Costs
You pay the spread going in and again coming out
The difference between the buying and the selling price is a cost taken at the moment you trade. Nothing on the statement calls it…
Costs
Charges, spreads and the one variable in investing you can actually control.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 2 of 2
Costs
Flat fees and percentage fees cross over somewhere
Two platforms can charge very different amounts for the same portfolio. The point where one becomes cheaper is arithmetic you can…
Costs
The exchange rate is where the quiet charge lives
Buying a foreign-listed holding usually means converting money twice. The rate you actually get is not the rate you saw quoted…
Costs
What the ongoing charges figure leaves out
The headline percentage on a fact sheet is a defined, regulated number. Several genuine costs sit outside that definition by design.
Costs
The same index at three different prices
Several funds tracking one index deliver near-identical exposure at meaningfully different costs. That gap is the clearest saving…
Costs
Leaving a platform costs more than arriving did
Transfer charges, per-holding fees and time out of the market are the price of moving. All of it is disclosed and almost nobody…
Costs
Somebody earns interest on the cash you left uninvested
Cash sitting in an investment account earns interest for somebody. How much of it reaches you is a commercial decision made by the…
Costs
Performance fees, high-water marks and what they pay for
A charge tied to results sounds like alignment. The details of how it is calculated decide whether it actually is.
Costs
Charge comparison tables assume a customer who is not you
Published comparisons rank providers using an imagined portfolio and an imagined trading pattern. Your own four numbers produce a…