well as against it might explain why i have seen deals going thought 15 mins after close.
And sometimes at better prices then i can see a record of elsewhere.
So lets keep the information coming isn't capitalism and freedom about choice .
Lets have more of it say i.

Thrugelmir

manorhouse said:

They will often prevent you from adding to holdings in certain AIM stocks.

How do they prevent you from trading in AIM stocks ? 

manorhouse

Hi Thugelmir.
This is the message i got this morning ( VAST) for you further info.
I hold so i could sell of course. ( with this one sometimes you can buy ( if someone else sells i guess ) ( seems here they have an overall position ))
But with others i hold ( UJO & ALBA ) you get a message they have taken off platform altogether , but you can hold and sell. 
"Unfortunately this product is not available for trading. This could be due to regulatory reasons, your current profile or an internal decision."
Hopefully masonic can explain there reason ?
I find it annoying as i am taking the risk not them ??

johnburman

"So lets keep the information coming isn't capitalism and freedom about choice ." - I agree.
But there is a baseline: how secure are your holdings if -and it is a big if - the company goes bust.  My feeling is that the FCA have said that they *expect* a few regulated companies to go bust.  Thesy do not see their job as preventing this, but as to protect investors.  So like SVS, investors will get their shares/funds back under the FSCS limit eventually  

Do other overseas regulators see this as their function?  Do they, as happened with building societies here, dot allow them to go bust but to be taken over/merge with a stronger company?  What I am saying is is my fear of dealing with an overseas regulator misplaced?

manorhouse

I thought stock markets stated in Holand .
Germans ?
Not sure ( and am not racist at all ) chose one based in Africa  , but no harm if i looked at it ?