Large-ish transactions in Gilts / ILGs

hallmark

I'm likely to be buying and selling some Gilts/ILGs soon. The amounts will be close to £100K type of thing. The platforms are Iweb & AJ Bell

Is there likely to be much benefit pricewise in making as big a transaction as possible?

As you can't see the settlement price on these I'm tempted to break them down into a few smaller chunks just to minimise the possibility of some price spike just at the wrong time (I understand this would incur extra dealing costs).

However if the price was likely to be meaningfully better in a single transaction I might just risk it.

I have read to possibly avoid dealing very early as prices might be more volatile then, not certain if that's true

Enzo_L

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6666994/large-ish-transactions-in-gilts-ilgs

I did a couple of purchases of T56 in my ISA in a recent dip with SWSD/IWeb for over £200k each, and they got a slightly better price than an £80k one I did moments earlier.

Of course that could be down to a slight fluctuation of the market - you'd never know for sure really.

However my point is that I appear not to have been disadvantaged by doing large transactions, and it may have been marginally to my benefit.

And before people start asking what the hell I was doing, I'm at a stage where I want to maximise tax free income in my ISA at the moment. I'm well aware of the chances of large price fluctuations with such long term gilts. 😊

Hope this is of some use/relevance for you.

Storcko14

Also check your platform's charges if over £100k. I don't use iWeb or Bell but ii charge £40 for a >£100k transaction and £3.99 <£100k. Small thing but it's not made entirely clear at the point of trade.

masonic

I've not seen any material difference in price/spread personally between large and small orders.

Someone else mentioned AJ Bell was willing to set up a fill or kill order over the phone to avoid the risk of getting a bad price on a large order, though I think given the time such orders take to fill at AJ Bell, the dealer is probably making manual phone calls to fulfil the order.

aroominyork

Do those two platforms not quote a price for nominal gilts? You get a quote on HL and ii, and if you accept it the traded price might improve but will not worsen. That means you can avoid price spikes. ILGs are a whole different ballgame - you get an indicative large spread when phone trading on ii, but that gives little idea of the traded price.

20122013

ii has different price plans for over £100K (see here : https://www.ii.co.uk/our-charges#plans)

' Plus £14.99 per month:

Best for investors with over £100,000 who want access to lower trade costs and our most popular benefits - for themselves and their family.'

Enzo_L

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81987550#Comment_81987550

I've never used AJ Bell, but SWSD let you place your order online but then on the next screen you're always told that the order couldn't be filled electronically - or words to that effect - and that it will be negotiated.

In my experience the orders get filled within a few minutes. I've never had to wait longer than ten minutes.

That's for conventional gilts. I've never bought any index-linked.

InvesterJones

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81987675#Comment_81987675

It's the same for ILG

Bobziz

Just don't make the same mistake I did today and buy 83 units rather than 83 gilts 🤦

norton66

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81987514#Comment_81987514

This has caught me out but may have changed with the new plans, on their price plans page linked above;

Other Trading costs

UK shares & funds (over £500,000)	£40

hallmark

I notice there's no obvious way to sell all on Iweb. I hold xxxxx.xx units. If I click on sell, it'll populate the amount to sell with xxxxx.xx but no option to continue. If I try to edit the units it does give the option to continue but it deletes the .xx and won't let you add it back in.

I'm guessing this mean I'll have to sell by phone (or leave a fraction of a gilt in my account) unless anybody knows better?