Virgin ISA - transfer, but where?

hethmar

Ive had a Virgin S and S ISA (previously a PEP) for about 12 years now and on average its only made about 4% growth per annum (though in the first year it was adding 15%). Its currently about £16k

Should I transfer it to another S and S ISA as Ive heard Virgin isnt a brilliant company for these products?

I am an investment dummy and I do see people saying about transferring to H and L but would I have to choose a fund, or do they have a general ISA S and S fund? Would add that Im now coming to retirement age.

Grateful for any advice please.

dunstonh

Should I transfer it to another S and S ISA as Ive heard Virgin isnt a brilliant company for these products?

Virgin financial products are poor quality. They sell on brand name only. Their funds cost about 5 times more than the equivalent.

So, purely on a like for like point of view, you can do better. However, you need to decide about your investments. Having £16k in one limited sector fund isnt good investing. The performance has a lot to do with the sector you are invested in and that sector underperformed during the Labour years as is historically the case when Labour are in power. A greater diversification would have been a better option.

I am an investment dummy and I do see people saying about transferring to H and L but would I have to choose a fund, or do they have a general ISA S and S fund? Would add that Im now coming to retirement age.

Your choice is to DIY or use an IFA (ignoring the other lesser options). Virgin are a DIY provider. HL are a DIY provider. So, in that respect you are already a DIY investor. Moving to HL wont change that. You just need to decide whether you want to continue being DIY or if not then use an IFA. Although £16k is at the lower end of the scale and many IFAs wont be interested in giving you advice or if they do, it will not be cost effective (better than banks or tied agents but a big difference to DIY).

jimjames

hethmar wrote: »

I am an investment dummy and I do see people saying about transferring to H and L but would I have to choose a fund, or do they have a general ISA S and S fund? Would add that Im now coming to retirement age.

Grateful for any advice please.

You can get an equivalent fund to your Virgin one with HL. Once you do the transfer you can choose the HSBC FTSE index tracker or if you have the bond fund then a similar one to that.

With the lower charges from HSBC you'll be paying about 80% less management fees each year.

ses6jwg

4% a year does not seem too bad.

hethmar

The majority of the increase seems to have been in the first couple of years ses.