Best low cost share dealing platform

Enigmaman

I want to sell some of my holdings in an investment trust. It's a pretty small amount, probably a third of the shares, a deal worth a few hundred pounds.  

Given the amounts, I don't want to spend more than £25 (and preferably less than that). It is also a one-off. 

Looking at MSE's list of share-dealing platforms, it seems  Trading212 and Freetrade are my best options. Any feedback on those?

I would need to transfer my holdings out of Link Group first. Their fee is prohibitive for this trade. 

wmb194

Enigmaman said:

I want to sell some of my holdings in an investment trust. It's a pretty small amount, probably a third of the shares, a deal worth a few hundred pounds.  

Given the amounts, I don't want to spend more than £25 (and preferably less than that). It is also a one-off. 

Looking at MSE's list of share-dealing platforms, it seems  Trading212 and Freetrade are my best options. Any feedback on those?

I would need to transfer my holdings out of Link Group first. Their fee is prohibitive for this trade. 

Yes, you’d need to transfer them but that should be easy. Which IT? You need to check that the destination broker offers them. In my experience T212 and Freetrade are fine and CMC Invest is another good option.

I’d lean towards T212 as it offers more shares, pays decent interest and withdrawals are usually instant - Freetrade uses Bacs timescales and CMC is next working day if you make the withdrawal in the morning.

Enigmaman

wmb194 said:

Enigmaman said:

I want to sell some of my holdings in an investment trust. It's a pretty small amount, probably a third of the shares, a deal worth a few hundred pounds.  

Given the amounts, I don't want to spend more than £25 (and preferably less than that). It is also a one-off. 

Looking at MSE's list of share-dealing platforms, it seems  Trading212 and Freetrade are my best options. Any feedback on those?

I would need to transfer my holdings out of Link Group first. Their fee is prohibitive for this trade. 

Yes, you’d need to transfer them but that should be easy. Which IT? You need to check that the destination broker offers them. In my experience T212 and Freetrade are fine and CMC Invest is another good option.

I’d lean towards T212 as it offers more shares, pays decent interest and withdrawals are usually instant - Freetrade uses Bacs timescales and CMC is next working day if you make the withdrawal in the morning.

It is Invesco Global Equity Income Trust plc.  One other thing that occurs to me is: what if the platform goes bust? What happens to any shares I hold in it?

masonic

Enigmaman said:

One other thing that occurs to me is: what if the platform goes bust? What happens to any shares I hold in it?

If the platform goes bust, the assets would be transferred to another broker. There would be some administration costs for doing this, and perhaps some assets would be missing, but these would be covered by FSCS compensation.

wmb194

Enigmaman said:

wmb194 said:

Enigmaman said:

I want to sell some of my holdings in an investment trust. It's a pretty small amount, probably a third of the shares, a deal worth a few hundred pounds.  

Given the amounts, I don't want to spend more than £25 (and preferably less than that). It is also a one-off. 

Looking at MSE's list of share-dealing platforms, it seems  Trading212 and Freetrade are my best options. Any feedback on those?

I would need to transfer my holdings out of Link Group first. Their fee is prohibitive for this trade. 

Yes, you’d need to transfer them but that should be easy. Which IT? You need to check that the destination broker offers them. In my experience T212 and Freetrade are fine and CMC Invest is another good option.

I’d lean towards T212 as it offers more shares, pays decent interest and withdrawals are usually instant - Freetrade uses Bacs timescales and CMC is next working day if you make the withdrawal in the morning.

It is Invesco Global Equity Income Trust plc.  One other thing that occurs to me is: what if the platform goes bust? What happens to any shares I hold in it?

T212 and Freetrade offer IGET but for Freetrade it says it's "exclusive" to its Standard (£5pm) and Plus (10pm) plans. Currently CMC Invest doesn't. If you want the cheapest, T212's the best bet.

Another option would be iWeb - Halifax Share Dealing and ultimately owned by Lloyds - £5 per trade and no ongoing account fee.

They're covered by the FSCS' investment coverage and customer assets should be ring-fenced but T212's a profitable company and Freetrade is in the process of being bought by IG for £160m, another profitable company.

https://www.iggroup.com/newsroom/press-releases/2025/acquisition-of-freetrade

Enigmaman

wmb194 said:

Enigmaman said:

wmb194 said:

Enigmaman said:

I want to sell some of my holdings in an investment trust. It's a pretty small amount, probably a third of the shares, a deal worth a few hundred pounds.  

Given the amounts, I don't want to spend more than £25 (and preferably less than that). It is also a one-off. 

Looking at MSE's list of share-dealing platforms, it seems  Trading212 and Freetrade are my best options. Any feedback on those?

I would need to transfer my holdings out of Link Group first. Their fee is prohibitive for this trade. 

Yes, you’d need to transfer them but that should be easy. Which IT? You need to check that the destination broker offers them. In my experience T212 and Freetrade are fine and CMC Invest is another good option.

I’d lean towards T212 as it offers more shares, pays decent interest and withdrawals are usually instant - Freetrade uses Bacs timescales and CMC is next working day if you make the withdrawal in the morning.

It is Invesco Global Equity Income Trust plc.  One other thing that occurs to me is: what if the platform goes bust? What happens to any shares I hold in it?

T212 and Freetrade offer IGET but for Freetrade it says it's "exclusive" to its Standard (£5pm) and Plus (10pm) plans. Currently CMC Invest doesn't. If you want the cheapest, T212's the best bet.

Another option would be iWeb - Halifax Share Dealing and ultimately owned by Lloyds - £5 per trade and no ongoing account fee.

They're covered by the FSCS' investment coverage and customer assets should be ring-fenced but T212's a profitable company and Freetrade is in the process of being bought by IG for £160m, another profitable company.

https://www.iggroup.com/newsroom/press-releases/2025/acquisition-of-freetrade

IWeb sounds ideal. Thanks.