Haven't been on for a while and notice the interest in alternatives to HL. I finally switched to them this year, having been a customer since 1991. I've moved to Interactive Brokers, the US discount broker.
Main benefits - lower/comporable admin fees, despite having to pay a separate SIPP administrator - lower trading commissions - typically £3 for a UK stock, usually $1 for US and sometimes free, no minimum volume - much, much lower fx costs - they effectively allow you to run a multi-currency account and switch between ccys at bank rate; Consequently, I'm still booking US trades at $1.30/£; and, e.g. buying, say, 10k of Microsoft for $1.02 fees all in. - decent interest on cash balances; e.g I've been getting 4.83% on dollar deposits for months - diret market access means I generally get a much better price than I would via HL (thought see below) - incredible reporting and risk management - professional level but easy to understand, e,g. will chart your holdings allocations again a benchmark and show where you are out- and under-performing that benchmark on a really easy to understand 2-d chart - proper performance reporting and all sorts of nuggets like it will project your dividend income and give you bundled access to all sorts of fundamental analysis and news
Disadvantages - you have to wait the 2 days for a stock to clear and settle before you can use that cash - a lot of people might find the interface complicated, though the web interface I think is pretty clear (difficult one for me to judge, as I spent most of my adult life designing and building trading systems) - having to set up a separate SIPP admin - aggro initially but worth it in the end - some illiquid UK stocks are a little clunky to trade - direct market orders can sit there all day; whereas HL (and IG) take on the risk on your behalf immediately. - you have to pay for market data, but then the data is better and it's always been refunded with maybe 2-3 trades a month.
Done a little review and have taken a bit of a hammering in my UK real estate fund, asleep at the wheel to not see that one coming... Think it's a case of get out whilst there's still a chance?
Done a little review and have taken a bit of a hammering in my UK real estate fund, asleep at the wheel to not see that one coming... Think it's a case of get out whilst there's still a chance?
Done a little review and have taken a bit of a hammering in my UK real estate fund, asleep at the wheel to not see that one coming... Think it's a case of get out whilst there's still a chance?
If its a mainstream UK property fund then they all took a hammering in 2022, with some even closing completely. Those still around have recovered in a bit since the turn of the year but are still down on 2021.
While I'm here perhaps I could get opinions on two related questions re markets performance this week
1. What are the main factors driving this week's sell-off?
2. Why is it that the only equity holding I have that is bucking the downturn trend is....Direct Line😂😉 I cannot find any news about them but since Tuesday it's up about 10%....anyone know?
Mainly China woes - property bubble threatening again (a major property company missed its bond payments last weekend); Chinese tech companies posting bad results; Chinese economic data woeful.
On top of that a slightly more hawkish tone from the FED minutes this week is raising bond yields and affecting high PE/growth and high yield stocks in particular.
No idea why DL is rising - most insurance companies are getting hit with the rising bond yields issue.
While I'm here perhaps I could get opinions on two related questions re markets performance this week
1. What are the main factors driving this week's sell-off?
2. Why is it that the only equity holding I have that is bucking the downturn trend is....Direct Line😂😉 I cannot find any news about them but since Tuesday it's up about 10%....anyone know?
evergrande (one of china's largest property developers) have finally filed for bankruptcy, I'd have thought it would've been priced into the market by now, but it's still a shock.
Mainly China woes - property bubble threatening again (a major property company missed its bond payments last weekend); Chinese tech companies posting bad results; Chinese economic data woeful.
On top of that a slightly more hawkish tone from the FED minutes this week is raising bond yields and affecting high PE/growth and high yield stocks in particular.
No idea why DL is rising - most insurance companies are getting hit with the rising bond yields issue.
Thanks..I'm currently about 10% down overall on my DL holding, which I mainly bought as an income stock, so naturally as soon as I did that they stopped paying dividends😂 I was hoping to get out at more or less parity and then invest the proceeds in L&G which is generally considered safe, and also pays a quite juicy dividend. L&G looks quite cheap right now. I wonder whether therefore I should do this today...but what if the DL rise is due to some kind of whisper that they may become a takeover target, in which case I might be better to wait at least until I know what's going on there...
FTSE fell earlier this week with the news of higher pay increases, which the market felt could lead to the BOE increasing rates further as higher pay leads to more spending which leads to higher inflation.
I attended a seminar yesterday about Bonds - gilts mainly. This particular fund management company is now thinking the base rate will hit 6% by the end of the year & wont start falling until 2025. By 2027 we might see the base rate around 3%.
So, all that the strikers (doctors, nurses, teachers, train drivers etc etc) have achieved is to make themselves worse off by having to endure higher interest rates for longer.
Comments
Main benefits
- lower/comporable admin fees, despite having to pay a separate SIPP administrator
- lower trading commissions - typically £3 for a UK stock, usually $1 for US and sometimes free, no minimum volume
- much, much lower fx costs - they effectively allow you to run a multi-currency account and switch between ccys at bank rate; Consequently, I'm still booking US trades at $1.30/£; and, e.g. buying, say, 10k of Microsoft for $1.02 fees all in.
- decent interest on cash balances; e.g I've been getting 4.83% on dollar deposits for months
- diret market access means I generally get a much better price than I would via HL (thought see below)
- incredible reporting and risk management - professional level but easy to understand, e,g. will chart your holdings allocations again a benchmark and show where you are out- and under-performing that benchmark on a really easy to understand 2-d chart
- proper performance reporting and all sorts of nuggets like it will project your dividend income and give you bundled access to all sorts of fundamental analysis and news
Disadvantages
- you have to wait the 2 days for a stock to clear and settle before you can use that cash
- a lot of people might find the interface complicated, though the web interface I think is pretty clear (difficult one for me to judge, as I spent most of my adult life designing and building trading systems)
- having to set up a separate SIPP admin - aggro initially but worth it in the end
- some illiquid UK stocks are a little clunky to trade - direct market orders can sit there all day; whereas HL (and IG) take on the risk on your behalf immediately.
- you have to pay for market data, but then the data is better and it's always been refunded with maybe 2-3 trades a month.
Have we got a list of runners and riders
As it stands (please check I haven't missed your post and I've entered correctly!):
1. What are the main factors driving this week's sell-off?
2. Why is it that the only equity holding I have that is bucking the downturn trend is....Direct Line😂😉 I cannot find any news about them but since Tuesday it's up about 10%....anyone know?
On top of that a slightly more hawkish tone from the FED minutes this week is raising bond yields and affecting high PE/growth and high yield stocks in particular.
No idea why DL is rising - most insurance companies are getting hit with the rising bond yields issue.
I attended a seminar yesterday about Bonds - gilts mainly. This particular fund management company is now thinking the base rate will hit 6% by the end of the year & wont start falling until 2025. By 2027 we might see the base rate around 3%.
So, all that the strikers (doctors, nurses, teachers, train drivers etc etc) have achieved is to make themselves worse off by having to endure higher interest rates for longer.