H-L introduces a Tracker Platform Charge

Special_Saver2

dunstonh wrote: »

Easily. They only have to give notice of the change of terms to give you a chance to leave them before you are charged.

It costs you nothing to transfer to another platform if you dont like it.

The terms and conditions for their ISA from the November 2011 issue of H-L's Investment Times indicate on page 61, section C9:

Transfers will take place in the form of cash. Transfers as stock may be allowed subject to our discretion. The fee for transferring as stock is £25 (+ VAT) per holding.

For the H-L SIPP, there is a £75 + VAT charge to transfer out to another UK scheme but there is no mention of the charge for transferring per stock.

I see that the author of the Monevator article mentioned above is going to find out more about the SIPP charge from H-L tomorrow and report it in their article.

SS2

gadgetmind

saveonarola wrote: »

Edit: I've just noticed that on the Bestinvest website the BlackRock property tracker has an 'additional bid/offer spread' quoted of 0.27%. What is that?

Dunno, but these are the A units, which have the higher TER and about a 5% bid/offer spread. The D units are at 0.25% and the spread is very small.

JamesU

gadgetmind wrote: »

Dunno, but these are the A units, which have the higher TER and about a 5% bid/offer spread. The D units are at 0.25% and the spread is very small.

But you are with Skandia already? Why not get class Ds through an ISA there or is there a limitation due to "CIA" only?

JamesU

gadgetmind

JamesU wrote: »

But you are with Skandia already? Why not get class Ds through an ISA there or is there a limitation due to "CIS" only?

While I'm on Skandia, I know close to zero about the platform as it's all been setup and managed by an IFA long before I started taking an active interest in such things.

saveonarola

gadgetmind wrote: »

I guess the critical thing is whether they let you buy it!

In the fund search in Bestinvest's 'Select' platform tab, there are two further sub-divisions, 'ISA' and 'Investment Account' (i.e. regular, non-ISA a/c). When you search for 'BlackRock', you get 39 funds listed in 'ISA', but 76 in 'Investment Account'. Either this is a glitch - I guess Bestinvest are quite new and the website is not exactly watertight (for example, Vanguard LifeStrategy funds are listed as having no initial charge, whereas the other Vanguard trackers have the dilution levy listed as the initial charge) - or there are fewer funds available within the ISA wrapper. If you search for 'BlackRock' in the 'Investment Research' tool, you get hundreds of funds, including the property tracker. Yes, it's not clear why and there's not much point speculating.

gadgetmind wrote: »

Dunno, but these are the A units, which have the higher TER and about a 5% bid/offer spread. The D units are at 0.25% and the spread is very small.

That 5% spread is the initial charge, right? So with the initial charge discounted the spread would be the same as the D units. That 'additional bid/offer spread' looks strange, but as you say, it's moot if the fund is not available on their platform. Looks like I'll be on the phone again.

gadgetmind

saveonarola wrote: »

Yes, it's not clear why and there's not much point speculating.

Stocks and Shares ISAs have restrictions to prevent you investing in anything "cash like", which is why there is a limited range of funds, but bonds, gilts (with > 5 years to maturity) and commercial property should all be fine.

Looks like I'll be on the phone again.

Please let me know what you find, particularly whether this can be held in SIPP/ISA and what the initial costs/spreads are.

I'm now doing more checking regards the BestInvest Vanguard funds (looking at territory and cap size breakdowns) and I also tried to get online with Skandia. Sadly, they seem to have closed my account as I haven't logged in for ages, perhaps ever, and large sections are also down for maintenance.

As we have 3 x pensions and 1 x ISA on Skandia, turning this more passive while reducing fees perhaps makes more sense than moving it. I could make my additional investment there too, but I'd need to check the PIP for my SIPP to make sure it ends in this tax year.

saveonarola

gadgetmind wrote: »

Please let me know what you find, particularly whether this can be held in SIPP/ISA and what the initial costs/spreads are.

No problem.

Imnoexpert_2

I guess what HL are doing is what we will see more of in the future. I may wait and see what happens when the dust of RDR settles.

One of the effects of this will be that holding a small fund in Index funds will be more expensive (in % terms) than a larger fund.

The description says the charge will be levied "per holding". What does per holding mean? If I hold the same index fund in the "fund and share account" and in the "Stocks and Shares ISA account" do I pay the £24 twice or once? Or indeed if I have bought 3 lots of the fund at different times are these 3 holdings and thus pay £72? Obviously I hope it's just one holding and costs £12!

I'm disappointed to have to find this out from page 17 of their magazine as one of their strengths is their communications strategy.

gadgetmind

Imnoexpert wrote: »

If I hold the same index fund in the "fund and share account" and in the "Stocks and Shares ISA account" do I pay the £24 twice or once?

Yes, and ditto for your spouse and your SIPP.

Or indeed if I have bought 3 lots of the fund at different times are these 3 holdings and thus pay £72?

Nope, they merge the holdings and average your purchase price.

Imnoexpert_2

argh! now I'm starting to get annoyed!

But thanks for the information.