What's the best Stocks and Share ISA provider for small amounts?

[rambaugh]

No one has yet mentioned the FX charges applied by II or HL when it comes to investing in anything other than investments based in GBP and was wondering if anyone had done the sums with II or HL in this scenario?

HL and II charge FX commission rates on investments made on their platforms which are not based in GBP. For example if you're interested in buying an ETF that has a base currency in USD you'll get slugged with a transaction charge when buying / selling. II's FX charges look quite hefty and start at 1.5% commission. HL's are not as bad at 0.25% for a similar investment amount. You could ofcourse only buy funds with a base currency in GBP but this would limit your investment universe.

Vanguard does not appear to apply FX charges and while it's account fee is percentage based (and then capped at £375) it may actually work out better than II in the long run if you're investing globally. One drawback with Vanguard is that you can only invest in Vanguard's funds.

[Fred Bloggs]

No one has yet mentioned the FX charges applied by II or HL when it comes to investing in anything other than investments based in GBP and was wondering if anyone had done the sums with II or HL in this scenario?

HL and II charge FX commission rates on investments made on their platforms which are not based in GBP. For example if you're interested in buying an ETF that has a base currency in USD you'll get slugged with a transaction charge when buying / selling. II's FX charges look quite hefty and start at 1.5% commission. HL's are not as bad at 0.25% for a similar investment amount. You could ofcourse only buy funds with a base currency in GBP but this would limit your investment universe.

Vanguard does not appear to apply FX charges and while it's account fee is percentage based (and then capped at £375) it may actually work out better than II in the long run if you're investing globally. One drawback with Vanguard is that you can only invest in Vanguard's funds.

Quite correct about FX charges. Myself, the approach I take is the simplest. Just not buying anything unless it's priced in GBP. Given the thousands of options I have within that, I really don't have a problem. Mustn't lose sight of the fact we are considering low cost retail investment platforms here. Options are available for those wanting much more in the way of international markets exposure. For the majority of us, I suspect one of the usual suspect low cost retail platforms is all we really need.