AJ Bell, one of the UK’s largest online share dealing and investment platforms is launching a new service to compete with its low cost rivals. The new service will be known as Dodl.
What is AJ Bell’s Dodl?
Dodl is an app-based investment platform that will allow investors to trade a range of UK equities and funds without dealing charges or commission AJ Bell will add overseas equities to the app in due course.
Dodl users will be able to trade and invest via:
AJ Bell clients will also be able to consolidate existing ISAs or Pensions on to the new platform, as well as making regular savings or investments through direct debits. Dodl will also accept payments from both Apple and Google pay.
Dodl is due to launch in H1 2022, however, potential clients can register their interest at the Dodl website.
Read our full AJ Bell review here
How much will it cost to invest with Dodl?
Dodl will be free of commission at the point of use, but there will be 0.15% per annum charge for using the service. Meaning that the higher the value of your Dodl portfolio the more you will pay.
If you have investment worth £100,000 in your account then you will pay an annual fee of £150.00.
However Dodl will not be charging additional admin fees for ISAs or other tax efficient wrappers, which is new twist on the low cost investing business model.
The Dodl charging structure sits midway between the basic free share dealing services ,such as those offered by Freetrade and monthly subscription services popularised by Interactive Investor, where members pay £9.99 per month, much of which is rebated back against trading commissions.
Freetrade offers a premium service, Freetrade Plus, for which it also charges £9.99 per month.
For the moment Hargreaves Lansdown the UKs largest D2C investment platform, and AJ bells principal rival, charges a flat fee of £11.95 a trade.
Though they do discount that rate based on a client’s activity in the prior month. Active clients, those who traded 20 times or more in the previous month pay just £5.95 per deal for example.
The lack of additional admin charges at Dodl is likely give all other investment platforms food for thought.
What can you invest in with Dodl?
To begin with Dodl will focus on a range of UK equities and funds, with US stocks likely to be added soon after launch, according to Andy Bell, CEO of the parent company that bears his name.
There will also be a series of themed investments including funds that focus on key areas, such as technology, robotics, healthcare and responsible investing.
Minimum account balances are set at £1.00 and clients will have access to ISAs and pensions via the Dodl App, which will sit alongside AJ Bell’s existing You Invest platform.
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