Discussion
Hello there can you guide me please?
I've got a 60K ISA with a Financial Adviser and its on the Openwork Platform. I pay fees to the Financial Adviser and also to Openwork (may have a new name).
I'm considering moving the ISA to Trading 212 because its non fee paying.
Question am I being sensible and/or are there other options?
I've got a 60K ISA with a Financial Adviser and its on the Openwork Platform. I pay fees to the Financial Adviser and also to Openwork (may have a new name).
I'm considering moving the ISA to Trading 212 because its non fee paying.
Question am I being sensible and/or are there other options?
Your money will be invested in something on the platform - do you know what?
Are you keeping the IFA? If you're concerned about fees he'll be charging you more than the platform does. If you're concerned about fees why did he put you on Openwork? He would have (should have) told you what all the charges are.
I haven't used Trading 212 but do they offer the same investments as you currently have? If not you'll have to pick new ones. Or if you're keeping the IFA, he will/should do it for you.
Vanguard only offer Vanguard products - that may suit you or it may not. If you want a much bigger choice look at Fidelity. Other platforms exist.
Are you keeping the IFA? If you're concerned about fees he'll be charging you more than the platform does. If you're concerned about fees why did he put you on Openwork? He would have (should have) told you what all the charges are.
I haven't used Trading 212 but do they offer the same investments as you currently have? If not you'll have to pick new ones. Or if you're keeping the IFA, he will/should do it for you.
Vanguard only offer Vanguard products - that may suit you or it may not. If you want a much bigger choice look at Fidelity. Other platforms exist.
Simpo Two said:
Your money will be invested in something on the platform - do you know what?
Are you keeping the IFA? If you're concerned about fees he'll be charging you more than the platform does. If you're concerned about fees why did he put you on Openwork? He would have (should have) told you what all the charges are.
I haven't used Trading 212 but do they offer the same investments as you currently have? If not you'll have to pick new ones. Or if you're keeping the IFA, he will/should do it for you.
Vanguard only offer Vanguard products - that may suit you or it may not. If you want a much bigger choice look at Fidelity. Other platforms exist.
Thank you yes I know what ISA is currently invested in.Are you keeping the IFA? If you're concerned about fees he'll be charging you more than the platform does. If you're concerned about fees why did he put you on Openwork? He would have (should have) told you what all the charges are.
I haven't used Trading 212 but do they offer the same investments as you currently have? If not you'll have to pick new ones. Or if you're keeping the IFA, he will/should do it for you.
Vanguard only offer Vanguard products - that may suit you or it may not. If you want a much bigger choice look at Fidelity. Other platforms exist.
Over years I have realised IFA takes money from me/my fund but I don't seem to get anything for it? If I ask for any sort of changes then theres a fee so i don't change anything. Hence ISA has remained the same for years with a £300 per month contribution a month from me. I'm now challenging the value of the IFA and considering transferring ISA to an index tracker with minimal/no fees.
I'm not a hands on investor I think I want to move the ISA to maximise gain (reduce fees because I don't see the benefit of the IFA to me).
I will google the platforms....
Thanks everyone for helping me.
rugbyleague said:
I pay fees to the Financial Adviser and also to Openwork (may have a new name).
Suggest you post up,Your total annual % fees
From within that, the % going to the financial adviser, and
What your underlying investments are.
Also how you feel about risk and how involved you want to be.
The bottom line is every 1% you can cut out of fees will save you £600 a year. That may not sound a lot but do it for 10 years in a row and suddenly you're £6,000 ahead. Then add in compound, tax free returns on your £6k and you're away and laughing.
The real question is trying to get best value from such fees as you are willing to pay.
Panamax said:
Suggest you post up,
Your total annual % fees 0.1%
From within that, the % going to the financial adviser, and
What your underlying investments are.
Also how you feel about risk and how involved you want to be.
The bottom line is every 1% you can cut out of fees will save you £600 a year. That may not sound a lot but do it for 10 years in a row and suddenly you're £6,000 ahead. Then add in compound, tax free returns on your £6k and you're away and laughing.
The real question is trying to get best value from such fees as you are willing to pay.
Thank you for thisYour total annual % fees 0.1%
From within that, the % going to the financial adviser, and
What your underlying investments are.
Also how you feel about risk and how involved you want to be.
The bottom line is every 1% you can cut out of fees will save you £600 a year. That may not sound a lot but do it for 10 years in a row and suddenly you're £6,000 ahead. Then add in compound, tax free returns on your £6k and you're away and laughing.
The real question is trying to get best value from such fees as you are willing to pay.
Platform is M&G Wealth
Total annual % fees 0.1% of which 0.08% goes to the adviser
What your underlying investments are; 29 different funds both UK and abroad long list really and will be wrapped up under a wrapper that I can't see the name just my account number.
Also how you feel about risk and how involved you want to be. Ok with risk, don't really want to be too involved
rugbyleague said:
Platform is M&G Wealth
Total annual % fees 0.1% of which 0.08% goes to the adviser
What your underlying investments are; 29 different funds both UK and abroad long list really and will be wrapped up under a wrapper that I can't see the name just my account number.
Also how you feel about risk and how involved you want to be. Ok with risk, don't really want to be too involved
Am I missing something? If your platform fee is 0.10%, then on a £60k holding you're paying £60 per year, of which the adviser gets £48. Hardly excessive, really.Total annual % fees 0.1% of which 0.08% goes to the adviser
What your underlying investments are; 29 different funds both UK and abroad long list really and will be wrapped up under a wrapper that I can't see the name just my account number.
Also how you feel about risk and how involved you want to be. Ok with risk, don't really want to be too involved
Does "I can't see the name" mean that you can't see the names of the funds? If you can, are they widely-available funds, or are they exclusive to M&G Wealth? If it's the latter, what are the ongoing charges for these funds?
rugbyleague said:
Over years I have realised IFA takes money from me/my fund but I don't seem to get anything for it? If I ask for any sort of changes then theres a fee so i don't change anything. Hence ISA has remained the same for years with a £300 per month contribution a month from me. I'm now challenging the value of the IFA and considering transferring ISA to an index tracker with minimal/no fees.
I'd be more concerned about this, to be honest. Why are you having to ask for changes? Surely it should be the adviser suggesting any changes to you as part of regular review meetings? What's the 'change' fee?rugbyleague said:
Thank you yes I know what ISA is currently invested in.
Over years I have realised IFA takes money from me/my fund but I don't seem to get anything for it?
Bingo.Over years I have realised IFA takes money from me/my fund but I don't seem to get anything for it?
rugbyleague said:
If I ask for any sort of changes then theres a fee so i don't change anything.
I would expect the IFA to be charging up to 1%, so that's £600-worth of time a year he can spend changing stuff if you or he deems fit. To take a percentage and then want more for basically doing his job is a bit rich IMHO.rugbyleague said:
I'm now challenging the value of the IFA and considering transferring ISA to an index tracker with minimal/no fees. I'm not a hands on investor I think I want to move the ISA to maximise gain (reduce fees because I don't see the benefit of the IFA to me)
Many of use have been this way too. First I would call M&G and ask them if you can remove the IFA. Maybe they only deal with IFAs and not investors, I don't know. That's the first step to taking control and dealing more directly with things.That's one lot of fees dealt with. You then have to decide if you want to stay with M&G (if possible) or move to another platform. It may be that other platforms will offer the M&G product (the fund of 29 funds), in which case you can move them without selling - this is called 'in specie'. If you don't want to keep that investment, or your chosen platform doesn't offer it, you can sell it to cash and transfer that (keeping it within the ISA wrapper) to the new platform for investment as you wish.
Fidelity is the platform I use most, and I find it easy to use (and with human back-up which can be important). For example here's a page on choosing investments: https://www.fidelity.co.uk/planning-guidance/choos...
Charges are here, and the platform charge for £60K is 0.35%: https://www.fidelity.co.uk/services/charges-fees/
That's a simple overview but probably enough for one go. I'm not an adviser or financial professional, just someone who knew that he wasn't getting a fair deal and was able to make the jump to running the show himself. It's very liberating!
Edited by Simpo Two on Monday 9th September 19:33
Decimal points... pah, details 
The other cost you need to allow for is the fund management charge, typically between 0.1% and 1%. See if you can find out what it is for the fund you have. The IFA should have told you, but they're remarkably good at forgetting to mention charges or deflecting direct questions.
But - and this is where it gets interesting - charges aren't the be all and end all. You have to consider likely fund performance too. A fund that gains 20% in a year and costs 1% is better than a fund that costs 0.1% and goes south...
The other cost you need to allow for is the fund management charge, typically between 0.1% and 1%. See if you can find out what it is for the fund you have. The IFA should have told you, but they're remarkably good at forgetting to mention charges or deflecting direct questions.
But - and this is where it gets interesting - charges aren't the be all and end all. You have to consider likely fund performance too. A fund that gains 20% in a year and costs 1% is better than a fund that costs 0.1% and goes south...
An IFA's true value is in protecting you from yourself, adding an additional step/s when you want to play Warren Buffet or bet your pension on Gamestop. If you're not that way inclined they may not be providing much value but that's for you to decide.
As far as new providers go I'd avoid any that gameify investing. Vanguard, Fidelity, or if you have some experience Interactive Brokers. All three are good, reliable platforms.
As far as new providers go I'd avoid any that gameify investing. Vanguard, Fidelity, or if you have some experience Interactive Brokers. All three are good, reliable platforms.
xeny said:
CLK-GTR said:
As far as new providers go I'd avoid any that gameify investing. Vanguard, Fidelity, or if you have some experience Interactive Brokers. All three are good, reliable platforms.
This, a thousand times this. Ideally, pick something without a phone app.Simpo Two said:
A fund that gains 20% in a year and costs 1% is better than a fund that costs 0.1% and goes south...
This is fundamentally important. Chasing costs downwards for ever risks shooting yourself in the foot. It's all about what level of involvement/service you want combined with what you're getting for what you're paying.
hstewie said:
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