Freetrade - anyone use this?

ChilliBob

Just wondering if anyone uses this - I see the free share offer from Monevator and was tempted to have a go just to see what I end up getting really. 
Not done so thus far as I was a bit paranoid it might just end up being a load of hassle for not much point, and that a W8-Ben might be required and all sorts.
Don't think I've seen it mentioned on here, or at least not for a little while if so.
Erm yeah that's about it!

grumiofoundation

I signed for a after being referred for a free share and then referred my wife so overall 3 free shares ~ £15-20 between us. Wasn’t especially difficult to sign up, or withdraw funds (think can’t withdraw for a period of time) from what I remember. 

Im sure if we worked it out how much time spent would come out ~ twice the hourly wage of our jobs (although I’m not being paid for this post so I’ve just ate into my profit margin!)

There is a dedicated MSE referral board for offers where can pick up referrals if you are ever interested. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/referrers

ChilliBob

Cool, cheers for the feedback. Did you have to fill out some W8-Ben thing too?

HarryGray

I have one - pretty easy to use. However they have suspended all buying and selling today on the US market so proceed with caution, there are better ones out there.

nurbs

I got this to play with and get the free share from referral link. You have to fund it with £2 to get the free share, and they highlight 'no fees' everywhere. But despite not 'buying' anything, just looking at my free share until I could sell it, my £2 has become £1.96. Weird that they took it off my 'withdrawable cash' instead of the 'unsettled cash' from selling the share. Now I'm completely unsure what hidden fees I'm being charged - their FAQ boils it down to 'not massive fees' which is not the same as 'no fees'. So beware before putting in a large amount. Can anyone explain what is being charged? 

wmb194

nurbs said:

I got this to play with and get the free share from referral link. You have to fund it with £2 to get the free share, and they highlight 'no fees' everywhere. But despite not 'buying' anything, just looking at my free share until I could sell it, my £2 has become £1.96. Weird that they took it off my 'withdrawable cash' instead of the 'unsettled cash' from selling the share. Now I'm completely unsure what hidden fees I'm being charged - their FAQ boils it down to 'not massive fees' which is not the same as 'no fees'. So beware before putting in a large amount. Can anyone explain what is being charged? 

In the app, what does the 'activity' tab show? If you've been charged anything it should be there. Has the trade settled? Perhaps it's just a quirk to do with that and it'll right itself in time? I've been using It and haven't had any issues.

maxsteam

I have just visited the Freetrade website. It looks genuine but it also looks like it is aimed at the investor who has just seen a story about GameStop, or whoever, on the news and wants to jump on a bandwagon rather than being for serious investors. It alarms me greatly to see how many times the site promises that you can "Invest for free" when it should state that they offer commission-free trading. There is a difference.
The site states that the pinnacle of the CEO's previous career was being a manager at KPMG. I have met a few managers at KPMG but this is the first time that I have seen anyone boast about it.
To answer the question about where there are charges, one obvious place is the price that you pay for your shares. When you buy, the price you pay will always be more than the price that you can sell at. With a reputable broker and a FTSE100 stock, the difference between the buying and selling prices will be a fraction of a percent. In other circumstances, the difference can be substantial.
Another cost will be 0.5% stamp duty on UK shares. If you try to trade UK shares and don't pay stamp duty then it's likely that you are not actually trading UK shares. If Freetrade are offering CFD dealing rather than share dealing, the site should make this clear. While I appreciate that stamp duty is paid to HMRC and not the broker, it's existence makes it impossible to "invest for free" in UK shares.

Nurse2047

I have just started to use them, if you go to the referral page there are links to get a free trade via a referral  

wmb194

maxsteam said:

I have just visited the Freetrade website. It looks genuine but it also looks like it is aimed at the investor who has just seen a story about GameStop, or whoever, on the news and wants to jump on a bandwagon rather than being for serious investors. It alarms me greatly to see how many times the site promises that you can "Invest for free" when it should state that they offer commission-free trading. There is a difference.
The site states that the pinnacle of the CEO's previous career was being a manager at KPMG. I have met a few managers at KPMG but this is the first time that I have seen anyone boast about it.
To answer the question about where there are charges, one obvious place is the price that you pay for your shares. When you buy, the price you pay will always be more than the price that you can sell at. With a reputable broker and a FTSE100 stock, the difference between the buying and selling prices will be a fraction of a percent. In other circumstances, the difference can be substantial.
Another cost will be 0.5% stamp duty on UK shares. If you try to trade UK shares and don't pay stamp duty then it's likely that you are not actually trading UK shares. If Freetrade are offering CFD dealing rather than share dealing, the site should make this clear. While I appreciate that stamp duty is paid to HMRC and not the broker, it's existence makes it impossible to "invest for free" in UK shares.

I've met very good people who worked and used to work for KPMG. I think that his point in raising this in this context is that he's hoping it makes him - and IIRC his business partner at Freetrade - a safer pair of hands and not a clueless fly-by-night cowboy.
I've been using Freetrade quite a bit and I usually also get a quote from iWeb or AJ Bell to get an idea of what I'll pay or receive and, apart from once or twice when Freetrade's price was marginally better, Freetrade has always executed at the same price. When I've watched the live trades I can also see them being reported to the exchange in real-time, too.
"If you try to trade UK shares and don't pay stamp duty then it's likely that you are not actually trading UK shares." This depends on your definition of a "UK share." If you really mean London listed then you can buy shares on the exchange and not have to pay stamp duty e.g., those domiciled in Jersey and Guernsey. But yes, don't worry, when you buy shares in a UK domiciled company on the LSE Freetrade does charge SDRT.

As well as commission, if you use only the basic account then you aren't charged an account fee so yes, excluding any duty, you can invest for free. Bid-offer spreads are just a fact of life and aren't a specific brokerage cost.

maxsteam

wmb194 said:

I've met very good people who worked and used to work for KPMG

Haha. I used to work for KPMG.

wmb194 said:
don't worry, when you buy shares in a UK domiciled company on the LSE Freetrade does charge SDRT.

I do worry. Freetrade promote their service as offering the opportunity to "Invest for free, forever". When dealing with a couple of quid at the bookies, I expect a few misleading promotions. When dealing with investment-sized amounts, I expect promotions and transactions to be transparent and 100% accurate.
Incidentally, IOM and CI are part of the British Isles but they are not part of the UK. Anything listed solely on the stock exchanges there will not be a mainstream investment and will not be subject to UK or EU rules or compensation schemes. They have their own rules and schemes.

wmb194

maxsteam said:

wmb194 said:

I've met very good people who worked and used to work for KPMG

Haha. I used to work for KPMG.

wmb194 said:
don't worry, when you buy shares in a UK domiciled company on the LSE Freetrade does charge SDRT.

I do worry. Freetrade promote their service as offering the opportunity to "Invest for free, forever". When dealing with a couple of quid at the bookies, I expect a few misleading promotions. When dealing with investment-sized amounts, I expect promotions and transactions to be transparent and 100% accurate.
Incidentally, IOM and CI are part of the British Isles but they are not part of the UK. Anything listed solely on the stock exchanges there will not be a mainstream investment and will not be subject to UK or EU rules or compensation schemes. They have their own rules and schemes.

If you look closer the basic, free account is limited to certain shares. What it wants is to pull you in and when you realise it doesn't offer what you want it hopes you'll upgrade to its better offering at £9.99 per month. However, for some people its basic offering will be fine.

Yes, I know, I didn't mention any stock exchange in the CI but to London listed shares that can be bought by most (all?) basic, British brokers including Freetade. For instance companies like TRIG, NESF, FSFL, SONG and MCT. IIRC a couple of these are in the FTSE250. Phoenix (PHNX) used to be domiciled in Jersey(?) and was still in the FTSE100. Resolution, now gone, was another one, and also WPP, both FTSE100. Most ETFs are domiciled in Ireland and these won't attract SDRT either.