Want to change from Halifax S&S Isa, options???

dgaf

I should of looked at changing my Isa provider before but thought it was too daunting but after reading some posts on here, I think I could manage it.
After reading the thread - S&S Investor? FTSE 100 Tracker? Stakeholder? Self-Select? posted by unitedwestand, I saw that the product that I have managed to pick was possibly one of the worst you can get as dunstonh put it!

I currently have a S&S Isa Investor with Halifax. Since Dec 2004 (when I started a S&S Isa), I have paid in monthly contributions & lump sums in to it totalling £20300 (£350 per month since April 2008) I phoned up today and spoke to Halifax Isa dept and the current fund value is £22400.

Below is the Fund breakdown:

Uk Growth Fund (c) - (Medium Risk) £3,570.19
UK Equity Income Fund (c) - (Medium Risk) £3,533.03
Corporate Bond Fund (C) - (Cautious/Medium Risk) £10,658.54
UK FTSE All Share Index Tracking Fund (c) - (Medium Risk) £4,829.54
Total Fund Value £22,591.32

When I asked the Halifax rep about the charges for the above funds, she told me 'the corporate fund has a 1% annual charge and the other three funds have a 1.5% annual charge each'. She did say something about the 'charges working out at something like 0.015% per day and I wont be paying them as they will be deducted from the funds'? Which I did think was a bit strange as its my money that has paid for the funds in the first place so surely I am paying the charges. I think she tried to make the charges insignificant, although she reluctantly agreed with me when I asked if I have been paying 5.5% annual charge in total.

I need some help in what options I have if I want to move my S&S Isa.
Can I transfer it to another stocks and shares Isa like you can transfer a cash Isa to a new provider, also any recommendations about any good companies.

I want to continue paying in £350 per month, possibly £425 per month which would be half of my 2010/11 allowance as I have a cash Isa for the other £5100.

Sorry for the long post but if you are still reading this then any views or recommendations would be appreciated, thank you.

JamesU

dgaf wrote: »

I need some help in what options I have if I want to move my S&S Isa.
Can I transfer it to another stocks and shares Isa like you can transfer a cash Isa to a new provider, also any recommendations about any good companies.

I want to continue paying in £350 per month, possibly £425 per month which would be half of my 2010/11 allowance as I have a cash Isa for the other £5100.

Sorry for the long post but if you are still reading this then any views or recommendations would be appreciated, thank you.

Is this a Halifax stocks and shares ISA that you set up in a Halifax branch, choosing the funds with a representative and with regular reviews, x2 statements annually etc? Or is it a Halifax self-select stocks and share Isa with online access and the option to sell funds and hold the cash "on account" within the ISA? I think what you have is likely to be the former, but best to understand this before looking at the logistics.

JamesU

dgaf

Thanks for your reply, sorry I should of included that in original post but didnt want to make it any longer than it was.
Its a Stocks & Shares ISA that I initially set up in the branch, choosing the funds with a representative (he just asked me to choose a level of risk I was prepared to take). I do have online access but have never gone in to a branch to review it, nor do i get x2 statements annually (although the lady at Halifax that I spoke to on the phone today mentioned the statements, but I told her I have not had no statements in the post).
I have got the Halifax self-select stocks and share Isa with online access and the option to sell funds online. The Halifax rep today did say that I could choose and change the funds online myself.
Just logged on to my online banking to double check, and when I select the S&S ISA, it does give me an option to change the funds.

david78

Transfer to Hargreaves Landsdown. It will be much cheaper to change funds then.

dgaf

david78 wrote: »

Transfer to Hargreaves Landsdown. It will be much cheaper to change funds then.

I have been looking at Hargreaves Landsdown website and also Interactive Investor.
If I have already got these funds in the Halifax Isa, can I transfer them to Hargreaves Landsdown as they are? Do I contact HL and give them my Halifax account number/roll number and they take care of the transfer?

And then I would have to set up a monthly payment to them and also will be able to change the funds I want to invest in. Just one other thing the Halifax rep told me I could change the funds with them for free, would this be correct and would I be limited to choice of funds i could select with them?

JamesU

dgaf wrote: »

I have got the Halifax self-select stocks and share Isa with online access and the option to sell funds online. The Halifax rep today did say that I could choose and change the funds online myself.
Just logged on to my online banking to double check, and when I select the S&S ISA, it does give me an option to change the funds.

But do you happen to know if you have the option to sell a fund in your Halifax S+S online with the proceeds held as cash within the ISA? Or would you be obliged to simply switch to a different fund? Or if you sell the fund and do not switch to a different fund, do the cash proceeds go to a bank account etc (hence the cash looses the tax wrapper). It is quite important know which of the above is possible. If you are not certain by looking at your options on-line, you should give the rep another ring and clarify this.

At least with the Halifax S+S ISAs opened and operated in branch, it is not possible to sell a fund and hold the cash "on account" and also "in specie" transfer of the units in the funds to another ISA provider are also not allowed by Halifax. So in effect the only way the stocks and shares ISA can be transferred to another provider is to instruct the new provider to transfer across the Halifax ISA as cash (where Halifax sells the funds and the new provider receives the cash from these funds for reinvestment at your discretion in new funds). But this takes time and you would have less control over when and at what price the funds are sold before Halifax transfers the cash to the new ISA provider. So before deciding on your best options, clarification as in first paragraph above would be useful.

JamesU

David78, just about to post and saw your useful suggestion, HL as provider an obvious choice. Hargreaves Lansdowne will indeed accept the units from the Halifax funds (I know this is definitely the case for Halifax UK equity and Halifax UK growth funds at least). However Halifax do not allow this "in specie" transfer from the branch based S+S ISAs. And even if unit transfer to HL is possible from the online version that Dgaf has, HL insists that they are held as shares in the ISA rather than as funds at 0.5%/yr which is excessive at approx fees of £100/mth until it reaches their max (capped at approx £200-250/yr for "shares" if I remeber correctly?). Fine, acceptable if you intend to sell the funds in days to a month or two, not so good if you want to hold them longer to ensure a good sell price depending on markets. Therefore, clarification as in first paragraph above would be useful.

JamesU

david78

HL will manage the transfer for you. Just phone them and tell them what you want to do.

Switches are done online by selling and buying. Sales are free. Purchases are subject to the initial charge less the discount. There are many funds where the discount equals the initial charge so these can be purchased for free.

You can set up and manage regular payments from your account online or by post if you prefer.

david78

I am assuming the OP will want to switch funds once they are in the HL account.

JamesU

dgaf wrote: »

I have been looking at Hargreaves Landsdown website and also Interactive Investor.
If I have already got these funds in the Halifax Isa, can I transfer them to Hargreaves Landsdown as they are?

This depends as mentioned in previous post. In branch, Halifax does not allow "in specie" transfer to another provider. Which is why I have suggested giving them a ring to clarify your situation.

dgaf wrote: »

Do I contact HL and give them my Halifax account number/roll number and they take care of the transfer?

You log on to HL with a few details to apply for a funds ISA, then you are able to download transfer forms, and on the transfer forms you have the option to instruct for stock or cash transfer. In the former, if halifax allows the "in specie" transfer the funds would be transferred across. In the latter if halifax does not allow "in specie" transfer, HL will receive the cash from the sale of the funds. You need clarification on this first as already discussed.

dgaf wrote: »

And then I would have to set up a monthly payment to them and also will be able to change the funds I want to invest in. Just one other thing the Halifax rep told me I could change the funds with them for free, would this be correct and would I be limited to choice of funds i could select with them?

Not sure what you are asking here altogether......

Dgaf, one step at a time. I have been through these exact procedures over the last couple of months for somebody with funds at Halifax similar to yours and have a clear picture on what can be done at the Halifax end and also on HL's side. There is no problem with HL at all, the problems are with the horrendous inflexibility at the Halifax end and you need to clarify the things discussed in the last post before deciding on what you want to do.

Hope this helps.

JamesU

JamesU

david78 wrote: »

I am assuming the OP will want to switch funds once they are in the HL account.

Only if Halifax allows the transfer of the units in funds to HL rather than cash, and only if OP is happy with the cost of maintaining the Halifax funds in HL account as shares rather than funds (HL requirement) at 0.5% charged monthly, approx £100/mth initially until fees cap kicks in.

JamesU

JamesU

dgaf wrote: »

I have been looking at Hargreaves Landsdown website and also Interactive Investor.
If I have already got these funds in the Halifax Isa, can I transfer them to Hargreaves Landsdown as they are? Do I contact HL and give them my Halifax account number/roll number and they take care of the transfer?

Forgot, there are no charges for the transfers on HL side. Halifax need to be checked for any charges if they recieve instructions from another provider to transfer as stock or cash, when you clarify your options as suggested above (but yes, Halifax to Halifax fund switches are free but maybe not relevant according to what you want to achieve). And do not be put off if Halifax reps start to discuss transferring your exisiting funds from class C to class F as an enticement to stay, it is a minor reduction in fund fee from 1.5% to 1.25% (excepting corporate bond fund which probably would not change), and 1% on top of these for the Halifax ISA wrapper, so fees still quite high. And as soon as the fund exceeds £25K, you would be entitled to these lower fees anyway.

JamesU

No vested interests, I am not a financial advisor or financial expert.