Fletch

Shhhh, I was under the impression that the minimum charge for not using their automatic currency conversion was $15 - at least that's what it says on their charges and commissions page: '*Note for multi-currency accounts: These figures apply to clients who opt for the default setting of 'instant currency conversion'. Clients who choose to convert currencies manually will pay commission of 2 cents per share with a minimum charge of $15 on US stocks.'

Put 'verification' in the forum search box and it will probably give you a multitude of threads that will give an indication. I suspect a week will be highly optimistic. IG's customer service since lockdown seems to be slightly left of woeful - with the reported surge in accounts you might have thought they'd have invested a bit more into it.

I believe it was put to the web development team for consideration a few years ago - Needless to say, they are still thinking about it...

Nor do I. IG would doubtless claim extenuating circumstances due to the covid situation. Ultimately depends on whether you would want all the additional time and hassle to make a point. It's unlikely you would up with anything extra by going to the ombudsman, except possibly a dose of piles as you sit around waiting.

Can't really argue with that. Providing of course you want to wait it out for an 'official' investigation.

Not really what I said, or indeed anything remotely like it.

I believe your favourite purveyor of roll d' sausage is reporting tomorrow. Could well be hardcrust.

Really? Are they denying financial responsibility for it? Can't see how this would need to go to an ombudsman - clearly seems to be caused by a technical shortcoming on their part.

As far as I am aware, the £1000 exemption only applies to buying shares via a stock transfer form. There is no consideration when buying electronically.

In the first instance they go to IG. IG then redistributes the dividends to individual investors.

Just as a caveat - bear in mind the following from the commisions and charges page: *Note for multi-currency accounts: These figures apply to clients who opt for the default setting of 'instant currency conversion'. Clients who choose to convert currencies manually will pay commission of 2 cents per share with a minimum charge of $15 on US stocks.

No, I as far as I am aware both accounts are aggregated, so there is only one quarterly charge (but don't quote me on that).

There are a limited selection of ETFs/Investment trusts, though not all are available for putting in an ISA due to tax rules, and I think there are some that IG will only allow 'professional' clients to trade (apparently too complex for us mere mortals). There is a screening tool that shows the availability of ETFs on IG https://etfscreener.ig.com But yes, my feeling is that IG concentrates on its CFD/SB service, and to be fair that is what it is known for. It offers share trading (possibly as a means of attracting further clients into CFD/SB trading), but I think you'll find the level of share trading options and service do not rival more dedicated providers such as HL. Ultimately, you pays your money and you takes your choice...

Fundamentally, I think the main focus of IG is on the provision of CFD/Spreadbetting accounts, because that is where they make the most money. Share trading is a bit of a poor second cousin, and the options available probably reflect that. However, short of the 'free' companies, IG's charges for share trading are about the lowest out there. I do something similar to what you want to do, though obviously every month I have to make the investments myself rather than have it happen automatically. It's not a big deal for me, and I prefer to do it with IG rather than pay for the privilige of an 'automatic' option with someone like HL.

I do not have an IG Smart portfolio so I cannot say for certain, but my interpretation on how they work is that you decide on an overall risk profile and then pay into them - the actual investments are chosen by the manager of the scheme and not by you. It's a bone of contention amongst many people, but IG doesn't have much in the way of automatically investing in stocks of your own choice other than manually trading them yourself (which of course will be subject to the normal dealing charges).