ISA 'portal' advice

Grenage · 10 May 2016 at 1:08PM

A couple of years ago I dropped 5k into an investment ISA, as it wasn't doing very much sitting around in the bank; I'm at a point where I have another 5k or so to put away for a while.

I don't have that much money to save/invest, and it's going to be a little at a time; I figure for such reason's ISAs are the best option for me. I opened my ISA with cofunds, as it seemed a convenient way to choose which investment ISA I wanted through a simple website. Would it be a terrible decision to use them again, or are there better alternatives?

I'd appreciate any advice.

colsten · 10 May 2016 at 1:55PM

Do you have a cash emergency fund? If not, you should put at least some of the £5K into an interest paying current account or two.

If you want to make additional investments, there is no reason why you shouldn't use your existing ISA. It may even save you extra charges if you use the same ISA. This doesn't mean that you need to invest in the same funds etc that you are already investing in. Presumably you have a balanced portfolio in your ISA? Does it need re-balancing or is it still satisfactory?

Grenage · 10 May 2016 at 2:05PM

Thank you kindly for your reply.

I've got some money in a current account for emergencies, which I'll look to put into a higher-interest account such as TSB.

I hadn't considered that, so I'll have to look at the applicable charges. The portfolio isn't exactly balanced - but its returns have been ok over the last two years (7% average). I put the initial money into one fund, with the notion of putting the next chunk into something different.

AndyT678 · 10 May 2016 at 2:22PM

I'm actually in the process of moving away from CoFunds after a good few years of using them. Mostly because there are cheaper options for me but also so that I can hold OEICs, ETFs and shares all in the same place.

On £10k you might be able to save yourself £20 per year or so with a cheaper platform but if you like CoFunds and you just want to hold funds then you may as well continue to use it. You can always transfer your ISA somewhere else in the future if you change your mind.

Grenage · 10 May 2016 at 2:34PM

Hi Andy, thanks for your reply.

I wondered if that was the case, as Cofunds seemed to have dropped off the radar when I looked at current recommendations. I originally took out the cofunds account through moneysupermarket.com, which will have additional fees (0.20). I freely admit that the April deadline was looming when I did so, and just wanted to get the money put into a wrapped somewhere.

I make a note of the totals once a month, but otherwise I don't really use the website.

AndyT678 · 10 May 2016 at 2:48PM

So you're probably paying 0.45% in total. Charles Stanley charge 0.25%; both have no dealing costs. AJ Bell charge 0.20% for holding funds and £4.95 per transaction. Halifax has a flat £12.50 annual charge but also charges £12.50 per transaction.

One of these is likely to be your cheapest option but check they offer the funds that you want before doing anything.

http://www.comparefundplatforms.com/compare.aspx

Grenage · 10 May 2016 at 3:20PM

That's great info, thanks a lot. I've got some reading to do!

ISA 'portal' advice

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