S&S ISA Transfer Question?

[bitchstewie]

When transferring a S&S ISA at what point do you "lose" visibility/control of the source ISA typically please?

For example if I initiate a move on Monday, once it's started to be processed, would I see nothing in the "losing" platform or would it be visible but read-only?

I know the idea is if you move in-specie your investments are kept in the market so my question is more around visibility.

Thanks

[Simpo Two]

In my experience some assets disappear from the old platform and appear on the new one the same day. Others appear on both at once (one is tempted to sell both versions at once but I doubt I'd get away with it).

You could log in or phone the 'loser' and ask. But unless you were planning to trade in that period I see little point in worrying. If anyone does know exactly where your money is at any given moment I doubt that info gets to street level. A bit like cheques clearing perhaps.

[bitchstewie]

Thanks, I'm not quite that much of a control freak

More curious if (for example) I request a transfer on Monday, if the holdings will disappear from the losing platform on whatever date and be invisible for a month before emerging on the new platform, if that makes sense.

The whole process seems very outdated in 2018.

[xeny]

My experience is that the process is unpredictable in every aspect.

I've had transfers take as little as a month or in one miserable case (out of Barclays smarter investor) getting on for 4 or 5 months.

I track everything offline and typically only log in to trade a couple of times a year, so I don't know when the assets appear and disappear, but the impression I get is that they take some time to disappear.

[Simpo Two]

If you're moving in specie then the new platform has to offer those investments, or they'll get sold which would delay things.

Most of my stuff moved across in <2 days; after a week only the cash is left (odd as I'd have thought that would be the easiest) and one fund is missing presumed floating in space.

[LeoSayer]

Simpo Two said:

In my experience some assets disappear from the old platform and appear on the new one the same day. Others appear on both at once (one is tempted to sell both versions at once but I doubt I'd get away with it).

I'm in the latter stage at the moment. Have been for 3 months.

I guess paying peanuts gets you monkeys.

[Simpo Two]

LeoSayer said:

I guess paying peanuts gets you monkeys.

That's the theory, but sometimes the more you pay the more monkeys you're keeping in jobs.

Saving 33% in platform fees from the one a certain now-absent IFA put me on, with all else the same or better, was an easy decision, and very easy to do.

[hornmeister]

Like for like movement is a matter of just changing the owner of the stock or fund and that only takes a day or two to process electronically.

If a particular class of share isn't available in the receiving scheme, then there will need to be a sale and repurchase, again should only take a couple of days longer than settlement period so typically 5 days unless there are holdings which only have monthly trading & notice periods for example. Then it could be a couple of months.
Cash tends to move last as it's used to mop up any outstanding charges and exit fees in the exiting scheme.

How long the process takes as far as us the customer is concerned depends on the efficiency of the donor and receiving company schemes and admin teams and whether forms need signing and sending A relatively simple ISA transfer (all electronic) shouldn't take more than a couple of weeks unless some of the above is involved.