Hargreaves Lansdown

Charity_Dalek

Following on from the replies above I called H&L again this pm. This time they were still taking the line that there were no entry fees and no annual management fees. However, when probing around it was stated that there is a annual management fee that is levied by the fund manager (1 to 1.5%). Got there in the end.

Lokolo

Charity_Dalek wrote: »

Following on from the replies above I called H&L again this pm. This time they were still taking the line that there were no entry fees and no annual management fees. However, when probing around it was stated that there is a annual management fee that is levied by the fund manager (1 to 1.5%). Got there in the end.

Yes I assumed you knew about AMC and Initial.

They aren't controlled by HL.

Cardinal-Red

purch wrote: »

...and more importantly better.

HL are not a particularly brilliant Online Broker from my experience. You will usually get better prices and fills from other brokers, and that additional price improvement will/could add up to quite a significant amount over time.

You can't always rate a broker as cheap just based on the headline cost per trade.

Unfortunaately HL fall down on both measures.

I am not doubting you here, but curious as to how this works? Are different platforms attached to different market makers? I'd have always assumed that the price you paid would be the same at any given time, but you seem to be suggesting otherwise?

jamesd

HL rebates all of the initial commission on most funds, with the exceptions usually at 0.25%. The amount of the commission rebated from the annual fund charges varies. I've usually found them cheapest overall whenever I've looked.

If you do an outright buy of a fund for the first time you may encounter a £1,000 limit but it's trivial to get around it by selling something from another fund and buying the desired one to get some initial holding in the one you want, then the minimum drops to £250. You can continue to get around that buy buying one fund then selling and splitting the proceeds to buy others below this minimum.

hansi

They are also very helpful and reply to email queries promptly.

Sparky47 wrote: »

I have been using HL for over 10 years and find them very good, their web site has lots of useful research info.

They make their money from annual commission, although they rebate some of this to you in the form of a loyalty bonus.

Jonbvn

I've used Fidelity & H-L for our S&S ISA's in funds. Overall, we've found that H-L offer far more funds and are cheaper. Fidelity has a 0.25% charge for switching funds, whereas H-L do not.

Robie

Just to add my 2-cents worth :0).

I have been using H-L for about 6 months now (previously & still with Fidelity). I bought into ISA and also transferred some from Fidelity.

As per other comments, the cost are reasonable. What I do like about them is their customer service and the website, particularly, the current status of any fund in your portfolio. I havene't seen anything like this for any brokers - perhaps someone can correct me (in fact I would love to know if any other brokers show the current value of funds etc as well as H-L).

Robie

purch

Are different platforms attached to different market makers?

Not all brokers can/will get prices from the same market makers, and not all brokers can get you a fill at the best prices.

As an example I recently put an order on with 3 different brokers on a stock.

The order was at £12.50 for XXXX with each one.

I was filled at £ 12.50 with one broker, £ 12.4753 with another and £ 12.4572 with the other.

The middle fill was the cheapest broker BTW.

dunstonh

I havene't seen anything like this for any brokers - perhaps someone can correct me (in fact I would love to know if any other brokers show the current value of funds etc as well as H-L).

All the major platforms have online values. Including Cofunds, Fidelity, Skandia, Transact etc.

HL are a platform, not a broker.

jamesd

HL usually updates the values for me at 00:15. May vary for others. Often other sources of prices are faster. HL usually (maybe always) reports dealing with the fund provider. For shares purch is mentioning significant issues in broker choice even in the day of best execution requirements.