“Been with them for over a decade, but wouldn't recommend them to anyone anymore. They were okay when I first joined, but over the years other brokers, particularly those in the US, have marched ahead by a long way.
Thankfully I don't have all my eggs in this basket and if it wasn't for my ISAs and SIPPs I would move everything elsewhere.
They are okay as long as your needs are very simple and you are not an active investor, but if you want to do anything like buy shares in a US company they are probably the worst UK broker around.
Amazingly, Interactive Investor takes TWO DAYS just to transfer dollars into pounds. This is something you can do instantly with any GOOD financial institution or any of dozens of online apps, but yet Interactive Investor will take your money, invest it for themselves on the money markets to earn themselves interest, and then give you it back two days later. I know this beggars belief and sounds like something from the 1980s, but it is true. Personally, I think this kind of thing should be illegal now, as it is absolutely inexcusable. This is something a mere mortal can do in two minutes online, so why it would take a professional financial institution TWO days is very questionable. I've asked why, but they refuse to tell you, and pretty much just say 'Because it does' (I am paraphrasing).
They are also a LOT more expensive than any other online brokers for buying shares from anywhere else in the world. You will be looking at fees of as much as £20, when Interactive Brokers, Tradestation, etc, would charge you less then $5 for the same transaction. That is over 500% more expensive.
And then there's the stop-losses. I can honestly say I have never seen a worse implementation of stop-losses on any system ever. It is as though whoever designed this system wasn't an investor.
With most brokers you just specify what you want the stop loss to be, and you can change it whenever you like. With Interactive Investor you have to actually place a trade order (e.g. sell XYZ if price reaches £X). This trade order will only last a set amount of time (which I think it 60 days) so you have to remember to go in and place another order before that one runs or else you will no longer have a stop loss in place.
Any competent investor will tell you how important stop-losses are, but it seems Interactive Investor don't really care about them that much. There's absolutely no facility to have a trailing stop-loss (wow!) and if you do want to change the stop loss you have to (amazingly) go in and cancel the current stop loss trade order. Then wait until that trade order has happened, which you'd think would be instantaneous, but it isn't. I have had it where I've had to wait for hours for it to happen. I don't know whether that was a glitch or whether it was due to having to wait until the markets had re-opened, although why you'd need to wait until the markets were open who knows.
Then once you've managed to cancel that initial stop-loss order you need to place a new stop-loss order. Imagine having to do that for a few dozen stock holdings every two months. It takes MANY HOURS!!!
These are just a few of the issues. There are lots more such as the inability to buy/sell options (gosh you can do this with apps on your phone these days), and if you're expecting to do anything even slight 'advanced' such as bracket orders forget about it. Not a chance.
I think maybe the people who use Interactive Investor have very small, inactive portfolios, so some of these things won't be a problem (although a good stop loss habit is important for everyone). But for anyone who has a sizeable amount to invest, and wants a diversified portfolio, that is well organised with stop-losses and take-profit orders, and a truly first class service, Interactive Investor are definitely not your best bet.
Their customer service is okay, and they do have some pleasant staff, although it does often take several days to get a reply, and the replies are often very brief and require additional follow-up, which isn't ideal.
It seems that they grow through acquisition rather than through providing an excellent service, and they don't employ enough staff to best meet the needs of their clients (hence the long wait times), but alas, this is often the way these days.
My advice would be to checkout the other options.”
“Diane Patch went way and beyond to help me as a total novice to transfer my account from Share Centre and set up a Trading Account. Thank you so much.”
“Having placed a call to your company today to change credit card details i spoke to Dan Whitesiee who was very helpful with advice on how to navigate my website account. He was very helpful and showed great patiance. M. Gilbert.”
“I have dealt with interactive investor since the the start and have had to seek help on several occasions. Every time I have found the telephone staff friendly, competent and very helpful and patient.
Today I spoke with Nick and he certainly kept flying.
David Erskine.”
“I would have lost nearly $60000 to ETFinance if i had not contacted the recovery agent Mr Bart Kasch when i did. He got back all my money earlier than i thought possible. I recommend him if you are having problems with your broker. Reach him at BartKasch @ Affiliaterecovery .com”
“I have experienced an on-going, still unresolved, problem relating to a Euro balance discrepancy with my trading account following payment last July of a dividend denominated in Euros from a UK LSE main-market listed company (IAG). Incorrect Euro balance is stated in "trading history" section, with no mention of final dividend payment, while higher, correct Euro balance is stated in "cash balance" section. I have currently communicated, mainly verbally on the phone, with 10 staff members since August to try to get problem rectified. So far, after almost 5 months, this issue remains unresolved & seems to have been kicked into the long grass with a mixture of complacency, blame passing, incompetence and arrogance. Customer service would be more-accurately described as customer disservice. I have received a long string of apology & excuse, but no tangible remedy of the problem (blamed on third-party software company) that is very disconcerting to experience, troubling to see such a simple error and wearing to have had to deal with over such along time. So far, only a derisory offer of £50 goodwill payment has been offered (no doubt accepting no liability) and then only as written letter - in take-it-or-leave-it manner, with no prior verbal conversation. E-mail requests in last month to Interactive Help have simply been ignored, with no reply - adding to further discourtesy & impression of contempt towards customer. With aforementioned experience & recent introduction of higher monthly account fees (since June), seriously contemplating moving shareholdings, early next year, to competitor company offering much fairer, cheaper, less arrogant & more customer-engaged service.”
“I have experienced an on-going, still unresolved, problem relating to a Euro balance discrepancy with my trading account following payment last July of a dividend denominated in Euros from a UK LSE main-market listed company (IAG). Incorrect Euro balance is stated in "trading history" section, with no mention of final dividend payment, while higher, correct Euro balance is stated in "cash balance" section. I have currently communicated, mainly verbally on the phone, with 10 staff members since August to try to get problem rectified. So far, after almost 5 months, this issue remains unresolved & seems to have been kicked into the long grass with a mixture of complacency, blame passing, incompetence and arrogance. Customer service would be more-accurately described as customer disservice. I have received a long string of apology & excuse, but no tangible remedy of the problem (blamed on third-party software company) that is very disconcerting to experience, troubling to see such a simple error and wearing to have had to deal with over such along time. So far, only a derisory offer of £50 goodwill payment has been offered (no doubt accepting no liability) and then only as written letter - in take-it-or-leave-it manner, with no prior verbal conversation. E-mail requests in last month to Interactive Help have simply been ignored, with no reply - adding to further discourtesy & impression of contempt towards customer. With aforementioned experience & recent introduction of higher monthly account fees (since June), seriously contemplating moving shareholdings, early next year, to competitor company offering much fairer, cheaper, less arrogant & more customer-engaged service.”
“Euro balance discrepancy in ii trading account & general arrogant attitude - being ineffectual & failing to resolve issue
I have experienced an on-going, still unresolved, problem relating to a Euro balance discrepancy with my trading account following payment last July of a dividend denominated in Euros from a UK LSE main-market listed company (IAG). Incorrect Euro balance is stated in "trading history" section, with no mention of final dividend payment, while higher, correct Euro balance is stated in "cash balance" section. I have currently communicated, mainly verbally on the phone, with 10 staff members since August to try to get problem rectified. So far, after almost 5 months, this issue remains unresolved & seems to have been kicked into the long grass with a mixture of complacency, blame passing, incompetence and arrogance. Customer service would be more-accurately described as customer disservice. I have received a long string of apology & excuse, but no tangible remedy of the problem (blamed on third-party software company) that is very disconcerting to experience, troubling to see such a simple error and wearing to have had to deal with over such along time. So far, only a derisory offer of £50 goodwill payment has been offered (no doubt accepting no liability) and then only as written letter - in take-it-or-leave-it manner, with no prior verbal conversation. E-mail requests in last month to Interactive Help have simply been ignored, with no reply - adding to further discourtesy & impression of contempt towards customer. With aforementioned experience & recent introduction of higher monthly account fees (since June), seriously contemplating moving shareholdings, early next year, to competitor company offering much fairer, cheaper, less arrogant & more customer-engaged service.”
“Stock market trade is not a risky business only if you can understand the market trend properly and locate a regulated broker to sign up with, I’m a professional trader and i love to see other traders excel binary options trade that’s why i have decided to share this to who is interested . He also offer assistance to withdraw money from scam broker in case your money is stuck. Square, bonds, binary options trading , Crypto bitcoin or any investment company . Contact hacktools @ tutanota dot (com )”
“I had some shares, in one company, and a small amount of cash transferred to interactive investor from TD Direct. I did not pay any fees at TD. The shares were transferred to a trading account, yet I had not traded in these shares for many years. Interactive Investor silently took fees to run the trading account from my cash and only ever notified me that they were taking cash from my account when there was none left and they were threatening to sell some om my holdings to fund their silent costs for my unused trading account. I am closing my account and will never have anything more to do with these people. In my opinion, they are just out to get what they can for customers whatever it costs the customer, and there communications and outlook for the customer is non-existent....avoid.”
“Avoid completely if you are looking for a corporate account.
I already have one with HL which is absolutely fine, but I am looking to spread risk and also benefit from ii's more favourable charging on large portfolio's. Having applied for an account they have simply said "no", no explanation - just a "go away and don't come back"
Pathetic.
Funnily enough, ii couldn't do enough for me with my multiple personal accounts, SIPP and junior ISA's - the corporate arm though is clearly uninterested (misinformed) and completely unhelpful
If it wasn't for the limited choice out there, I'd close my personal investments as a demonstration of the frustration.
HL should be happy though.”
“Excellent, very friendly and patient support. I'd transferred from Trading to ISA using 'Bed and ISA'. Straightforward to do online but there was a glitch at the end when some cash values were left in the Trading account.
Phoned (and received a reply from JAMES after automated system. He was attentive, re-assuring and VERY clearly spoken (No background 'office' noises either). After checking he'd understood my questions correctly, he offered very clear explanations and then made appropriate adjustments whilst I was on the line. He explained why there may continue to be a need to re-visit this next week once dividend activity had time to settle. Faultless, Quality, Professional Customer Service. Thanks. Apreciated.”
“Started the process of transferring a stock & shares ISA to interactive investor on 2nd May 2018 and as of 22nd August 2018 it is still not complete. My existing broker tells me they have been waiting for interactive investor for everything since providing a valuation for my account on 10th May 2018. Over three months and the transfer is not complete. This is the worst experience I've ever had with a broker. Be warned, this firm is slow slow slow!”
“Was a happy TD Direct customer before they were bought by Interactive Investor. They are now difficult to get hold of if you have any problems. Email response time is poor at best and is counted in days if you are lucky. If you can find a telephone number and get someone on the line, they aren't the most helpful. If it were easy to change ISA providers, I would.”
“AVOID!!!!
On 18 April 2018, based on information provided by the iii app, I requested a purchase of shares which were quoted by iii as costing £4.11 each. It transpired that they were in fact £5.064 each, and the information provided by their app was both false and misleading. Despite several phone calls and emails to iii, there has been no action after 30 working days, and they are not responding to my requests for an update. I provided screenshots from my iPhone of their published price of £4.11 (which I fortuitously took at the time), and they have acknowledged receipt of these. My initial call to them was taken by Amraiz, who was helpful and acknowledged the error, but who has since failed to respond to several requests for him to call me with an update. I have today referred this to the Financial Ombudsman, requesting action be taken against Interactive Investor. Appalling customer service!!!”
