Fund supermarkets

hedger

what is the best and cheapest fund supermarkets to drip feed say £600 a month into a fund (say Invesco Corporate Bond)? I know I pay an upfront fee but what about withdrawing money or switching funds? is that likely to get charged?
I was with St Jamess Place and they were expensive - 5% upfront (I think) and sliding scale of withdrawal fess 6%, 5%, 4%, 3%, 2% over 5 years which I think (in hindsight) is scandalous

ozzage

With Hargreaves Lansdown you'll pay no up-front fee. They discount the entire 5% plus a small amount of the annual charge.

As far as I know they don't have switching or exit fees but somebody else can probably tell you for sure.

Reaper

Read up on discount brokers on the main site by clicking here

thelawnet

ozzage wrote: »

With Hargreaves Lansdown you'll pay no up-front fee. They discount the entire 5% plus a small amount of the annual charge.

As far as I know they don't have switching or exit fees but somebody else can probably tell you for sure.

They have a user-friendly website, the discounts are usually 100% of the upfront fee, plus about 0.25% of the annual fee; however, they CHARGE 0.5% on low annual cost funds (typically trackers). Luckily the IP Corporate Bond is not one of those: http://www.h-l.co.uk/funds/security_details?sedol=3302877&isbasic=1&thickbox=true&TB_iframe=true&width=800&height=620

You get 0.15% off the 1% AMC, and a full initial charge rebate.

£600/month into a single fund is not a good idea, best to do £100/month into six funds.

dunstonh

I was with St Jamess Place and they were expensive - 5% upfront (I think) and sliding scale of withdrawal fess 6%, 5%, 4%, 3%, 2% over 5 years which I think (in hindsight) is scandalous

That is expensive but typical of what you should expect when you dont use independents.

HL is your cheapest DIY option if you are using unit trusts/OEICs.

Conrad

Is the HL fund safe in terms of the fund having no exposure itself to gearing by HL? Apart from the shares falling, is there any additional risk?

dunstonh

I dont think Hedger is looking to invest in HLs own funds (why would you want to?). Its their fund supermarket that is the platform in question.

hedger

Thanks guys - some good comments there

Think I will go with H&L and look at splitting the money into 3 or 4 funds. Now its a matter of selecting the best diversified funds that they offer. any ideas/thoughts? Invesco Perp Corporate bond seems to be heavily tipped atm