Just applying for ISA, bit confused about monthly payments.

tomstickland

I've been pondering all of this for a while now, and I've decided tonight to get on with making some decisions, though not the final ones.

With the tax year ending soon I reckon I should use up my ISA allowance. ie: invest at least £3K, ideally £4K. I want to do all of this online really. It makes my life a lot easier. The HL options for monthly payments don't really allow online control. I suspect that I'd be better off investing £3K into a self select ISA with, say, 3 funds in it.

I'm going to research some of the other options tonight.

[edit]
I've been reading the Bestinvest Website and I'm very impressed.
Also noticed

One of the most successful fund groups in recent times has been Artemis, yet who had heard of them six years ago?

[/edit]

tomstickland

I've just been through all of the web sites highlighted in Yellow in Martin's "cheapest way to buy funds article".

From my research it appears that most of them use the Fidelity Fundsnetwork and/or the Cofunds service to actually provide the funds.

My current favourite is Chartwell because they promise decent online facilities to shown the funds and also allow a monthly payment to be set up via the initial online application.

I couldn't make any sense of the Intelligent Money website. There were no links for ISA applications. Do you have to join for that?

I've also been making use of the Bestinvest portfolio healthcheck, but I was struggling a bit to understand what to do about underweightings in my recommended portfolio.

dunstonh

From my research it appears that most of them use the Fidelity Fundsnetwork and/or the Cofunds service to actually provide the funds.

Cofunds and fidelity have good website plugins. However, fund selection based on size of premium can be an issue with both of these. i.e minimum of £1000 per fund or £50pm per fund. Selestia (another supermarket) has no such minimum. With that 3k, you could have 12 funds with as little as £150 in one fund if you wanted. That does allow for greater portfolio diversification.

Not saying you should use one or another but I make it no secret that I believe that diversification is very important regardless of the size of the contribution.

tomstickland

Selestia are IFA only though. I want to DIY it all.

carnet

dunstonh wrote:

Cofunds and fidelity have good website plugins. However, fund selection based on size of premium can be an issue with both of these. i.e minimum of £1000 per fund or £50pm per fund.

Minimum lump sum with Cofunds is only £500 per fund - via Bestinvest, at least.

Pity their choice of funds is so restricted (at least I think so ) - and their admin. is so utterly dire .

Paul_Herring

carnet wrote:

Regular Savings require a Direct Debit mandate initially anyway, so can only be opened by post.

Why? I've set up DD's with other institutions online before. Another Q - do they insist on DD or can SO's be used?

carnet

Paul_Herring wrote:

Why? I've set up DD's with other institutions online before.

A DD requires a signature so don't understand how this could be set up online - often the DD form can be downloaded - but has then to be signed and posted back.

Another Q - do they insist on DD or can SO's be used?

Direct Debit is the only option for regular savings appearing on their application forms - why don't you ask them if they will accept a SO ?

Paul_Herring

carnet wrote:

A DD requires a signature so don't understand how this could be set up online - often the DD form can be downloaded - but has then to be signed and posted back.

A signature is not required for a direct debit. The system is called AUDDIS. (However not all institutions are capable of running AUDDIS) http://www.bacs.co.uk/BPSL/directdebit/businesses/faqs/FAQ_auddis.htm

carnet

Paul_Herring wrote:

A signature is not required for a direct debit. The system is called AUDDIS. (However not all institutions are capable of running AUDDIS)

Obviously HL is behind the times - as am I, having never encountered it.

You could always ask them why they haven't introduced this system if/when you enquire about Standing Orders. Maybe they are unable to because of Money Laundering etc. requirements ?

tomstickland

OK, I'm going to look into Chartwell a bit more.