Suggested Self Select Stocks ISA

paul2345

Hi All,

Wonder if anyone could recommend a self select S&S ISA please, these are my requirements...

No annual / quarterly charges
no fees for holdings shares / ETF's
ideally they should refund transfer in costs from another S&S ISA held with Selftrade, expected to be about £90.

Thanks,
Paul

Perelandra

For the first 2 (no ongoing charges and fees for holding shares/ETFs), x-o.co.uk and TD Direct (ISA > £5,100) would work. Those ISAs can't hold funds though.

I think it might be a challenge to find a free provider who also pays transfer fees from your previous provider.

If you want funds, you'd need to use different companies (for example, Cavendish), but from your post I think it's the shares you're interested in?

bowlhead99

Perelandra wrote: »

For the first 2 (no ongoing charges and fees for holding shares/ETFs), x-o.co.uk and TD Direct (ISA > £5,100) would work. Those ISAs can't hold funds though.

TD Direct can hold funds actually - I use them. The dealing platorm (including mobile dealing) is pretty good. Also it doesn't need the £5100 deposited to avoid annual fees, if you sign up to their regular investment service, but I'm over the limit so have not put it to the test

I think it might be a challenge to find a free provider who also pays transfer fees from your previous provider.

SIPPDeal used to have a promotion where they would swallow your outgoing transfer fees from other providers up to a limit but I think that's ended now (couldn't find it on the site).

Like TD, they have no fees for holding shares / ETFs and have a regular investment service (with a wider breadth of shares/ITs/ETFs qualifying for regular contributions at a discount rate, than you get at TD). Also have mobile dealing if that floats your boat. I use them (for a SIPP) and the service has been good. They are free of quarterly charges, unless you hold certain funds (including Vanguard) or structured products.

Sippdeal have 'a recommend a friend' where you can make £100 if you refer someone who subsequently opens an account with £5k+ in it. Not sure if the board rules here allow me to pimp myself out to anyone who signs up and gives them my details to say they signed up as a result of the introduction. I've recommended them and TD in various other posts on a quality / service basis over the years, so the suggestion isn't tinted by current promotions. I expect the mods will remove this paragraph if I shouldn't have mentioned referral fees.

paul2345

Thanks, I do already have sippdeal, but can't transfer in due to the prohibitive costs.

Sounds like there isn't anyone out there refunding fees at the moment.

bowlhead99

I see with Hargreaves Lansdown, transfer costs on shares are not included in their promo but they say they 'may make a contribution' if you call them up and ask. I assume you ruled them out for ongoing charges at 0.5% on shares and ITs and ETFs (as I did) but it does cap out at some point if you have huge balances. The sweetener on the transfer in is probably not enough to put them ahead of moving to a cheaper long term provider.

Although at the moment they have a promo "if you open, transfer or top up an ISA by 29 May you could win 1 of 50 iPad minis worth £269". So you never know, that 50 in some thousands chance to get the iPad might compensate you for exit costs. Doubt it though!

grey_gym_sock

HL's maximum ongoing charges for shares in an ISA are £45 per year (so on £9k and above).

selftrade's quarterly inactivity charges come to £42 per year.

you can avoid those inactivity charges by having 1 "regular" monthly investment during each quarter. which costs £1.50 each time (and minimum investment of £50), so £6 per year.

Perelandra

bowlhead99 wrote: »

TD Direct can hold funds actually - I use them. The dealing platorm (including mobile dealing) is pretty good. Also it doesn't need the £5100 deposited to avoid annual fees, if you sign up to their regular investment service, but I'm over the limit so have not put it to the test

For TD Direct, I meant that the no-fees ISA can't hold funds. TD Direct charges for their funds ISA (currently free for some funds, but chargeable on all funds from August).

donniej

TD Direct are not great value for funds.

A couple of useful URLs to compare platform costs (for funds - not shares):
* http://www.comparefundplatforms.com - this lets you select the exact funds you want to invest in, and compare some providers
* http://www.rplan.co.uk/compare - this lets you compare from a wide range of providers, but you can't select the funds to invest in (they use a basket.)

http://www.x-o.co.uk are probably one of the cheapest brokers in the UK. I don't think they'll refund your transfer fees, but you'd probably recover than fairly quickly in reduced dealing charges.

saintalan

Perelandra wrote: »

For TD Direct, I meant that the no-fees ISA can't hold funds. TD Direct charges for their funds ISA (currently free for some funds, but chargeable on all funds from August).

Hi, I am going round in circles on the TD site and don't really understand your difference with bowlhead on ISA charges.

Thanks

Alan

Perelandra

saintalan wrote: »

Hi, I am going round in circles on the TD site and don't really understand your difference with bowlhead on ISA charges.

Thanks

Alan

TD Direct have two different charging structures:

If you hold shares/ETFs, there is no ongoing charge provided that you hold at least £5,100 worth of shares (or, as bowlhead suggests, using their regular investment service). From a costs perspective, this meets the requirements of the OP; it's a pretty good option.

They also charge a platform fee for holding funds. Currently at 0.35% if the fund pays a trail commission of 0.5% or more; nil if less. From August, though, is this changing and will include a platform fee even on clean funds.


If you look at this tool at donniej linked to:
http://www.rplan.co.uk/compare

And compare TD Direct with, say, Cavendish you can see the charge in practice (and also the platform referred to). It's also in their rates and charges card on their website:

http://www.tddirectinvesting.co.uk/choose-an-account/~/media/uk/pdf/rates-charges-current.ashx

Although it's not very clear on this card that this will apply to your ISA. TD Direct therefore don't meet the OP's criteria for a free ISA.


EDIT: I will add, though, that many of the costs structures are likely to change over the next year. TD Direct's upcoming cost structure is, I think, RDR compliant; the current free options may well not be. So in time, the answer to this question might be very different.

paul2345

Thanks all, sounds like the £1.50 per quarter purchase is the best solution for the time being.