Which platform for holding US stocks in ISA?

BrockStoker

I've been looking, but so far can't find anything I like the look of.

I already have an iWeb account, and I'm basically looking for something similar - features I'm looking for in order of priority:

- S&S ISA wrapper

- US listed stocks

- Platform accessible from Windows PC

- Cheap (ideally, although as long as not overly expensive I'm not too bothered)

I thought Fidelity would be an option, but it does not look like it allows trading/holding US stocks. Also looked at eTorro, but that looks like no ISA and does not seem to be more than just an app for phones/tablets. I don't intend to do much trading, just buy and hold for the moment, but might in the future look at a little bit of trading with a smaller amount, so it would be nice to be able to trade cheaply, but it's not essential.

What options do I have?

[Deleted User]

ii - and you can add GBP - then use their in house fx to open a USD account and then buy out of the USD account thus avoiding individual fx charges

FirstTimeSolo

Trading 212 - when they start accepting new applications again! 

Adyinvestment

IG Trading are excellent with a really low exchange fee of 0.5% for US stocks - something which is much more important than the cost to trade for any decent amount.

Voyager2002

Deleted_User said:

ii - and you can add GBP - then use their in house fx to open a USD account and then buy out of the USD account thus avoiding individual fx charges

I have an ISA with II. Unlike their trading account it does not allow me to hold foreign currency.

And the fee for currency conversion is a whopping great 2 per cent! And a withdrawal in foreign currency (from the trading account)  incurrs a £20 fee.

BrockStoker

Thank you all.

I'm looking to open the account ASAP, so Trading 212 is out. That leaves IG Trading. So I'll check that out.

Steve182

AJ Bell has a sliding FX scale which I think from memory starts at 1% up to £10K then drops off quite significantly for large trades. Good if you're doing £50K+ at a time but not so good for a few £K. You cannot hold USD though so FX fees apply every time you buy or sell foreign currency stock.    

BrockStoker

Thanks @Steve182 - That sounds good. I'm going to have a look right now. Rather unusual situation - no one seems to want my money! IG is not accepting applications either. Hopefully AJB is. I guess it's that time of year, and I left it a bit late!

Steve182

BrockStoker said:

Thanks @Steve182 - That sounds good. I'm going to have a look right now. Rather unusual situation - no one seems to want my money! IG is not accepting applications either. Hopefully AJB is. I guess it's that time of year, and I left it a bit late!

That's surprising about IG. I opened a spread betting account with IG a few months ago (small numbers for some fun).

Bell were happy to accept my company pension block transfer to their SIPP transfer a few years ago so good luck! 

BrockStoker

IG's loss is now AJB's gain, although Mrs Brock might open one with them if they can get their act together soon.

With iWeb I'm paying 1.5% FX charges, so AJB is quite attractive in that respect. I was actually planning a 10K trade (more likely would have been 5K + 5K, but a single 10K trade might be better, or even more?), although I could do 20K. Not sure if that would make much difference?

Steve182

BrockStoker said:

IG's loss is now AJB's gain, although Mrs Brock might open one with them if they can get their act together soon.

With iWeb I'm paying 1.5% FX charges, so AJB is quite attractive in that respect. I was actually planning a 10K trade (more likely would have been 5K + 5K, but a single 10K trade might be better, or even more?), although I could do 20K. Not sure if that would make much difference?

AJ Bells FX commission -

First £10,000	1.00%
Next £10,000	0.75%
Next £10,000	0.50%
Value over £30,000	0.25%