Any experience of Wrap Accounts

Crispy_W

I have had my pensions reviewed and am faced with a couple of options to take forward.

The first is to transfer bits and pieces to better performing funds or companies, and the second is to realise the funds from the lot, and place the entire pot in a wrap account.

In brief, my understanding of this second option means that my money will be used to buy into various funds or other investments, the whole thing will be tracked in real time and changes can be made to the portfolio almost instantly. It is totally transparent and manageable, but at a higher cost.

I very much like the idea and my I.F.A. reports that these products are working well for other clients.

Does anyone have experiance of this arrangement that they would like to share with me.

Thanks in advance

dunstonh

A wrap can mean different things to different people.

1 - It can just be a single platform for your investments. Just like a fund supermarket.

2 - It can be a "wrap around" different providers and charges you for the benefit.

3 - If can just be software that allows you to knock out all your holdings on one piece of paper.

I am not a big fan of wraps. Probably as I have the software to do the same things for my clients. So why pay extra? Fund supermarkets are as but as much of a wrap as you need in my view.

Most SIPPs offering funds do most what a full wrap would and again you dont need to pay for it.

All that said, very large holdings can benefit from some Wraps due to the discounts you can obtain through them. Although that usually means the discounts work out to make it cost the same as a fund supermarket.

Until the UK has provider integration and real time transactions, real wraps offer little, in my opinion.

whiteflag_3

dunstonh wrote:

A wrap can mean different things to different people.

1 - It can just be a single platform for your investments. Just like a fund supermarket.

2 - It can be a "wrap around" different providers and charges you for the benefit.

3 - If can just be software that allows you to knock out all your holdings on one piece of paper.

I am not a big fan of wraps. Probably as I have the software to do the same things for my clients. So why pay extra? Fund supermarkets are as but as much of a wrap as you need in my view.

Most SIPPs offering funds do most what a full wrap would and again you dont need to pay for it.

All that said, very large holdings can benefit from some Wraps due to the discounts you can obtain through them. Although that usually means the discounts work out to make it cost the same as a fund supermarket.

Until the UK has provider integration and real time transactions, real wraps offer little, in my opinion.

Seconded, current wraps are far from the finished article an not worth paying extra for!

EdInvestor

Go for a SIPP if you like the concept.