Transferring to a self select ISA

Rhino666

I have five separate funds held within the HL Vantage scheme. These are the legacy of several PEP and stock and share ISA investments.

Unfortunately these funds have not performed well and I would like more control over my investments. I am currently considering a move to a self select ISA at iii where I would be in a position to manage my own ISA money, buying / selling ISA allowable shares and where prudent temporarily dropping back into cash, albeit with no interest payable. I have more time to keep an eye on things nowadays and these investments are long overdue a revamp.

Does anyone know if it would be best to sell the funds within Hargreaves Lansdown and transfer the cash to iii or just transfer the funds ? I have been trying to find the applicable HL fees for transfers out but not surprisingly, the only information available is for transfers in. This info would be very useful, if anyone has it.

yorkiebar

To transfer ISA funds you have to approach the new provider and get them to manage the process, so contact iii with the HL details and they will do the rest. You can specify if the funds are to be sold by HL and the cash proceeds transferred to iii OR transfer the funds directly. That's why you don't see any ISA "transfer out" details at HL.


http://www.iii.co.uk/isas/?type=transfer

jimjames

As above the transfer process is straightforward.

If the funds are not performing as well as you wanted would it be better to just change to different funds/sectors? Buying shares overseas for example can be much more expensive than UK and for any shares buying & selling costs can eat into your profits.

Rhino666

Thanks for the replies.

The five funds mentioned are listed as such with no specifics as to to PEP / ISA year breakdown. I spoke to iii today and they arrange for the transfer on the basis of the individual annual PEP / ISA allowance (funds or cash). Given the details on my portfolio, it appears that this information is not available, as all the ISA funds have been grouped together with no specific information available.

My current intention is to liquidate the funds, still within the ISA wrapper and invest in UK shares initially.

I would just be grateful to know the best way to do this, in terms of charges and ease of facilitating.

I have nothing against HL but they transferred their online sharedealing to TDW so my idea will not work if I stay with them.

masonic

Rhino666 wrote: »

My current intention is to liquidate the funds, still within the ISA wrapper and invest in UK shares initially.

I would just be grateful to know the best way to do this, in terms of charges and ease of facilitating.

If you are planning not to keep any of the funds, then it isn't going to cost you anything to sell them in advance. It will cost you extra to buy the shares within the H-L platform before transferring. Personally, I'd probably do as you suggest - it simplifies the situation and hopefully reduces the chance of anything going wrong during the transfer process.

Edit: This is what the relevant part of the Vantage S&S ISA T&Cs say about transfers

C9 - Withdrawals, Terminations, Transfers and Death
Upon receipt of your written instruction (and within the time frame specified by you - which may not be less than 30 days) all (or part) of your account shall be transferred or paid to you or another ISA Manager. Generally we shall complete your instructions within 30 days, occasionally it may take longer to complete due to factors beyond our control.
Transfers will take place in the form of cash. Transfers of stock may be allowed subject to our discretion. The fee for transferring as stock is £20 (+VAT) per holding.

jimjames

Rhino666 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.


My current intention is to liquidate the funds, still within the ISA wrapper and invest in UK shares initially.

I would just be grateful to know the best way to do this, in terms of charges and ease of facilitating.

I have nothing against HL but they transferred their online sharedealing to TDW so my idea will not work if I stay with them.

HL do allow share dealing within their ISA so you could stay with them if that is your requirement.

Rhino666

Thanks for the replies and sorry that my question was a little woolly with a few facts wrong. I have been in touch with Hargreaves Lansdown and iii today and all is now clear.

Transferring funds from one ISA provider to another generally costs money. Selling the funds/shares and transferring cash, either to another ISA provider or out of the ISA wrapper is usually free.

HL do have an online share trading facility - I was getting mixed up with Hoodless Brennan who transferred their online dealing accounts to TD Waterhouse.

I want a clean break from HL and the iii self select route is a good way of doing this. No real problem with HL apart from association with lacklustre funds, higher share dealing charges and a self select annual charge, not payable at iii.

The funds can be sold and realise the next working days closing price. Funds are available after 4 working days and a cash BACS transfer is free (CHAPS £25). It is probably worth looking at the payout(ex-div) dates on income funds.

Time to take some control.

Mikeyorks

Rhino666 wrote: »

Unfortunately these funds have not performed well and I would like more control over my investments.

As HL give you access to virtually all the Funds (over 2000) available on typical supermarket platforms ..... why do you have no control? They're only as 'lacklustre' as you choose them to be. Whether the funds are in an HL Vantage ISA or a freestanding HL Vantage Fund and Share account ........... you can switch at any time to any other of their funds.

Any of the Vantage accounts are 'self select' .......... if by that you mean your ability to choose where your money is?

Rhino666

Mikeyorks wrote: »

As HL give you access to virtually all the Funds (over 2000) available on typical supermarket platforms ..... why do you have no control? They're only as 'lacklustre' as you choose them to be. Whether the funds are in an HL Vantage ISA or a freestanding HL Vantage Fund and Share account ........... you can switch at any time to any other of their funds.

Any of the Vantage accounts are 'self select' .......... if by that you mean your ability to choose where your money is?

Good question, hopefully will be answered to your satisfaction.

Transferring between funds, if I remember correctly, always costs initially because of the buy / sell spread. It is not possible to simply decide to change fund allegance without some associated cost (5 -6%). If anyone knows different, please contradict me.

Self select, as defined at iii, for me, means moving out of funds into shares / cash. When the market is dropping I intend to sell shares and hold cash. When rising I will invest in UK shares. Funds tend to be held throughout the peaks and troughs of the stock market because of buying/selling costs, precluding the opportunity to take control and avoid the troughs that hold long term investments back.

Mikeyorks

Rhino666 wrote: »

Transferring between funds, if I remember correctly, always costs initially because of the buy / sell spread. It is not possible to simply decide to change fund allegance without some associated cost (5 -6%). If anyone knows different, please contradict me..

I do it regularly .... and very few Funds have a spread. Junior Oils is one of the few (out of 40) I've purchased that do. HL rebate virtually all the initial fees .... so the 5% is way out. Normally around 0.25% - 1%.

Self select, as defined at iii, for me, means moving out of funds into shares / cash. When the market is dropping I intend to sell shares and hold cash. When rising I will invest in UK shares. Funds tend to be held throughout the peaks and troughs of the stock market because of buying/selling costs, precluding the opportunity to take control and avoid the troughs that hold long term investments back

Everything you say there - you can equally do with Funds. Your buying / selling costs with shares I guarantee will exceed your costs of doing the same with funds on the HL platform (putting to one side annual management costs).

pqrdef

I'm not clear whether your funds are already in an ISA wrapper. If they are, you need to use the ISA transfer process to retain the ISA-ness.

If they aren't, you can only move around £10K per tax year into the ISA wrapper. Note you can only fund the iii account by debit card, which may run into transaction limits or daily limits.