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Investors can earn up to £2,100 in free shares from investment app Freetrade for transferring an Isa or Sipp to the platform before the end of the tax year.
Freetrade is running a free stock offering*for investors who transfer an Isa or Sipp to the platform before April 5, 2023.
Investment boost: Freetrade launched free shares offer for Isa and Sipp transfers
The amount they will get in free shares depends on the amount they transfer into a Freetrade Isa or Sipp.
The value starts at £100 in free shares for a transfer of £10,000 and goes up to £2,100 in free shares for a transfer of £500,000 or more.
Investors must deposit at least £10,000 into a Freetrade Isa or Sipp to get the offer.
The way it works is that Freetrade will give investors a free share or shares worth the value of the prize. These are set out in the table below.
| Financing amount | Free Action Value |
|---|---|
| £10,000-£19,999 | £100 |
| £20,000-£39,999 | £200 |
| £40,000-£79,999 | £400 |
| £80,000-£159,999 | £800 |
| £160,000-£249,999 | £1,200 |
| £250,000-£499,999 | £1,800 |
| £500,000+ | £2,100 |
The free shares will be deposited into the client’s general investment account rather than into an Isa or Sipp, as there are restrictions on crediting money or shares into tax wrappers.
Customers can sell the shares immediately and transfer the cash into their Isa or Sipp if they wish.
New customers will need to download the Freetrade app and open an Isa or Sipp account with a Standard or Plus annual subscription before they can get the offer.
Investors must then top up their account or initiate a transfer of at least £10,000 to their Freetrade Isa or Sipp on or before April 5, 2024.
If you make withdrawals or transfers that cause the value of your Isa or Sipp transfer to fall before Freetrade awards you the share, the value of your free share will be affected. If it falls below £10,000 you will not receive a free share.
The free stock will arrive in your general investment account within 90 days.
How does it compare to other transfer deals?
There are several other Isa transfer deals on the market, but they end tomorrow.
Customers could get up to £5,000 with Interactive agreement for investors*, although they would have to transfer a huge £2m pension into a II Sipp to get this sum.
Those transferring smaller pension funds and investments could get hundreds of pounds worth of refunds.
To get the refund, investors must open or transfer funds to an Interactive Investor general investment account, Isa or Sipp before February 29.
Interactive Investor’s Sipp deal starts with a £100 cashback for investors who deposit or transfer the minimum qualifying amount of £10,000. The cashback increases the more you deposit or transfer, rising to £5,000 for amounts over £2 million.
For the general investment account deal and Isa, the cashback increases from £100 on deposits or transfer value of £2,000, which is the minimum deposit, to £1,500 for values over £500,000.
Check the table to find out how much cash back you could earn depending on the amount you deposit into the account.
| Deposit/transfer value | Refund of money |
|---|---|
| £10,000 – £24,999 | £100 |
| £25,000 – £99,999 | £200 |
| £100,000 – £199,999 | £500 |
| £200,000 – £499,999 | £750 |
| £500,000 – £999,999 | £1,500 |
| £1,000,000 – £1,499,000 | £3,000 |
| £1,500,000 – £1,999,999 | £4,000 |
| £2,000,000+ | £5,000 |
| Deposit/transfer value | Refund of money |
|---|---|
| £2000 – £9999 | £100 |
| £10,000 – £19,999 | £150 |
| £20,000 – £49,999 | £250 |
| £50,000 – £99,999 | £500 |
| £100,000 – £199,999 | £750 |
| £200,000 – £499,999 | £1,000 |
| £500,000+ | £1,500 |
Meanwhile, Hargreaves Lansdown offers up to £3,500 to its customers* who transfer a pension of £1 million into a Sipp, or up to £1,000 when transferring investment accounts worth £80,000 or more.
To qualify for the offer, customers must register for the wire cash back offer and apply by February 29, 2024.
Transfers between £10,000 and £29,999 will get a refund of £100, while transfers of £1 million or more will get a maximum refund of £3,500.
Investors can get up to £1,000 in cashback when transferring investment accounts* with a value of £4,000 or more in an HL Stocks and Shares Isa or HL Shares and Funds account.
Cash transfers from Isa to a stocks and shares Isa also qualify for the deal, but the presentation of share certificates does not qualify for redemption.
You can get £50 cashback for a transfer worth between £4,000 and £9,999 and the maximum of £1,000 for a transfer worth £80,000 or more.
According to the platform, Hargreaves Lansdown does not charge any fees for transferring investments and the annual charge for holding investments does not exceed 0.45 percent.
| Transfer value | Refund of money |
|---|---|
| £10,000 – £29,999 | £100 |
| £30,000 – £59,999 | £250 |
| £60,000 – £89,999 | £500 |
| £90,000 – £109,999 | £1,000 |
| £110,000 – £124,999 | £1,250 |
| £125,000 – £999,000 | £1,500 |
| £1 million and more | £3,500 |
| Transfer value | Refund of money |
|---|---|
| £4,000 – £9,999 | £50 |
| £10,000 – £19,999 | £100 |
| £20,000 – £39,999 | £150 |
| £40,000 – £59,999 | £300 |
| £60,000 – £79,999 | £500 |
| £80,000+ | £1,000 |
Are the offers worth changing for?
The redemption amounts offered by Interactive Investor and Hargreaves Lansdown are considerable, as is the value of the free Freetrade shares. However, investors need to make sure the platform is right for them, rather than simply accepting money to get around. Read our guide to the best investment platforms.
If you have a large pension fund to transfer, the Interactive Investor refund looks attractive, but as with any big decision like this, it’s vital you do your due diligence.
Be aware of departure fees. Your current pension provider may charge you exit fees if you want to leave or transfer your current pension.
If you later decide to move, there is no charge to transfer your account out of Freetrade or HL and Interactive Investor removed Sipp exit charges in 2018.
All pension investments gain and lose value over time, even those invested in safe assets and investment classes.
You should remember that transferring pensions can take time and during this time you will not be able to trade and may be exposed to fluctuations in the value of your pension.
Transfers typically take two to four weeks, depending on your provider, according to Hargreaves Lansdown.
If you’re concerned about fees, Interactive Investor offers flat-fee pricing rather than fees taken as a percentage of clients’ investments. This may work best for investors with large pots.
Freetrade’s fees are based on which of their three plans you have. Their Basic plan offers commission-free trading on more than 4,700 stocks and fractional shares within one general investment account. The Standard plan fee is £5.99 per month or £59.88 per year, and the Plus account charges £11.99 per month or £119.88 per year.
Hargreaves Lansdown charges 0.45 per cent per year on investments, but importantly this is capped at £45 per year for investment trusts, ETFs and shares.
If you’re switching to give your investments a cashback boost, Hargreaves Lansdown’s cashback deal offers less cashback for the amount you deposit or transfer into an Isa or general investment account.
It also has a limit of £80,000, so even if you have a larger amount to transfer you won’t receive more than £1,000 in cashback.
The Freetrade deal offers the highest reward value of £2,100 in free shares for transfers of £500,000 or more. While it’s not actual cash, investors can sell the shares immediately and transfer the cash into their Isa or Sipp.
This offer is only for Isas and Sipps, while HL will give you up to £1,000 cashback for opening or transferring a general investment account.
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