Transfer stocks and shares ISA provider?

juju99

Hi,

I am just starting to dip my toe into investments and opened a stocks and shares ISA a year or so ago, which I have put money into monthly since (as I was advised this reduced risks from market drops). The ISA is with Legal and General but it's not very easy to manage and I was wondering whether I should transfer the ISA to Hargreaves Lansdown or similar to give me more flexibility if I want to put some more money in, to spread it to other funds still under the ISA banner. Alternatively I could leave the ISA where it is and just open a new non-ISA account (think HL is called vantage). Also, if I do transfer the ISA am I better moving it as cash and then picking new funds to put it in or stick with it as the shares that I have bought already?

I want to start putting more money into investments but I don't want to do anything silly and am finding it rather complicated to work out what to do so any thoughts (including on how to get clued up) very welcome. Thanks in advance

turbobob

Personally I would transfer. As you currently stand you can only invest in L&G funds within the ISA. Your post suggests you want the flexibility to invest in other things within an ISA. Transferring would achieve that aim. Before you start buying investments outside of the ISA its sensible to make use of your ISA allowance first.

Is it better transferring it as cash or as funds? No real answer to this. If you are going to switch to a completely new set of funds anyway, it might be just as well to transfer as cash, as you would have to sell them once the transfer was completed in order to buy your new funds. If you are happy with your current fund selection for the moment then maybe transfer as funds..

By transferring as funds (I believe its referred to as "re-registering") no selling takes place. The number of units you'll have stays the same before and after the transfer. By transferring as cash, you are out of the market while the transfer is being processed. This could work for or against you depending on how the market moves.

juju99

Thanks for your helpful post - my instinct was to transfer so I think I will go ahead with that now so I can invest in a broader range of funds

Jake'sGran

The response you got recd a Thank You from me but wasn't meant to. Have they changed the page? I'm sure reply used to be where thank you now is.

Just wanted to say that in the HL Vantage scheme you get a small amount of the trail commission they receive from the fund manager every year - if there is a trail commission. I noticed the other day that mine has become a reasonable sum now. I have quite a few investments with HL.

I seem to remember that Legal and General had very low charges but maybe that was just in their Tracker Fund. HL discount the initial charge on most of the funds they offer which means you get extra units.
The Share Centre also discount the initial charge but don't give back any of the trail commission and Fidelity (great company) have a special offer at the moment.