cwah
Member of DD Central
Posts: 949 
Likes: 468
|
Post by cwah on Oct 26, 2020 14:27:20 GMT
Hello, I've been looking for a while regarding SIPP providers. I'd like to have one that is cheap as chip, but also with some choices of stock and shares to buy. Here's my final hotlist: | Provider | Yearly fee | Trading fee | FX fees | | HL | Capped to £200 (ETF and shares) | £6 | 1% (£5k) to 0.25% (£20k) | | Halifax | £180 | £12.5 | 1.25%
| | Interactive investor | £240 | £4 - UK stock
£5 - US stock | 1.5% (£25k) to 1% (£50k) | | Vanguard | 0.15% or capped to £375 | £7.5 | N/A | | atsipp (Use Interactive brokers platform) | £526 the first year
£340 following years | £6 - UK stock
$1 - US stock | 0.02% |
So if I were to only trade UK stock and UK ETF, then clearly HL is the best provider. But as soon as I get interest on international stock, the FX fees are a killer. However, I really like a lot of the US stock. UK stock are usually poor performer, but they also attrack stamp duty which is very annoying. Trading US stock at $1 without any stamp duty is a real breeze. I like buying facebook, amazon, tesla and some stock that are not in the core ETF such as Zoom or Jumia.... And if I were to use any other provider than Atsipp I'd be killed by the FX fees. However, buying from atsipp is way more expensive than the others... even though I should save on the fee over time... So I'm hesitating between HL and atsipp... any suggestion? Thank you |
|
IFISAcava
Member of DD Central
Posts: 3,664
Likes: 2,988
|
Post by IFISAcava on Oct 26, 2020 14:42:15 GMT
|
|
cwah
Member of DD Central
Posts: 949
Likes: 468
|
Post by cwah on Oct 26, 2020 15:07:40 GMT
Thanks I'll have a look. Quite a few but I'm thinking most of them would have outrageous FX fees. Which is what is killing most of the return as soon as I buy international stock. Any idea which one could have a fair FX fee?
|
|
KoR_Wraith
Member of DD Central
Posts: 293
Likes: 297
|
Post by KoR_Wraith on Oct 26, 2020 18:00:42 GMT
I was in a similar position a few months ago and settled on IG.com www.ig.com/uk/investments/share-dealing/costs-feesThe key thing is to trade 3+ times a month as this negates/minimises fees. After your first month of 3 trades, US shares can be traded the following month for free, so if you've no pressing buys or sells to make you can simply do a few US share buy/sell transactions free of charge to meet the requirements for the following month. Their FX fee is 0.5% but I personally think that's acceptable given the total package. |
|
cwah
Member of DD Central
Posts: 949
Likes: 468
|
Post by cwah on Oct 26, 2020 19:11:39 GMT
I was in a similar position a few months ago and settled on IG.com www.ig.com/uk/investments/share-dealing/costs-feesThe key thing is to trade 3+ times a month as this negates/minimises fees. After your first month of 3 trades, US shares can be traded the following month for free, so if you've no pressing buys or sells to make you can simply do a few US share buy/sell transactions free of charge to meet the requirements for the following month. Their FX fee is 0.5% but I personally think that's acceptable given the total package. Thanks. I just had a look and the yearly fee is £205 + trade fee from £3 for 3+ trade in the uk and free for the US + 0.5% FX fee... it's actually more expensive than HL. HL is £200/year + £6/trade and 0.25% FX fee. So it's half the fee from IG. You say 0.5% is not much, but this year I paid over £2k in stamp duty due to frequent buy/sell. And in fees I probably 1/5 of that. Stamp duty really cumulate fast, and quickly transfer can mount up to hundred. That's also the reason I avoid buying selling UK stock whenever I can, it's so expensive to buy/sell here!
|
|
cwah
Member of DD Central
Posts: 949
Likes: 468
|
Post by cwah on Oct 26, 2020 19:13:36 GMT
If your portfolio is of a half-decent size, the dog's bollocks option is Interactive Brokers.
Open an independent SIPP with one of IB's approved SIPP trustees, then they will open a SIPP account on your behalf with Interactive Brokers. You can then trade on that SIPP account as normal (with the obvious exception that deposits and withdrawls of money are done via your SIPP trustee due to HMRC SIPP rules).
This would also solve your conundrum of avoiding being screwed on FX.  Yeah if I had a big portfolio that would be a no brainer. But my pension is only about £100k so it's hard to justify to pay first £526 first year then keep paying £340 after............ Tough choice! 
|
|
bigfoot12
Member of DD Central
Posts: 1,817
Likes: 816
|
Post by bigfoot12 on Oct 26, 2020 22:33:12 GMT
+ 0.5% FX fee... it's actually more expensive than HL. I might be out of date, I thought that with IB you can keep the funds in the currency, so if you switch one US investment into another there is no FX fee. Unlike some which when you "switch" one US$ asset into another you pay two FX charges.
|
|
cwah
Member of DD Central
Posts: 949
Likes: 468
|
Post by cwah on Oct 27, 2020 2:57:47 GMT
+ 0.5% FX fee... it's actually more expensive than HL. I might be out of date, I thought that with IB you can keep the funds in the currency, so if you switch one US investment into another there is no FX fee. Unlike some which when you "switch" one US$ asset into another you pay two FX charges. Yes what you said is correct. On top of their very low FX fees. Too bad I can't find any cheaper sipp administrator...
|
|
