Dear AS,
Investing with an “execution-only” broker is meant to make life easier for investors so they can buy and sell their own investments at the speed that suits them. Having to constantly chase up the broker only to find your wife’s account was suspended put a lot of strain on you both. It was the last thing your wife needed as she is currently recovering from cancer surgery. And then to be told your complaint could take eight weeks to resolve: well, that nearly pushed you over the edge.
I asked Interactive Investor on March 4 to investigate why your wife was locked out. By March 8 – getting on for a month after she first attempted to sell the fund – it finally gave her access to her investments. As soon as she was alerted your wife sold the fund, but for significantly less than if she had made the transaction when she first wanted to. She described this as a “scandal”.
When I spoke to Interactive Investor, it did not take long for it to agree that things had gone wrong. Gary Shaw from the firm said: “We have to hold our hands up here. We failed to provide…