My ISA is on a platform that charges 1.5% when I trade in US shares. Can anyone recommend a better value platform to which I could transfer my ISA?
I think it would help you get more relevant responses if you said how the 1.5% figure arose.
Is that dealing commission, or exchange rate commission, or both together?
Exchange rate commission is usually how brokers screw their customers.
There will typically be a modest headline fee of say £12~18 for overseas trades, then a 1.5 % forex charge.
So ~90% of the fee is in forex.....
If in an ISA, you have to convert back to sterling on sale, so that's another 1.5%.
As a benchmark, it's possible to convert into foreign currency and transfer to an overseas bank for less than 0.5%.
IG offer an ISA, and charge 0.3% forex fee. There is a £24 per quarter custody fee, but trading charges are offset against it so if you are likely to trade 3+ times per quarter it would be a non-issue. US dealing fees are 2c per share, min $15.
I'm both a customer and hold IG Group (LON:IGG) so may be biased!
The description on the contract note is 'our dealing charge', which is I think is all made up of foreign exchange rate fees.
