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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 share offer* for investors who transfer an Isa or Sipp to the platform before 5 April 2023.
Boost to investments: Freetrade has launched a free share 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 £10,000 transfer, and goes up to £2,100 in free shares for a transfer of £500,000 or more.
Investors need to 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 award. These are set out in the table below.
| Funding amount | Free share 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 put in a customer’s general investment account rather than Isa or Sipp as there are restrictions around crediting money or shares to tax wrappers.
Customers can sell the shares immediately and move the cash into their Isa or Sipp if they choose to.
New customers will need to download Freetrade’s app and open either an Isa or Sipp account with an annual Standard or Plus subscription before they can get the offer.
Investors then need to top up their account or start a transfer for at least £10,000 into their Freetrade Isa or or Sipp on or before 5 April 2024.
If you make withdrawals or transfers out that cause the value of your Isa or Sipp transfer to fall before Freetrade awards 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 share will land into your general investment account within 90 days.
How does it stack up to other transfer deals?
There are several other Isa transfer deals on the market, but these end tomorrow.
Customers could get up to £5,000 with Interactive Investor’s deal*, though they would have to transfer a huge £2million pension to an II Sipp to get this sum.
Those transferring smaller pension and investment pots could pick up cashback worth hundreds of pounds.
To get the cashback, investors must open or transfer funds to an Interactive Investor Isa, Sipp or general investment account before 29 February.
Interactive Investor’s Sipp deal starts at £100 cashback for investors depositing or transferring the minimum qualifying amount of £10,000. The cashback ramps up the more you deposit or transfer, increasing to £5,000 on amounts over £2million.
For the Isa and general investment account deal, the cashback ramps up from £100 on deposits or transfer value of £2,000, which is the minimum deposit, to £1,500 for values over £500,000.
See the table for how much cashback you could earn depending on the amount you put into the account.
| Deposit/transfer value | Cashback |
|---|---|
| £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 | Cashback |
|---|---|
| £2,000 – £9,999 | £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 is offering up to £3,500 to customers* who transfer a £1million pension to a Sipp, or up to £1,000 when transferring investment accounts worth £80,000 or more.
To qualify for the deal, customers need to register for the transfer cashback offer and apply by 29 February 2024.
Transfers of between £10,000 and £29,999 will get £100 cashback, while transfers of £1million and above will get the maximum £3,500 cashback.
Investors can get up to £1,000 in cashback when transferring investment accounts* worth £4,000 or more into a HL Stocks and Shares Isa or a HL Fund and Share account.
Cash Isa transfers to a Stocks and Shares Isa also qualify for the deal, but the lodgement of share certificates does not qualify for cashback.
You can get £50 cashback for a transfer worth between £4,000 and £9,999 and the maximum £1,000 for a transfer worth £80,000 or more.
There is no Hargreaves Lansdown fee to transfer investments and the annual charge for holding investments is no more than 0.45 per cent, according to the platform.
| Transfer value | Cashback |
|---|---|
| £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 |
| £1million and above | £3,500 |
| Transfer value | Cashback |
|---|---|
| £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 |
Is it worth switching for the offers?
The cashback sums on offer from both Interactive Investor and Hargreaves Lansdown are hefty, as is the value of free shares from Freetrade. However, investors need to make sure the platform is right for them, rather than just taking money to move. Read our guide to the best investment platforms.
If you have a big pension pot to transfer, the Interactive Investor cashback looks attractive – but as with any big decision like this, it is vital to do your due diligence.
Keep exit fees in mind. Your current pension provider may charge you exit fees if you look to leave or transfer your current pension.
If you later decide to move, there is no charge to transfer your account away from Freetrade or HL and Interactive Investor scrapped exit Sipp exit charges in 2018.
All pension investments gain and lose value over time, even ones that are invested in safe asset and investment classes.
You should remember that transferring pensions can take time, and during this time you won’t be able to trade and may be exposed to fluctuations in the value of your pension.
Transfers usually take two to four weeks depending on your provider, according to Hargreaves Lansdown.
If you are worried about charges, Interactive Investor has flat-fee pricing rather than fees taken as a percentage of customers’ investments. This can work out better for investors with big pots.
Freetrade’s fees are based on which of its three plans you have. It’s Basic plan has fee-free trades on over 4,700 stocks and fractional shares within a general investment account. The Standard plan charge is £5.99 per month of £59.88 per year, and the Plus account has a charge of £11.99 per month or £119.88 per year.
Hargreaves Lansdown charges 0.45 per cent annually on investments, but crucially this is capped at £45 per year for investment trusts, ETFs and shares.
If you are switching to give your investments a cash bump, Hargreaves Lansdown’s cashback deal offers less cashback for the amount you deposit or transfer to an Isa or general investment account.
It is also capped at £80,000, so even if you have a bigger amount to transfer you won’t get more than £1,000 in cashback.
Freetrade’s deal offers the higest rewards value of £2,100 in free shares for transfers of £500,000 or more. While not actual cash, investors can sell the shares immediately and move the cash into their Isa or Sipp.
This deal is only for Isas and Sipps, whereas HL will give you up to £1,000 cashback for opening or transferring a general investment account.
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