Gripe with AJ Bell quotation being obfuscated when trading US Shares

mda99das

I have been trying to get AJ bell to admit they are misleading customers who are trying to buy US shares. The likes of TSLA, NFLX, MSFT, APPL etc.
I like most people look at charts and trade from a technical point of view (NOT DAYTRADING) just swing trading, and there are many charting packages available, that give the basics for technical analysis. As these shares all trade in USD, when AJ bell gives its quotation, it converts it into GBP and add the charges, so while you do see the price in Sterling, its very hard to work out what limit order you should place. Reverse the online quotation, and I can see that the bid and ask prices are a few dollars out. That is terrible!!! If I look at IG the bid and ask are within a few cents. IG quote in USD and in  they then show their charges and show what the trade will cost in Sterling. Unfortunately IG does not allow you to hold LISA, and AJ bell does have one of the largest choices of ETFs. Surely I cant be the only one to recognise this?

wmb194

mda99das said:

I have been trying to get AJ bell to admit they are misleading customers who are trying to buy US shares. The likes of TSLA, NFLX, MSFT, APPL etc.
I like most people look at charts and trade from a technical point of view (NOT DAYTRADING) just swing trading, and there are many charting packages available, that give the basics for technical analysis. As these shares all trade in USD, when AJ bell gives its quotation, it converts it into GBP and add the charges, so while you do see the price in Sterling, its very hard to work out what limit order you should place. Reverse the online quotation, and I can see that the bid and ask prices are a few dollars out. That is terrible!!! If I look at IG the bid and ask are within a few cents. IG quote in USD and in  they then show their charges and show what the trade will cost in Sterling. Unfortunately IG does not allow you to hold LISA, and AJ bell does have one of the largest choices of ETFs. Surely I cant be the only one to recognise this?

Vote with your feet and stop using AJ Bell. Plenty of cheaper brokers which allow you to trade US shares without this aggravation e.g., Trading212. AJ Bell gouges you on the commission and the FX fees. 0.75% on the first £10,000? Oof. T212's FX fee is 0.15%.

https://www.ajbell.co.uk/our-services/international-dealing

DavidT67

OP wants to trade US shares within a LISA,  T212 doesn't offer LISAs. 

Perhaps they should avoid trading individual shares inside a LISA?

masonic

ISAs in general prevent foreign currency being held, so are sub-optimal for trading foreign currency assets. If a SIPP could be used instead, then forex could be avoided, and there would be more choices for the provider.

Futuristic

masonic said:

ISAs in general prevent foreign currency being held, so are sub-optimal for trading foreign currency assets. If a SIPP could be used instead, then forex could be avoided, and there would be more choices for the provider.

IBKR is the best place to trade foreign stocks inside a ISA. You trade in the stocks currency and IBKR will automatically convert GBP with near market rate. Especially when talking about a good size.

Doesnt really help the OP though, the fact that the LISA even allows this should be considered a bonus. 

You cannot really compare IG to a “normie” retail platform like AJ Bell.

mda99das

That's the issue many of us are not traders, but we know how to use indicators eg MACD, RSI, Pivots, fib retracements etc etc. Order flow/ Market Profile / Volume profile is more suited for intra day trading, and don't get me started on darkpools , gamma exposure, second order greeks, and vanna and charm, I am not a day trader so I am not bothered about options chains and 0DTEs!  Why dont more platforms allow us to trade within LISAs? AJ Bell to their credit allowed me to trade SQQQ during the 2022 bear drawdown but I had to request for this to be added. 

eskbanker

mda99das said:

Why dont more platforms allow us to trade within LISAs?

Presumably because the Venn diagram with sets comprising 'traders' and 'LISA holders' has such a small intersection for them not to feel it worth offering - the low uptake of LISAs at all is often commented on....

adindas

Futuristic said:

masonic said:

ISAs in general prevent foreign currency being held, so are sub-optimal for trading foreign currency assets. If a SIPP could be used instead, then forex could be avoided, and there would be more choices for the provider.

IBKR is the best place to trade foreign stocks inside a ISA. You trade in the stocks currency and IBKR will automatically convert GBP with near market rate. Especially when talking about a good size.

Doesnt really help the OP though, the fact that the LISA even allows this should be considered a bonus. 

You cannot really compare IG to a “normie” retail platform like AJ Bell.

Talking about a good optimal size, especially if you can leverage a margin account and engage in option trading I agree with IBKR. However, it's important to note that margin and option trading are not available under the ISA S&S account.

I haven't checked recently, but in the past, I discovered that for frequent trading within an ISA, especially with a diverse range of available stocks and markets, there is nothing that beats Trading 212. The second-best option, particularly for frequent and small to medium-sized trading within an ISA, is currently Freetrade.

I haven't kept up with this lately, but I'm interested in learning if there is a more recent and cost-effective alternative for frequent trading within an ISA. If the ISA aspect is not crucial, I've found that eToro is a cheaper option. However, it's worth noting that the variety of available stocks is not as extensive as Trading 212.

Futuristic

adindas said:

Futuristic said:

masonic said:

ISAs in general prevent foreign currency being held, so are sub-optimal for trading foreign currency assets. If a SIPP could be used instead, then forex could be avoided, and there would be more choices for the provider.

IBKR is the best place to trade foreign stocks inside a ISA. You trade in the stocks currency and IBKR will automatically convert GBP with near market rate. Especially when talking about a good size.

Doesnt really help the OP though, the fact that the LISA even allows this should be considered a bonus. 

You cannot really compare IG to a “normie” retail platform like AJ Bell.

Talking about a good optimal size, especially if you can leverage a margin account and engage in option trading I agree with IBKR. However, it's important to note that margin and option trading are not available under the ISA S&S account.

I haven't checked recently, but in the past, I discovered that for frequent trading within an ISA, especially with a diverse range of available stocks and markets, there is nothing that beats Trading 212. The second-best option, particularly for frequent and small to medium-sized trading within an ISA, is currently Freetrade.

I haven't kept up with this lately, but I'm interested in learning if there is a more recent and cost-effective alternative for frequent trading within an ISA. If the ISA aspect is not crucial, I've found that eToro is a cheaper option. However, it's worth noting that the variety of available stocks is not as extensive as Trading 212.

Trading212 use IBKR for execution, I use my IBKR ISA which yes is Cash only does US trading+charts+anything else perfectly. I would be comfortable with 6-7-8 figures with IBKR not so much with T212 but yes for the average joe T212 has been improving a ton (after hours, low fx etc). The IBKR ISA also earns cash interest depending on amount can be 3-4%+ 

mda99das

How does trading 212 compare to IG? I like IGs web interface however while they have a huge list for trading CFDs which personally is dangerous and should be banned their ISA holdings has much more narrower range.

hoc

No provider including those listed can hold cash other than GBP in in any type of ISA, those are HMRC rules. The need to convert to GBP makes ISA a bad product for foreign trading. AJ Bell is guilty of converting for every product type which is not necessary and avoidable with even household names like ii. They lost my SIPP and GA business because they insist on converting every transaction to GBP.