Wrap accounts or managed account providers

Chrismaths

Bloody forum, just lost a long post!

Gist of it was:

Ah. One for (some of) the IFAs then, really. Since you probably wouldn't want to buy these expensive and inflexible extra wrappers, then you probably wouldn't need the additional outer layer to put them in.

You've clearly misunderstood what a wrap is. There is no extra level of charge for a wrapper in the transact wrap, an investment costs the same whether you hold it in an offshore bond, or directly. You pay based on funds under the wrap. That makes it incredibly flexible. If you have a discretionary trust, an offshore bond is usually the ideal investment inside it.

You don't find it that way, but I'm assuming you are not a millionaire with several trusts and plenty of business commitments, who doesn't want to spend the time it takes to DIY. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Transact is obviously for the IFA, as you can't access it directly, you have to go through an IFA. The idea with transact is that there is a tripartite relationship between client, IFA and transact. Transact provide the adminstration, platform and reporting, the IFA provides the advice and client contact, and the client provides the money

To steal dh's motoring analogy - transact with an IFA is equivalent to a Chauffeur driven all terrain 4x4 Porsche. H-L or Selftrade is equivalent to a Toyota Corolla (I picked that because they are cheap to own, and decent - and I own one) that you drive yourself. Fine, so long as you know how to drive (invest), you don't need to leave the road at any time (access to more esoteric wrappers), and you have the time to drive it yourself.

They provide different services at different costs to different people. Transact wouldn't be suitable to YOU, Ed, because you want to DIY and want as low a cost base as possible, with no advice. But just because it wouldn't be suitable to you (and many others) doesn't mean it doesn't have its place.

dh and I don't use wraps such as transact, because dh can take on board the part of the admin and the reporting function by bringing together different providers through using his software (which makes it cheaper to the client), and I run my own platform so have no need to outsource it (which makes it cheaper to the client).