Order types

Stay in control of your investments when you're busy.

When placing a trade with ii, you have a range of options available to you. You can trade at the current market price, or you can ask us to trade for you when prices reach a certain level.

For example, you could set a price at which you wish to sell specific shares. If the price is reached, your shares are sold. If not, the trade is cancelled.

This takes place automatically, so you’ll have one less thing to worry about when your attention is on other things.

Basic orders

A brief guide to our available order types.

Market orders

A standard trade. Buy or sell shares at the best current price available.

Market orders give an immediate quote. This is generated by polling over 20 market makers. This price remains valid for 15 seconds, during which you can confirm the trade.

If the market is closed, or no electronic quote is available, you can place a market order to buy or sell shares at the best price available when the trade takes place.

Limit orders

Buy or sell shares when the price reaches your limit.

With a limit order, you pre-set a price at which you are happy to buy or sell. You can either:

Buy shares when the price falls to your limit.
Sell when the price rises to your limit.

You set a time limit for how long the order remains valid. This can be up to 90 days for UK and North American shares, 25 days for European shares and day only orders for Asian exchanges.

If your limit price is not reached, or it is not possible to buy or sell the full number of shares at that price, the trade is cancelled.

Please note international orders can partially fill, sometimes over a period of days. If this happens, there will be a separate commission charge applied for each day the order fills.

Stop loss order

Sell shares automatically if the price drops to a certain level.

Stop loss orders can help you to reduce losses on your investments. As soon as the price falls to your limit, we will look to sell at the best market price available at the point of execution.

Please note that the price may be considerably lower than the stop loss limit if the shares drop in price dramatically. This is because once your stop loss price is triggered the order becomes a 'market best' order.

Fill or kill

Place an order to buy or sell at a certain price. If the price is available, the order will be executed (‘filled’). If your price cannot be met, your order will be cancelled (‘killed’).

Unlike limit orders, you cannot set a time limit for fill or kill orders. If the market is open, fill or kill orders are reviewed immediately. If the market is closed, the trade will be ‘filled’ or ‘killed’ in the next market session – depending on the available price.

Fill or kill orders are only available on the UK exchange.

Placing and tracking your orders

Order types are easy to set up. When you make a trade, you can choose which order type to use.

Once you have set up a trade, you can keep track of your order within your account. Simply click on 'order list' in the 'trading' menu. There, you can also cancel any unsettled orders which you no longer wish to make.

Important information

We do not offer a guaranteed price function. This means that the price you request for a limit or stop loss order may not be the price you receive. When the share price reaches your target price, your order is triggered and will be actioned in 'fair and due turn'. This means that the share is dealt as soon as possible at the best price that can be obtained after the trigger price is hit. In addition, market volatility can substantially influence the price we achieve for your order.
It is not always possible to execute an order type at your specified price. This can depend on the variables of the instruction. For example, if a share price is particularly volatile, or your order is greater than the amount available at that price, we may be unable to complete your instruction.
If you want to set up an Order Type on your interactive investor Trading, ISA or SIPP account or through regular investing, you need to have sufficient funds to cover the cost of any purchases before you set up the order type. If you have insufficient funds, your order type may be cancelled.
The order types described on this page apply to UK orders only. Different order types are available for international markets and funds.