I'm soooo confused about fund platforms!!!

jem16

plarka wrote: »

I guess no one really knows!

At this specific point in time, no nobody knows. It will become clearer over time.

coastline

Jim431 wrote: »

Just found a reference to "distributor status":

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/bbf1d820-8b7e-11df-ab4d-00144feab49a.html#axzz1z5jUOoOV

All the ETFs mentioned are shown as "Income treatment - Income" so that means any gains are not treated as Capital Gains for tax purposes.

But they also say "UK Distributor/Reporting Status - Yes/Yes" so that means any gains are treated as Capital Gains for tax purposes.

Now I am confused !!

A couple of links...ISF.L has distributor status so as I'm told its subject to the same tax regulations for UK investors as other shares.

http://uk.ishares.com/en/rc/stream/pdf/false/?url=/publish/repository/documents/en/downloads/factsheet_ftse_100.pdf

dividends are paid as taxed according to this...

http://boards.fool.co.uk/dividends-consolidated-tax-certificate-11559221.aspx?sort=whole

Jim431

coastline wrote: »

A couple of links...ISF.L has distributor status so as I'm told its subject to the same tax regulations for UK investors as other shares.

http://uk.ishares.com/en/rc/stream/pdf/false/?url=/publish/repository/documents/en/downloads/factsheet_ftse_100.pdf

dividends are paid as taxed according to this...

http://boards.fool.co.uk/dividends-consolidated-tax-certificate-11559221.aspx?sort=whole

I think that all ETF's mentioned have "distributor status" and my previous reference to "Income treatment - Income" means something else.

Here are the prospectus for the FTSE all-share ETF's that I mentioned.

http://www.lyxoretf.co.uk/fileadmin/user_upload/ETF/UK/Fiches_techniques/FTSE_All_TR_May-12.pdf

http://www.etf.db.com/UK/pdf/EN/fact...2012_05_31.pdf

That was a good question

fimonkey

Good post OP because I am a small investor like you and get easily and very confused when the lovely people who reply on this board suddenly descend into finance-speak.

Are you a drip feed regular investor paying less than £500 per monthly investment?

If so then not sure you can do that with a ETF, I think they're better off being bought all out as opposed to a bit at a time - I was once told they're not worth considering unless youy paying £1000 each time you buy one. Can't remember why now, think it was because you couldn't actually purchase them through any of the platforms regular investment schemes - but I'm sure someone else can explain it better than me.

If you are only thinkning of one provider's fund then yeah for the time being go direct. This is probably a good place to start with HSBC https://investments.hsbc.co.uk/product/206/investment-funds-online?HBEU_dyn_lnk=Investments_ProductSelectorPage_InvestmentFundsOnline_FindOutMore_Btn (remember to consider whether you want to hold it in an S&S ISA or not)

If you are thinking a mix of funds and shares then its more complicated, especially if your portfolio is small. If it is have a look at my thread where I am considering the best thing to do in this situation.

gadgetmind

pqrdef wrote: »

That means people with a lot of money are (spit) cross-subsidising people with less.

Smart people who've salted away a few bob use platforms with low percentage fees and fixed annual fees. Less smart ones use Hargreaves Lansdown and active funds.

john0

what platforms have the low percentage fees? iii, looking to open a S+S isa but not sure which platform, thanks