InvestEngine experiences?

Rt90

Just wondering how people who are using InvestEngine are finding them?
 I’m considering transferring my sipp and isa over.

Alexland

I tried them and they are OK if you want basic no frills exchange traded assets (no funds) although I wouldn't trust them as a platform with anything above the FSCS limit.

boingy

Their customer service sucks.

Alexland

boingy said:

Their customer service sucks.

It might bring a new meaning to the investing proverb "you get what you don't pay for"

Chadsman

Alexland said:

I tried them and they are OK if you want basic no frills exchange traded assets (no funds) although I wouldn't trust them as a platform with anything above the FSCS limit.

It was my understanding investment firms are required to ring fence customers assets from their own assets. Am I incorrect in this?

If an investment firm does go to the wall what is the worst case scenario - customers lose anything over £85k?

Albermarle

Chadsman said:

Alexland said:

I tried them and they are OK if you want basic no frills exchange traded assets (no funds) although I wouldn't trust them as a platform with anything above the FSCS limit.

It was my understanding investment firms are required to ring fence customers assets from their own assets. Am I incorrect in this?

No you are correct, but I think what Alexland is thinking is that IE are new and small . It could be they do not have all the correct controls in place, or have the right experienced people. This has been a problem with new fintech type providers in some cases.
Of course IE maybe be absolutely fine, well organised etc but I would also prefer to keep the bulk of my money with a more established player, just in case.

Alexland

Yes even segregated client assets can go missing due to fraud, error, theft etc so it's worth considering the platform (and fund manager's) financial strength in being able to compensate if you hold amounts in excess of the FSCS limits. Or if in the case of ETF fund management there is no protection anyway.

Some institutions are too important to global or UK market stability to be allowed to fail so governments are likely to bail them out.

The risk profile can be flattened and reduced by using a few unrelated providers. Eg I wouldn't have my main SIPP and ISA with the same platform and there are limits to what % of my wealth I would trust to any asset manager however strong.

Kaizen917

I have been with IE as one of my providers for a few years now and dont have any complaints (even on the few occasions that I interacted with their support). Their site/app are pretty easy to use and clear looking, my orders tend to get done on the day (though not a huge factor for long-term investor like me) and there are some cool features that shed light on what each ETF is about.

Having said that, I did ask myself the question on how reliable are they as a provider, how likely are they to fail but all in all, the only valid reason for me to think that so far is their profit-loss report. Aside from it, its all currently hypothetical and the ability to deposit into multiple ISAs in the same year has allowed me to try them out without comitting to investing big sums.

I actually wish that the likes of them and T212 succeed because the UK investment market needs firms that shake the traditional models (whether its on pricing, innovation or other bits).

Albermarle

I have been with IE as one of my providers for a few years 

I thought they had been only going a couple of years, but a quick google shows they started in 2019. Doesn't time fly !

Alexland

Albermarle said:

I have been with IE as one of my providers for a few years 

I thought they had been only going a couple of years, but a quick google shows they started in 2019. Doesn't time fly !

Yeah it depends how much security you are looking for with your life savings It might not matter much when you are young and under the FSCS limit but I would rather pay a couple of hundred quid a year to have my accounts with some of the biggest asset managers and someone I can phone if I need to. Maybe I'm not tight enough but it seems worth it as I'm not willing to work a few extra decades to earn that money back.

david72

Albermarle said:

I have been with IE as one of my providers for a few years 

I thought they had been only going a couple of years, but a quick google shows they started in 2019. Doesn't time fly !

It's very easy to get confused, as it certainly seemed that were only a couple of years after 2019: 

2019, 2020, 2020, 2020, 2023, and 2024 has only just recently ended…