InvestEngine

Shedman

Alexland said:

I recently closed my token InvestEngine GIA after investing £100 in a managed portfolio (before they offered ETF trading), getting £100 of bonuses added and losing around £2 in the markets. Overall reasonably happy with the service, nearly doubled my money in a year and split the proceeds across our children's Fidelity Junior SIPPs to compound over the next 50 years.

iWeb have been good for our main S&S ISAs and we signed up years ago at the old £25 setup fee. The accounts are very inactive so it's rare we pay the £5 trade fee but each month I cycle £500 in/out of the iWeb GIA to get the £5/month Halifax reward current account bonus.

Alex...out of interest how quickly can you take the £500 back out of iWeb?  I was using NSI for the Halifax £500 but now taking over a week to get out so switched to YBS Saver but sometimes a bit of delay but usually only a day. (Although I think I'm definitely getting old as I'm even starting to tire of chasing the odd £5 when previously it was a good game lol)

Alexland

Shedman said:
how quickly can you take the £500 back out of iWeb?  I was using NSI for the Halifax £500 but now taking over a week to get out so switched to YBS Saver but sometimes a bit of delay but usually only a day. (Although I think I'm definitely getting old as I'm even starting to tire of chasing the odd £5 when previously it was a good game lol)

It's probably around a week overall round trip. I agree chasing a few quid is getting tiresome but then it's free money and the accounts are already setup.

granta

Alexland said:

Shedman said:
how quickly can you take the £500 back out of iWeb?  I was using NSI for the Halifax £500 but now taking over a week to get out so switched to YBS Saver but sometimes a bit of delay but usually only a day. (Although I think I'm definitely getting old as I'm even starting to tire of chasing the odd £5 when previously it was a good game lol)

It's probably around a week overall round trip. I agree chasing a few quid is getting tiresome but then it's free money and the accounts are already setup.

I've become more wary of doing this on investing platforms as one provider closed my account for 'misuse of account' under their terms and conditions. I think they saw that it happened once a month with the money never being invested (though I did have other holdings with them). I was going to close the account anyway so not a big loss but would hate for it to happen on any of my actively used platforms.

Millyonare

Albermarle said:

Worth adding to the above post, that most investors are not adding £100K in one go to their investments, but are building up long term investments over a period of time . In which case short term market movement during a day or two day delay in investing, are neither here nor there.

Real-time pricing brings control and certainty. Delayed pricing loses control and certainty.

A 1-4% trading loss from a delayed trade (like in the example above) could take 5-15 years to recoup (e.g. FTSE100 from 1999 to 2010s).

A 1-4% loss is not "neither here nor there", and is money wasted, not money saved.

Malthusian

Millyonare said:

A 1-4% trading loss from a delayed trade (like in the example above) could take 5-15 years to recoup (e.g. FTSE100 from 1999 to 2010s).

A 1-4% loss is not "neither here nor there", and is money wasted, not money saved.

You are almost as likely to experience a 1-4% gain as a 1-4% loss from a day's delay in entering the market. The expected gain / loss from a day's delay is fractionally less than zero. It is only a problem for day-traders, not long term investors.

If you were unlucky enough to invest a lump sum in the FTSE 100 in late 1999 it took 6 years to be back above water, with a brief 1 year detour back underwater in 2008-2009. Whether you experienced a 1-4% gain from investing on exactly the right day or not was of no importance. It doesn't matter whether it takes 6 years 3 months or 6 years 3 months and one day before you finally see a positive return.

Millyonare

Malthusian said:

Millyonare said:

A 1-4% trading loss from a delayed trade (like in the example above) could take 5-15 years to recoup (e.g. FTSE100 from 1999 to 2010s).

A 1-4% loss is not "neither here nor there", and is money wasted, not money saved.

You are almost as likely to experience a 1-4% gain as a 1-4% loss from a day's delay in entering the market. The expected gain / loss from a day's delay is fractionally less than zero. It is only a problem for day-traders, not long term investors.

If you were unlucky enough to invest a lump sum in the FTSE 100 in late 1999 it took 6 years to be back above water, with a brief 1 year detour back underwater in 2008-2009. Whether you experienced a 1-4% gain from investing on exactly the right day or not was of no importance. It doesn't matter whether it takes 6 years 3 months or 6 years 3 months and one day before you finally see a positive return.

On average, across world markets, about 2 in 3 investments make gains, so one is more likely to lose money than gain money from delayed trading.

A 1-4% loss from a trading delay is a major loss. There is no sugar-coating it. A loss is a loss.

K_S

I'm using Investengine for my S&S ISA this year, mainly for the purpose of making automatic twice-monthly contributions through standing orders to a set portfolio of a few ETFs. From that viewpoint, it serves the purpose, no complaints.

cloud_dog

I opened an account (for the bonus), and to simply expose some cash that was not earning much interest to the possibility of a little better growth.  I'm not particularly bothered about the value per se (markets go up, they go down).

I am less than enthused by their group transaction strategy for ETFs, where you achieve the average for the day (although some you win, some you lose).  I have also read reports from other users of extended sale completion times, e.g. over more than one day.

So overall, I have stopped commenting/mentioning IE to other people who may be looking for a simple/straightforward investment platform.

masonic

For the current MSE partner offer (£30 for £100 investment), the terms state "The New Customer must maintain a minimum net investment of the Minimum Portfolio level (£100) or the minimum amount as specified by the relevant Partner, whichever is higher (not including any bonuses, reward or any other promotional amount offered by InvestEngine) for a minimum of 12 months from the date they funded their account."

As written, this suggests if your chosen investment fell 50%, you'd need to add another £50 to maintain the value of your investment. It seems unlikely that this is what's actually intended. I'd have thought keeping the investments purchased with the original £100 would be sufficient to qualify, however they fluctuate in value (so if they grew by 50% you would not be able to withdraw £50 either).

where_are_we

I have benefited from the £30 bonus with Invest Engine. My OH intends to do the same. Presumably the £25 refer a friend offer where both of us get a £25 each bonus using my referral link is the better total deal for both of us put together.