Dealing
The value of your investments and the income from them may go down as well as up, and you could get back less than you invested.
Funds
Before you start
- You should fully research your chosen investment before you trade. Make sure you are comfortable with its expected performance and understand the potential risks involved.
- You can only place a trade once per day on the same fund.
Buying new funds
- Go to the 'Summary' page of your chosen account
- Navigate to the 'Funds' table and click on 'Add funds' at the top
- Use our ‘Investment search’ tool to find your chosen investment
- Click 'Invest now' and follow the prompts on screen to enter how much you'd like to invest and click 'Buy now'
- Your fund(s) will be added to your orders basket, don't forget to checkout to finish purchasing your funds and submit the order
Buying more of existing funds
- Go to the 'Summary' page of your chosen account
- Click on the plus symbol (+) under the 'Funds' table and enter how much you would like to purchase
- Click 'Add to order'
- Your fund(s) will be added to your orders basket, don't forget to checkout to finish purchasing your funds and submit the order
What happens next?
You can track your trade’s status after logging in online.
You’ll get a contract note from the fund manager once the trade has been confirmed, which you can find in the Documents section.
Before you start
- You can only place a trade once per day on the same fund.
Selling funds
- Go to the 'Summary' page of your chosen account
- Click on the minus symbol (-) under the 'Funds' table and select the 'Sell' tab
- You can choose to sell the entire holding, a specific number of units/shares or a specific value
- Once you've selected an option, on the next screen you'll be asked to review and 'Confirm sell' if you are happy with everything
What happens next?
The money from your sale will top up your Cash available to invest balance once the trade has completed. You can reinvest the cash or withdraw the money to your nominated bank account.
What is a fund switch?
On Bestinvest you can place an instruction online to sell your current investments in one or more funds and reinvest the money into a different fund or funds.
Important to know: switching between funds can trigger Capital Gains Tax (CGT)
Switching funds
- Go to the 'Summary' page of your chosen account
- Click on the minus symbol (-) under the 'Funds' table and select the 'Switch' tab
- You can choose to switch the entire holding, a specific number of units/shares or a specific value
- Once you've selected an option, you will be directed to investment search to find the fund you want to switch into
- Click 'Switch' on your chosen fund, review the switch order and click 'Confirm' when you are happy with everything
What happens next?
- Fund switching can take a bit longer to complete than a normal buy or sell instruction. You'll receive a contract note for the sale of the fund you are switching from and to when they have completed.
There are several stages a fund goes through when you submit your request to purchase it through our platform. Here's what to expect and how long the process usually takes.
Trade timings
- Trade price confirmed: 1-2 working days (can be up to five working days)
- Trade completed: up to 5 working days
Tracking your trade
- Pending - the order has been placed and is waiting tobe confirmed by the fund manager. You will see this in the Pending table in your transaction history
- Completed - the order has completed and a contract note generated is generated which you can find in the Documents section
If you have waited more than five working days, you can get in touch with our Client relations team on 020 7189 9999.
The price of a fund is determined by the value of the underlying investments, also known as the Net Asset Value (NAV). A fund manager will periodically value all the investments within the fund and divide it by the number of units/shares that have been issued. The result is the price that you are shown when you purchase units within a fund.
We are unable to provide fund prices at the time of purchase or sale. Our Investment search shows fund prices as of the previous dealing day for all funds – these are indicative of the price you will receive but that will depend on market conditions.
Stocks and Shares
When you trade shares, we give you two options to instruct the trade.
- Buy now (Quote & Deal)
- Buy via limit order
Buy now (Quote & Deal)
Quote & Deal gives you the exact share price of your order before you commit to it. You can enter either a number of shares or an amount of cash to be invested/raised.
We obtain a real-time price quote from the market and display it for the period the quote remains active, usually around 15 seconds. If you decide to accept the quote then we will attempt to execute your deal immediately.
Quote & Deal can only be selected during market hours. The aim of a Quote & Deal order is to secure both price and execution.
How to use Quote & Deal to buy or sell shares:
- Go to the account you would like to use to buy or sell the share(s)
- For a new investment, click on 'Add stocks and shares' and find the one you want to add
- To buy more of an existing investment, click the '+' symbol in the 'Trade' column
- To sell an existing investment, click the '-' symbol in the 'Trade' column
- When the window appears make sure you select 'Buy/Sell now (Quote & Deal)'
- Follow the prompts to complete the trade
Buy via limit order
A limit order is an instruction to buy or sell a set amount of shares at a specified price or better. The order will not be executed if the price set by you is not met while the order is open.
A limit order can be placed at any time and will be monitored up to a maximum of 30 business days. You can either enter a number of shares or an amount of cash to be invested/raised.
A note about US shares: we are unable to process US shares via Limit order for both Buy and Sell instructions.
How to set up a limit order to buy or sell shares:
- Go to the account you would like to use to buy or sell the share(s)
- For a new investment, click on 'Add stocks and shares' and find the one you want to add
- To buy more of an existing investment, click the '+' symbol in the 'Trade' column
- To sell an existing investment, click the '-' symbol in the 'Trade' column
- When the window appears make sure you select 'Buy/Sell via limit order'
- Follow the prompts to finish setting up your limit order
US shares
What is a W-8BEN?
A W-8BEN, also known as a Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting, is a form used to certify an individual's foreign tax status.
This form captures information that we are required to record for the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). If you need guidance on the contents of the form, more information can be found on the IRS website.
Once you've completed the form it is valid for three years.
If you want to invest in US shares in your ISA, Junior ISA or Investment account you need to complete a W-8BEN.
How to complete a W-8BEN
The W-8BEN form can be completed online for some accounts, while for other accounts we require the form to be completed and emailed back to us.
Completing a W-8BEN online: ISA and Investment accounts
- Log in online or via the app
- Select 'Invest' and find the US share you want to trade on our investment search (select 'US shares' from the quick filters to browse available shares)
- Select 'Invest now' on the share you want to trade
- A message will appear on the next screen asking you to submit a W-8BEN with some of the information pre-populated for you
Completing a W-8BEN manually: Junior ISAs
You need to complete the W-8BEN form and return it to us via email or post.
Download W-8BEN
What happens next?
- You will receive an email to confirm your W-8BEN has been submitted to us
- Online W-8BEN forms take three business days to process
- Manually submitted W-8BEN forms take five business days to process
- You will receive a separate email confirming that your W-8BEN has been accepted and that you can now trade US shares
- Log back into your account online, find the shares you're interested in and place your order
What is a W-8BEN-E?
A W-8BEN-E provides a similar purpose as a W-8BEN in certifying a person's foreign tax status. However a W-8BEN-E is for businesses, companies and organisations to complete.
If you want to invest in US shares in your SIPP, Trust or other non-personal account you must complete a W-BEN-E.
Completing a W-8BEN-E for a SIPP
Let us know that you would like to invest in US shares in your SIPP and we will liaise with our pension administrator (EBS) to complete the necessary paperwork for you.
Send us a message
Completing a W-8BEN-E for Trusts or other non-personal account
Complete and return the form to us via post or email.
Download W-8BEN-E form
What happens next?
- It takes 15 working days to process a W8BEN-E
- We will get in touch by email to let you know once your form has been accepted and that you can now trade US shares
You can hold US shares in any account. If you’re trading US shares in your ISA, Junior ISA or Investment Account you’ll need to have an up-to-date W-8BEN form.
To trade US shares in a SIPP or complex account such as a Trust, you’ll need to complete a W-8BENE form, which we can send to you.
There is no dealing fee when you buy US shares online but there is a 0.95% foreign exchange (FX) fee per transaction. If you want to purchase US shares over the phone there is a £30 fee per deal.
The foreign exchange fee does not apply on dividend reinvestment or payout.
Our service fee for holding US shares in any account tiers down from 0.2%.
A CREST Depository Interest (CDI) is a UK investment that represents an investment listed on an exchange outside the UK. We use CDIs so you can trade US shares in your account.
CREST is the electronic system for holding financial securities and settles transactions for UK stocks. CDIs are needed because you can’t settle international shares in CREST (Certificates Registry for Electronic Share Transfer).
When you buy or sell a US share in your Bestinvest account, CREST issue a CDI, which lets you settle your purchase or sale in GBP, exactly as you would for a UK share.
CREST issues one CDI for each share in a US company – each CDI is equivalent to one share of the underlying company.
Dividends are paid on CDIs in the local currency of the investment and converted to GBP before being credited to your account. Please note that a foreign exchange charge (for converting USD to GBP) applies when you buy or sell a US share.
Investment types
Equities/Investment Trusts/Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)
Must be traded on LSE platform (AIM/LSE/AQUIS main market), must be traded in GBP & must have at least a £20m market cap.
Funds
Must be for retail clients, must trade daily, must be traded in GBP, must not be a NMPI & must hold assets.
US CDI
Must be traded on LSE platform, must have a US Domestic equivalent on NASDAQ/NYSE, must be traded in USD & must have at least a $20m market cap.
Note: we do not allow cannabis-based investments, crypto, directly held bonds or debt instruments (such as gilts) on the platform
We do not offer crypto on our platform.
No we do not currently offer the ability to invest in these high-risk investments.
If there's an investment you'd like to buy through our platform and we don't currently offer it, you can make a request for it to be set up.
To request a new investment be set up:
- Send us a message using our contact form
- Select 'Asset' from the query dropdown
- Provide details of the investment if possible including the name, SEDOL & ISIN
What happens next?
- Once we have received your request, it will go through our asset setup process to see if we can or can't set it up on our platform
- When we have confirmation on a decision, we will reach out to let you know.
- If the asset can be set up on the platform it can take up to 2 weeks for it to appear on our investment search and available to trade
We set a market cap limit of £5m to protect our clients from investing further into high risk assets.
Income and Dividends
The type of unit you hold determines how any income generated from the fund's underlying investments is treated.
With income units, income is paid out to you as cash. This could provide you with an income stream. Alternatively, you can choose for the cash to be reinvested which means using the cash to buy additional units.
With accumulation units income is retained within the fund and reinvested, increasing the price of the units. Generally, if you wish to reinvest income, accumulation units offer a more convenient way of doing so.
If you have chosen to have the income paid to you, income from your investments will show as cash on your account.
You can withdraw the cash yourself by navigating to the 'Withdraw cash' tab on your account page and following the steps on your screen.
If you would prefer your income paid out to your bank account regularly then you can ask our Client relations team to set up a monthly payment from an ISA or Investment Account. You can contact them on 020 7189 9999.
If you have chosen to have the income reinvested, it will be automatically reinvested into the fund. You can find this information in your transaction history by navigating to the account you have made the investment in, and clicking the 'Transactions' tab.
You will need to call or email us to change the way your dividends are paid. We will then contact our custodian to make the necessary changes. If this is requested after the ex date of a particular fund (the date at which the value of dividends is calculated and paid to investors) your preference will not be amended until the following dividend payment. In order to qualify for dividends, you will need to hold the fund(s) before the ex date.
If you have chosen to have the income paid to you, income from your investments will show as cash on your account.
You can withdraw the cash yourself by navigating to the 'Withdraw cash' tab on your account page and following the steps on your screen.
If you would prefer your income paid out to your bank account regularly then you can ask our Client relations team to set up a monthly payment from an ISA or Investment Account. You can contact them on 020 7189 9999.
If you have chosen to have the income reinvested, it will be automatically reinvested into the fund. You can find this information in your transaction history by navigating to the account you have made the investment in, and clicking the 'Transactions' tab.
As there isn't any purchase of units or cash value being added the dividend shows as £0. Acquisition lot Adjustment is there to show there was a dividend event for the accumulation holding so the book cost is amended.
This is usually as a fund would be down as income reinvested/accumulation or an equity holding, contact our team to get these amended.
There can sometimes be a slight delay with our custodian (SEI) receiving and posting the dividend information. If it has been more than five working days from the payment date please contact our team so we can investigate this further for you.
Yes we pay the net amount for Property Income Distribution (PID) dividends and then reclaim this directly from HMRC. There are monthly claims for ISA accounts (this can take up to six weeks to arrive) and a yearly claim for SIPP accounts so this can take longer.
Useful information
The minimum investment into most funds is £50. The minimum investment into equities is the cost of one share, as well as any applicable trading costs.
The dealing point is the point at which a trade for a fund has been confirmed with both SEI (our custodian) and the fund manager.
The cut-off point is the time by which an order must be placed on a given day. For instance, if a dealing point is midday every day then the cut-off point may be 9am on the same day. If an order is received after this cut-off point the trade will not be confirmed and will be processed at the next available dealing point – in this case, the next day.
If you switch between investments within an Investment account this would be a CGT event.
If you are converting between share classes or making an amendment from income to accumulation or vice versa please send us a message and we can process this as a conversion which would not be classified as a CGT event. This can take 6-8 weeks to complete.
A contract note is a receipt for a trade. Whenever you make a trade, you will receive a contract note.
Each contract note documents the details of your transaction including the number of shares you have bought or sold, the price, date of purchase, date of settlement, and so on.
View your contract notes
You can view your contract notes online:
- Once you're logged into your account, click on the 'Profile' icon in the top right hand corner
- Select 'Documents' from the menu
- You can find all your contract notes under the 'Contract notes' table
You can gift the asset to charity. We would need a signed letter confirming you would like to relinquish all rights to the asset.
For SIPPs, we may not be able to gift the asset to charity due to HMRC rules. However, we can request removal and see if our pension provider can action on our behalf.
There are times when you might not be able to trade a particular investment and you encounter one of the following messages:
- Liquidity issues - when market conditions are volatile we may not be able to trade stocks and shares on your behalf. This may be because our market maker is unable to fill a quoted price. There may also be issues with individual assets.
- Fund is soft-closed - a soft-closed fund is a fund that has been temporarily closed for new investments by the fund manager. You can usually sell your holdings during a soft closure but you won’t be able to make additional investments until the fund manager reopens it.
If you encounter one of these messages and would like further information, you can contact our client relations team by phone, email or live chat.
Occasionally, the buy or sell functionality (represented by a '+' or '-' symbol next to an investment on the summary page of your account) can be disabled for a number of reasons:
- The asset is currently in an untradeable state
- The asset is 'sell only'
- There is a cheaper share class available which we are in the process of switching you into
- The market cap is under £5m
- The asset is currently 'soft closed'
If the buy or sell functionality is disabled for one of your investments, get in touch with us and we'll be able to provide more information and the best course of action.