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How am I making a difference?
Traditional investing looks at just making you money without necessarily taking into account the impact that investee companies have on the world. On The Big Exchange, we only list funds that invest in companies making a positive difference to people and the planet, which we assess though a rigorous assessment process. You can find more on that here.
What is The Big Exchange's connection to The Big Issue?
The Big Issue Group are co-founders and the largest shareholder in The Big Exchange. We are separate companies and have a different board, management and governance. The Big Issue are the holders of our mission share. What this means is that the social and environmental mission of The Big Exchange is protected by The Big Issue. They hold us to account, keep us focused on our social mission and provide us with great support to achieve it!
I have a Cash ISA already. Does that mean I can't open an ISA on The Big Exchange?
Having a Cash ISA does not stop you opening a Stocks & Shares ISA. Every UK resident has an ISA allowance of £20,000 per tax year. This £20,000 can be split over different ISA products. Importantly, it can be split over a Cash ISA and a Stocks & Shares ISA. If you're in that position, you have to make sure that you don't contribute any more than £20,000 over all your ISA products in the same tax year.
I already have a Stocks & Shares ISA; can I still open one with The Big Exchange?
It is important to know that the ISA we have on The Big Exchange is a Stocks & Shares ISA. You can only open one Stocks & Shares ISA per tax year, and you can only contribute to one as well. So that means if you have already contributed to another Stocks & Shares ISA with a different provider this tax year, you can't open one on The Big Exchange. However, you can transfer it to The Big Exchange if you wish or open a GIA. If you have a Stocks & Shares ISA with a different provider but haven't put any money on it since April, you're all good to open one with us!
Why do you ask for my bank details even if I am only making a one off payment?
We ask for your bank details for both one-off and regular payments which are used as your nominated bank account. These details are used for when you would like to withdraw cash from your account and when there may be outstanding feeds on your account that your investments have not covered. It is also part of our identity verification process to make sure you are who you say you are. If you are making a one-off payment, no direct debit will be set up.
Is my money protected by the FSCS if The Big Exchange goes bust?
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) was set up by the UK government in 2001. It protects customers using financial products. The FSCS protects you up to £85,000 per company with which you invest, save or bank in the event that they go bust. We aren't planning on this happening but if The Big Exchange or FNZ Securities Limited were to go bust, up to £85,000 of your money would be guaranteed per person. However, this isn't compensation for how your investments perform, they can go down in value or up depending on the market - that's part of investing! The FSCS scheme only protects your money if The Big Exchange goes out of business. You can read more at https://www.fscs.org.uk
Is it possible to transfer other investments to The Big Exchange?
At the moment we do accept transfers in from other providers, which you can find out more about here. However, all investments will be transferred in cash and then you will have to choose your funds when the transfer has been completed. This means all your investments will be sold with your current provider and transferred to us in cash. As we only list funds that have a positive impact on people and the planet, you may not be able to hold the same investments with us that you did with a previous provider. Feel free to get in touch with us with any questions.
Can I open an Account on behalf of my children?
Yes, you can set up a Junior ISA (JISA) for your child as long as you are their legal guardian. You can learn more about here.
What is the minimum I can invest on The Big Exchange?
You can begin investing on The Big Exchange from £25 if you are setting up a regular monthly payment. If you are making a one-off payment the minimum is £100. We hope to make this even more accessible in the future.
Can I invest on a regular monthly basis?
Yes, you can set up a direct debit to save regularly into any of our accounts. You can decide to do this at the point of purchase when you are investing, or you can manage your direct debits in your profile section, and we will sort all the technical stuff. At the moment, we can only allow direct debits from bank accounts that require one signatory. This means we can't accommodate joint accounts (yet!).
My payment has failed. Why has that happened and what should I do?
If your payment has failed, please get in touch by emailing us at enquiries@bigexchange.com. Once you've let us know that you have experienced an issue with your transaction, we will be able to have a look into this matter for you and have this resolved.
My payment has failed but it looks like money has been taken from my bank account.
Sometimes a payment you are making to us can fail. When failures happen the money is held as "pending" by the banks. This can appear differently in the statements of different banking providers. It will look as if the money has been taken, but it is only earmarked temporarily and will be returned to you by your bank (usually within 3 working days). Sometimes there is a tag on banking apps that explicitly states "pending", in others, there is no differentiation. If you have experienced a payment failure, please get in touch with us at enquiries@bigexchange.com and we can look into the issue for you.
What is the difference between the medals?
All investments on The Big Exchange have to show the intention to make a positive difference to people and/or the planet - or else, they can't get on our site! That means you can be happy knowing the selection on The Big Exchange has already been reviewed! The medal system on The Big Exchange was designed to give customers, at a glance, the top positive impact funds. There are a number of different inputs that go into awarding medals and you can read in the full document here, but very simply Gold medal funds usually have a higher percentage of companies in the fund that contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, then Silver, then Bronze. Each fund is unique in its own right and all do different things, so it is important to read the fund details, the KIID and the Factsheet for each investment before deciding. We have also written a blog piece on this very question which you can access here.
How do I reset my password?
You can reset your password either by clicking on the forgotten password link or in the Update Personal Details section of your profile.
What if I’ve forgotten my username and password?
If you have forgotten your username and/or password, please click here.
What do I need to sign up?
You don’t need much, maybe 5 to 10 minutes and a few extra bits: your name, email address, bank card (if you are making a one-off payment), your bank details, your National Insurance Number and proof of a UK address.
I have just invested, and my money shows as "cash" in my profile, why?
Your investments can take 3-4 working days to settle (they don't work weekends, unfortunately!). During this time, it can show as cash on your account, instead of seeing it in the value of your investments straight away. If you go to the Transactions tab on your customer portal, you will be able to see that some of the funds have only been "authorised" or "pooled” and will only move into the investments bucket when they read "completed" yet.
What are the investment's ongoing charges?
Each investment has an OCF, or an ongoing charge figure. This figure aims to tell you the annual costs of a fund as a percentage of its average asset value over a single year. What does this actually mean? Well, it shows you how much of your investment is eaten away each year by the investment manager's costs of running the fund. So if a fund has an OCF of 0.86%, then for every £1,000 you invest, over the year £8.60 goes towards the cost of running the fund. Some figures like transaction costs are not included in this figure so sometimes, the total annual fee can vary slightly depending on how much the funds trade.
Are there any exit fees or other hidden costs?
No, there are no exit fees, entry fees or hidden costs on The Big Exchange. There is only The Big Exchange fee of 0.25% per year and the charge that you pay to the investment manager of the fund you choose.
Is The Big Exchange regulated by the Financial Conduct Agency (FCA) or anyone else?
We are on The FCA register as an appointed representative of a firm called Resolution Compliance Limited. They act as our principal firm meaning that, through them, we are able to have the relevant permissions to "arrange deals" for investors. Resolution Compliance are regulated directly by the FCA and through them we have to follow strict rules. They hold us to account, audit us regularly, and we have to report everything related to our product through them for sign-off. This adds an extra layer of compliance into The Big Exchange. The reason we chose to do this was because it is a robust and quick way to get to market. It is always our intention to get our own permissions and be on the FCA register ourselves in the future.
Can I top-up my account or change the amount I want to invest?
Yes, of course! You can create, change or cancel any Direct Debits at any time once you are inside your customer portal in the Payments section. We also offer the ability to top-up your account at any time with a one-off payment using a debit card from within your account.
If I need to get my money out of my The Big Exchange account is there a holding period?
All funds on The Big Exchange are daily dealing which means that apart from in exceptional circumstances, the fund can sell units on a daily basis. This means your money is not locked in and if you need it out, you can get it out. It may take a couple of days to get the money into your bank account due to the time it takes to sell the investments and transfer your money. Remember, though: investing is for the long term, which means at least three years, ideally longer. Withdrawing an investment sooner than this is not usually a good idea.
Who are FNZ Securities and why do they appear on my bank statement?
We have partnered with FNZ Securities Limited (formerly Rexigon Securities Limited). They are a company that act as our custodian. This means that they make sure your money goes to where you intended. The Big Exchange doesn't handle or have direct access to your cash or investments. FNZ Securities keep it all separate from our day-to-day management and they provide the services in holding, administering and they make sure your investments are made.
Is The Big Exchange a charity?
The Big Exchange is not a charity, it is a private limited company. We conduct ourselves as a business but one that is mission focused on creating a more inclusive financial system that works for people and for planet!
What do The Big Exchange do with the 0.25% you're charging me?
The revenue we generate through the 0.25% fee goes towards growing the business, paying our costs, and building better functionality for our site amongst other things.
What does price per unit mean?
When you invest in a fund, you are purchasing units within that fund. The fund is made up of lots of units that are bought by and belong to different people and institutions. The price per unit is the cost of buying one of those units in the fund. You don't have to buy a whole unit to be an investor though, so don't worry. It's a good way to seeing the daily movement in the value of the fund too.
When do I pay Ongoing Charges (OCF)?
Once you have chosen your investment, the Ongoing charge (or OCF) will be taken down automatically from your investment within that fund. It is taken by the asset managers when they reprice your investment. You can see the fees you have paid to asset managers in full in a document call Ex-post costs and charges which will appear in your documents section.
How will you collect fees if there isn’t enough spare cash in my account?
As per our Terms and Conditions, if there is not enough available cash in your account and it’s all in investments or in pending transactions, we will sell down enough of the holdings from your largest investment to cover the monthly Big Exchange fee.
When does The Big Exchange take any payment for its services?
We collect The Big Exchange account fee every month directly from your account. This fee will come from your existing cash balance, or if you don't hold any cash, we will sell down a small amount of your investments to cover it. So, all in all, you don’t have to do a thing. You can see all your account fees in the Cash Statement section of the Transactions section in your account.
How old do I need to be to open an Account?
For most accounts there is a minimum age of 18 years old, but a Junior Investment Savings Account (JISA) can be opened by a parent/guardian for a child at any age under 18.
Do you have a mobile app?
We do have a free app that launched to help you manage your spending, saving and budgeting. You can not currently invest from our new app but you can link your account to see how it is performing. You can learn more about it here. We are working on adding more features to our app soon! Watch this space.
Do you provide financial advice?
No, we do not provide any advice. We’re here to make sure you have all of the information to make an informed decision about investing for yourself and for others, but we cannot give you personal recommendations based on your circumstances.
How many Accounts can I have open with The Big Exchange?
Each individual on The Big Exchange can open up to one of our ISAs, or General Investment Accounts (GIA). As a Guardian or Parent you can open up to 5 JISAs. Each one has to be for a different child. Find out more about which account is right for you here. At present, we do not offer joint accounts.
Is The Big Exchange available to people outside of the UK?
Unfortunately, not for the moment. The Big Exchange will be available to those with UK residency. You don’t have to be British, but you do have to live in the UK.
What is Active Management and why is it so important?
Active management is the name for the type of investing to which the funds on The Big Exchange belong. It means that the team in charge of running the funds takes an "active" approach to investing. This means there is a human decision involved in every investment to aim to "beat the market" rather than just broadly having a computer follow a set of rules related to a bucket of companies or an entire market. We believe active investing is great for a number of reasons but mainly because your investments have the opportunity to perform better than the market (although the reverse is also a possibility), and the investment managers can focus the investments on making a positive impact.
Can I pick stocks to invest in?
On The Big Exchange you are investing in funds which experienced professionals have put together. Each invests in a collection of companies decided by the fund manager, who closely monitors each in terms of its positive impact and financial performance. So you won’t be picking your own stocks. You can, though, take a look at the top ten companies each fund holds.
Can I see the funds I want to invest in before becoming a customer?
Currently we don't have a list of funds and the details available on our main website. However, if you click “invest now” and select any of the accounts you will be able to go into the investor journey and see all the funds and investments available. There is absolutely no obligation to open that account and you can back out after completing your research. We do not collect any of your personal information until the point where you decide to become a customer.
Why am I being redirected to tbeinvestor.com?
The Big Exchange uses two web addresses. Our public webpage is run off bigexchange.com and our accounts and investor journey is run off tbeinvestor.com. The latter is a secure URL that is directly linked into our investment platform and fund database. Keeping both sites separate gives us more flexibility when making updates and helps keeps your information secure.
