Trading 212 ISA

mrfourcreditcards

Does anyone here use the Trading 212 ISA? I have a few questions!

1. Can you transfer in an existing S&S ISA and how easy it is to do?

2. Does the Trading 212 ISA allow regular investments to be set up or do you have to trade manually each time you want to invest.

3. Does it offer fractional shares? Some things I've read say yes, others no!

4. How do you find the platform generally?

My existing provider has crippling fees for share trading and my investment strategy has changed to require more individual stock purchasing alongside my ETFs. Just looking for an alternative to reduce the fees causing a drag on my investments!

Thanks guys

Gocycle

Hi,

Whilst I haven’t used the ISA and haven’t been using the platform for long, I am warming to the platform. It does have fractional shares(though only for a subset)but includes Apple, Amazon, Coca Cola and ETFs.. U.K. shares too. You can also use limit orders when buying whole shares which is useful too. It all looks like a platform for trading rather than an investment platform which is a plus and a minus. It can be very easy to sell a position(investment) accidentally with 2 clicks. All in all it is worth a look. Start small though and see how you get on.

mrfourcreditcards

Gocycle wrote: »

Hi,

Whilst I haven’t used the ISA and haven’t been using the platform for long, I am warming to the platform. It does have fractional shares(though only for a subset)but includes Apple, Amazon, Coca Cola and ETFs.. U.K. shares too. You can also use limit orders when buying whole shares which is useful too. It all looks like a platform for trading rather than an investment platform which is a plus and a minus. It can be very easy to sell a position(investment) accidentally with 2 clicks. All in all it is worth a look. Start small though and see how you get on.

Thanks for the input. The more expensive shares such as those you mention are the ones I'd like fractional shares in anyway so that sounds good. What makes you say it's more for trading that investment? Surely having an ISA available is a signal to the contrary?

I don't really want to invest outside of my ISA as I have limited funds to invest so I suppose I'll have to bite the bullet and try it out. I really am surprised that no one has used the 212 ISA as there is no annual fee to hold it, and no fees for trading. To me that seems a good deal!

coyrls

mrfourcreditcards wrote: »

What makes you say it's more for trading that investment? Surely having an ISA available is a signal to the contrary?

I would have thought that the clue was in the name: "Trading 212". There is nothing to stop you trading within an ISA wrapper.

mrfourcreditcards

coyrls wrote: »

I would have thought that the clue was in the name: "Trading 212". There is nothing to stop you trading within an ISA wrapper.

Well following your well thought out answer, Gumtree would only sell trees, and Boots a line of footwear! Obviously they started out in trading, but offering an ISA and calling it "INVEST" would imply a different direction heading forwards. What I'm getting at, and maybe I should have been clearer, is what is it about the PLATFORM which doesn't lend itself to long term investing.

A_T

mrfourcreditcards wrote: »

Well following your well thought out answer, Gumtree would only sell trees, and Boots a line of footwear! Obviously they started out in trading, but offering an ISA and calling it "INVEST" would imply a different direction heading forwards. What I'm getting at, and maybe I should have been clearer, is what is it about the PLATFORM which doesn't lend itself to long term investing.

The platform is free which might make you think "is this too good to last?". It doesn't have the established reputations of HL, AJBell, etc. I have a small ISA with them but would be wary of investing too much.

EdGasketTheSecond

They are a betting outfit, CFD's etc; not really aimed at stockbroking. These sorts of companies would be my last choice for a S&S ISA.

mrfourcreditcards

A_T wrote: »

The platform is free which might make you think "is this too good to last?". It doesn't have the established reputations of HL, AJBell, etc. I have a small ISA with them but would be wary of investing too much.

It may not last but the competition in this area is hotting up, with the US equivalent of Trading 212, Robinhood also launching here too. As you are investing in the underlying investments and not the investment companies themselves, and they are all FCA regulated, you have to wonder if paying all these fat fees to these established platforms for something that costs them very little is actually worth it. If you are a regular investor and don't have lump sums to invest in one go, the exorbitant fees can easily wipe out most of any gains you make.

eskbanker

mrfourcreditcards wrote: »

It may not last but the competition in this area is hotting up, with the US equivalent of Trading 212, Robinhood also launching here too. As you are investing in the underlying investments and not the investment companies themselves, and they are all FCA regulated, you have to wonder if paying all these fat fees to these established platforms for something that costs them very little is actually worth it. If you are a regular investor and don't have lump sums to invest in one go, the exorbitant fees can easily wipe out most of any gains you make.

....but using small off-piste platforms isn't without risk:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6032496/svs-securities-shut-down

Granted, chances are that investors ultimately won't make tangible financial losses when these go under, but you can tell from the angsty tone of most posts there that it's a highly frustrating and protracted experience.

InA

EdGasketTheSecond said:

They are a betting outfit, CFD's etc; not really aimed at stockbroking. These sorts of companies would be my last choice for a S&S ISA.

I know this an old thread, but just thought I'd share my experience of using this platform, which I haven't been using for long and am only testing out. IMO, it's pretty good. It does have an option to trade CFDs but that is completely separated from the "Invest" side of the platform, so you can't accidentally find yourself gambling and making large losses. If you try to sign up for the CFD trading side of the platform, you have to answer additional questions and are made aware of the risks. Best thing for any lurker reading this thread is not to sign up for CFD trading in the first place, unless you fully understand what they are and can accept the risk of losses, including those arising from having your position closed because you don't have sufficient free funds in your account.

In the Invest side, the only disadvantage I have encountered so far is that some stocks are not listed on the platform (e.g. smaller FTSE AIM stocks). So far, I can't see any catch at all and everything seems to above board. I already have an S&S ISA with a low fee provider but, in theory, I can't see anything wrong with using this platform for buying and holding stocks or funds over the long-term (providing you stay below £85,000). The platform can be used in this way.

I think people are unnecessarily discouraged from trying trading212 because of negative perceptions when people think something is too good to be true. I was in that same camp, until I actually tried it.

drprashantis

Does anyone have experience of transferring ISA from other providers to Trading 212? How much time does it take? I am currently investing with Vanguard and have 16K with them for the current year ISA. I want to enter individual share investment through 212. Please share your opinion about transferring this 16K from Vanguard to 212.