IG 8.5% rate for new customers - any catch?

wmb194

kimwp said:

It looks like "trade" means spread betting or CFDs, which are risky I think - uses leverage and therefore you might end up owing a lot. I'm trying to work out how to minimise a loss, can anyone advise on how to do this? I'm thinking use a company whose shares are worth very little, like Anemoi, so not much can be lost.

IG is also a stockbroker so a normal share trade should qualify. I didn’t see anything in the T&Cs to suggest it had to be CFDs or spread betting.

kimwp

wmb194 said:

kimwp said:

It looks like "trade" means spread betting or CFDs, which are risky I think - uses leverage and therefore you might end up owing a lot. I'm trying to work out how to minimise a loss, can anyone advise on how to do this? I'm thinking use a company whose shares are worth very little, like Anemoi, so not much can be lost.

IG is also a stockbroker so a normal share trade should qualify. I didn’t see anything in the T&Cs to suggest it had to be CFDs or spread betting.

They seem to define trading as spread betting or CFDs here, but I might be adding apples and pears. I'm going to check with them tomorrow.

 https://www.ig.com/uk/trading-need-to-knows/trading-vs-investing

orange-juice

kimwp said:

wmb194 said:

kimwp said:

It looks like "trade" means spread betting or CFDs, which are risky I think - uses leverage and therefore you might end up owing a lot. I'm trying to work out how to minimise a loss, can anyone advise on how to do this? I'm thinking use a company whose shares are worth very little, like Anemoi, so not much can be lost.

IG is also a stockbroker so a normal share trade should qualify. I didn’t see anything in the T&Cs to suggest it had to be CFDs or spread betting.

They seem to define trading as spread betting or CFDs here, but I might be adding apples and pears. I'm going to check with them tomorrow.

 https://www.ig.com/uk/trading-need-to-knows/trading-vs-investing

Keen to see what you hear from them. It didn't even cross my mind that trading could refer to CFD/Spread betting only.

I think it does apply to normal share dealing.

One of my questions:

"To waive the custody fees for the share dealing and ISA accounts, do you need to trade 3+ times per account or is it 3+ in total for either account to reduce the custody fee to 0% for both accounts?"

to which an advisor replied

"I would like to inform you that a quarterly custody fee is only applied if fewer than three trades are placed within a calendar quarter. To avoid this fee, you’ll need to either place more than three trades during the quarter or maintain an investment of at least £15,000 in one of our IG Smart Portfolio managed funds.

Trades can be made through either your Share Dealing or ISA account—there is no duplicate charge if you use both"

Also, in the account itself

Sambi

I'm planning to put a decent chunk of my savings here to make use of the boosted interest rate. I made three buys of a Vanguard ETF and one buy of Greatland Gold because the T&C specifically says to hold an open share position each month. I'm pretty sure the ETF would count but wanted to make sure by having a position in a single share.

From reading the T&C this should be enough for the duration and not require any extra actions, right? Three trades in this quarter to avoid the £24 flat fee, and I'm holding a position in each month to qualify for the boosted rate.

moneywow1

Sambi said:

I'm planning to put a decent chunk of my savings here to make use of the boosted interest rate. I made three buys of a Vanguard ETF and one buy of Greatland Gold because the T&C specifically says to hold an open share position each month. I'm pretty sure the ETF would count but wanted to make sure by having a position in a single share.

From reading the T&C this should be enough for the duration and not require any extra actions, right? Three trades in this quarter to avoid the £24 flat fee, and I'm holding a position in each month to qualify for the boosted rate.

Yeah this is my understanding. I'm just gonna go with 3 standard stock trades though just to be sure

Now I just need T212 to hurry up and send the cash over

Although I'm also not sure what counts as a quarter. Because we'll have the money in for over 3 months we will pass through at least 2 quarters.

So I guess in the next quarter you can sell your shares and that counts as the 3 trades for that quarter 

hara____

Full terms and conditions for the 8.5% are here https://www.ig.com/uk/boosted-terms-may-25

That makes it clear it's about trades/positions in ETFs and shares in ISA/GIA/SIPP rather than spread betting or CFD, in particular:

All trading involves risk. The value of shares, ETFs and ETCs can fall as well as rise, which could mean getting back less than you originally put in. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Please ensure you fully understand the risks and take care to manage your exposure.

Overall, it's not so different to a cashback offer you might find elsewhere. They are just delivering the equivalent of cashback through an eye-catching interest rate for a few months.

MatLoweRN

I emailed their help desk to ask them to clarify what they mean by an open position as I was concerned that it might only apply to CFDs.  I asked:  

could you clarify what you define as an open position? On exploring the app it seems to be mainly focused on spread betting?

Their reply was:

Thank you for your email.

We appreciate your time taken to reach out to us, Please note that this is available through our non-leveraged accounts, such as Share Dealing and ISA. You can find more information here: https://www.ig.com/uk/boosted-terms-may-25

If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us, we are happy to assist you.

Not sure if it might be a little vague, though.

masonic

hara____ said:

Full terms and conditions for the 8.5% are here https://www.ig.com/uk/boosted-terms-may-25

That makes it clear it's about trades/positions in ETFs and shares in ISA/GIA/SIPP rather than spread betting or CFD, in particular:

All trading involves risk. The value of shares, ETFs and ETCs can fall as well as rise, which could mean getting back less than you originally put in. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Please ensure you fully understand the risks and take care to manage your exposure.

Overall, it's not so different to a cashback offer you might find elsewhere. They are just delivering the equivalent of cashback through an eye-catching interest rate for a few months.

That may be true of the boost, but there doesn't seem to be any clarity over how the cash upon which this interest rate is earned is saved/invested to generate the basic interest. The general T&Cs state that they hold Client Money in segregated accounts spread between major banks, but that no interest is payable on this. They also say they may invest your cash in QMMF, which is presumably what is being done here, but it isn't stated.

kimwp

Can anyone figure when the 8.5% interest is paid?

In the T&C's, it says:
the period in which you may earn boosted interest on any cash balance held in a GIA, ISA or SIPP commences at 00:00 UK time on the day following the first day that you hold uninvested cash in your GIA, ISA or SIPP and concludes at 23:59 UK time on 31st August 2025,

I bought a unit of the invest all world ETF yesterday, so I think this means my interest should be 8.5% as of now, but the app is only showing 4.25% and states that the qualification for the 4.25% that there must have been a trade or active position in the month previously.

I seem to be unlucky getting hold of them, I was waiting on the phone so long I gave up and the WhatsApp messaging service wasn't great - they responded to my 10am query at 6am and closed the message when I didn't respond within 6 minutes. Tried messaging again on the WhatsApp, but it doesn't seem to be triggering any response.

masonic

kimwp said:

Can anyone figure when the 8.5% interest is paid?

They do not state that. But it seems likely that it will be paid at the same time as the basic interest. You may not know whether or not you've qualified in a month until the interest is actually paid. The terms definitely state criteria can be met at any time during the month, not the previous month.