Moving a S&S ISA for a newbie

masterofmilk

Bit of background:

I've been investing £50/month into a L&G Stocks & Shares ISA, investing in the UK All-share Index since 2009. Although not much of an investment, it has yielded quite a nice return over the years.

Current Goal:

I'm now in a position where I'd like to build up a portfolio across several index funds and keep them all in an ISA.

However, with my current ISA being direct with L&G I can only invest in their products - most of which have rather offputting TER's compared to the likes of HSBC.

I gather what I should be doing is using either a fund supermarket or online broker to invest in multiple funds - and it would be wisest to keep these all in an ISA.

Now I have no problem keeping investing in my L&G UK Allshare index if I can move it to another provider's ISA account, but I really don't know how all this works.

Can I open up an ISA account with a broker then transfer my L&G ISA account to them? Also, if I invest in the L&G ISA this month (April) does that prohibit me from putting money into another ISA for the rest of the tax year?

Hope these questions aren't too ignorant! :think:

innovate

Pretty good guide: http://monevator.com/how-to-transfer-a-stocks-and-shares-isa/

And answer to your Q about this year's contribution: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/isa/faqs.htm#6

jimjames

You can transfer your ISA to another provider like HL or Cavendish. As long as the whole ISA is transferred then it doesn't matter that you've already made payments into it.

Just beware when looking at any new providers that any charges don't offset the savings - some like HL levy platform charges that will quickly wipe out small portfolios.

Porcupine

What I'd be tempted to do is halt any payments for April/May/etc so you don't 'subscribe' to L&G this year. Open a new ISA wherever you like, and start paying in there.

Next you need to decide how to transfer the old ISA. You can move it in cash or in stock. If you move in cash it's relatively quick, but you may lose out if share prices change much while you're out of the market. If you move in stock you stay invested but it's a slower process (many weeks) and there may be transfer out fees to pay. If you're happy where you're invested you might wish to leave it in stock and just put up with not having access to the funds for the weeks it takes to transfer.