Moving s&s ISA from HL?

[Pheo]

Hi all,

I'm considering moving my S&S ISA from HL. Two reasons 1) they're meant to be expensive (read that on here!) and the founder annoyed me with his Brexit "we are all in it together Dunkirk spirit" nonsense.

I have about £4500 invested at the moment - started slow with a drip feed. But now have £350 a month going in.

Firstly, how much am I going to get hit for charges? Is there a "good" / "right". Way of doing this like for a cash ISA?

Secondly, any recommendations for other providers? I'm mainly investing in passives - currently Vantage LifeStrategy and an L&G property fund. Would like to retain the freedom to buy individual shares etc but not if it is going to cost me a fortune! I manage my account entirely online and have not used any of HLs services

Any thoughts welcome!

[bmwmike]

I'm with ajbell youinvest and was considering opening a HL account to compare.

Am reasonably happy with AJB except the site is buggy occasionally and their quarterly £5 charge. I know it's not much but it was free when I opened it. The website bugs are annoying things like the fund data being blank, tell them about it and I get a reply a few days later telling me they think they've fixed it can I confirm. Ummm not interested in doing your testing for you chaps.

Other than that though they gets the job done (funds and self invest).

I have a sipp and SS ISA with them.

I need to open 2x child SS ISA too, and move an SS ISA from HSBC (crap website). Hence shopping around.

Hope the feedback on AJB helps, curious to see what other replies you get.

[KTF]

Someone sent me an old platform charges spreadsheet that let you compare the costs between providers.

The fees may have changed but it may be useful. The link is here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9HqIxhZ5zKJUGtrW...

[Ozzie Osmond]

HL apply a small charge to close an account and transfer out. I think about £25 per fund moved.

In the world of investment,

• By all means move if you think you can save money,
• But there's no point cutting off your nose to spite your face.

I believe HL charge small investors 0.45% p.a. for holding funds
0.45% of £4,500 is only £20.25 p.a.
Looks as though you may have trouble achieving savings.

[Ozzie Osmond]

...although you could always divert your ongoing £350 p.c.m. contributions to a new provider.

But if you do that you'll almost certainly end up transferring at some point in the future anyway once you get bored with multiple statements etc.

[Pheo]

Yes I agree. If the charge is only per fund I can kinda cope as I only have two - might just affect my decision as to whether to add other funds later.

I agree at the moment there isn't much difference - was thinking of the compound effect over time. But didn't realise it was fixed fee. If it is I don't think I'll bother for now as its doing what I want.

[walm]

Pheo said:

Yes I agree. If the charge is only per fund I can kinda cope as I only have two - might just affect my decision as to whether to add other funds later.

I agree at the moment there isn't much difference - was thinking of the compound effect over time. But didn't realise it was fixed fee. If it is I don't think I'll bother for now as its doing what I want.

I use Interactive Investor because 0.45% from HL was too expensive. (Breakeven is at c.£18k fund size.)
They have a very basic site but it appears to get the job done.
They are trialing a beta but it's terrible and doesn't offer any more functionality than the existing site but just looks different.

[Twin1]

If you're interested, AXA were doing a deal where there is no platform fee for 12 months using a code off Moneysavingexpert. That's where one of my S&S ISAs is and found it quite good so far if you're happy making your own fund choices.

[Simpo Two]

Twin1 said:

If you're interested, AXA were doing a deal where there is no platform fee for 12 months using a code off Moneysavingexpert. That's where one of my S&S ISAs is and found it quite good so far if you're happy making your own fund choices.

That's interesting; I'm paying £1800pa for a platform I don't need or want. Link?

[Ozzie Osmond]

Hang on - how have you got to that £1,800? No way is the same fee structure applicable at that level. And it's cheaper to be on a platform than to deal direct.

[Simpo Two]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Hang on - how have you got to that £1,800? No way is the same fee structure applicable at that level. And it's cheaper to be on a platform than to deal direct.

It's a percentage of the total funds held on it, and I don't have any plans to trade. It seems quite impossible to work out whether I'd be better off holding the funds directly, and even if I could, I have no idea how to do so.

[walm]

Simpo Two said:

It's a percentage of the total funds held on it, and I don't have any plans to trade. It seems quite impossible to work out whether I'd be better off holding the funds directly, and even if I could, I have no idea how to do so.

I was getting a similar bill from HL.
So I moved everything to iii for £20 a quarter.
One form to fill in and done.
Was remarkably straightforward.
Just check that iii offer the funds you are in and they simply transfer them.
One phone call with a holdings statement from your current provider should do that.

[walm]

Ozzie Osmond said:

On larger portfolios HL charge 0.25%. £1,800 doesn't seem to me a lot of money to pay someone to look after three quarters of a million quid. No charges for dealing, no initial fees, efficient administration, comprehensive tax statement.

I believe Fidelity charge 0.2% at that level.

My understanding is that dealing directly with the fund provider can result in higher charges than using a platform; certainly if there is any buying involved.

The point is that they aren't "looking after" anything.
It's self-selected. They don't offer advice or do anything different for a £50k portfolio vs. a £500k one.
Also it's tiered not flat so it's 0.45% on the first £250k and beyond that drops to 0.25% on the next £750k IIRC.

They DO charge for dealing.
"Efficient admin" - what? Who doesn't do that? They wouldn't be in business for more than 2 minutes without that surely?
"Tax statement" - on a SIPP and ISA???? There is no tax.

[Ozzie Osmond]

^^^ Sounds a cheap deal. Are they efficient at administration, cash payments, tax certificate (if applicable)etc?

[walm]

Ozzie Osmond said:

^^^ Sounds a cheap deal. Are they efficient at administration, cash payments, tax certificate (if applicable)etc?

No probs so far on the ISA.
However, I am having a slight battle on the SIPP - which I don't want to go into and is small in any case.
They only just started offering that and are having either teething problems or are genuinely incompetent - jury's out right now.
Oh and they have randomly insisted that I can't trade certain securities in the ISA - WHICH I ALREADY HELD IN THE ISA.
One phone call sorted it but still a little annoying.

[ringram]

Easy fix is avoid funds and use ETF and IT's instead.
Not sure why anyone wants to use funds anyway unless you mean the low cost trackers.