HL any good as advisors

redmalc

Hi all
I am thinking of having HL look after my portfolio of investments,approx £350K in total,i have stuff all over the place and coming to the point in life where this needs tidying up and consolidating for me.
I have had a Financial Advisor for years who calls me every January for a chat and that is it for the year,i think i need more imput nowdays at 58 years of age.
Any good or bad views of HL would be helpful
Thanks

pip895

I use them as a platform but not for advise.

I did have a free consultation when I was setting up a SIPP which was quite helpful. Given your portfolio size I guess you could get one too. After that you could make a decision on more paid for advise or go DIY.


I have been very happy with them as a platform - the website is good and you can get hold of them on the phone (apart from the RM thing). They are about to change their charging policy so it might be worth waiting to make a final decision.

SnowMan

I don't have a very high opinion of HL generally, so any mention of using them makes me shudder. That said I can't say I have any experience of their IFA offering.

One interesting option would be Justin Modray's new venture Candid Financial Advice. As he is one of the most trusted people in financial services (as demonstrated by his excellent website) that might be worth looking into. That's pretty new and I can't say I have any direct experience though.

Rymo_2

Must agree with SnowMan, I class Candidmoney.com as my favorite financial matters information site.

Excellent, easy to understand information and some excellent calculators.

I have a S&S ISA with HL and have found their service good, I haven't tried their advice offering so don't know about that.

redmalc, I suppose it depends on what your existing IFA is charging for his annual call and whether you are happy with the outcome. I believe the RDR is all about clients paying for the actual work done and costs incurred so it may be worth making a few calls and considering a few offerings from others to compare.

Have you considered doing a bit of research, learning and doing DIY?

Totton

If in the need of advice why not give HL a go and compare what they say alongside what your current adviser or another suggests. Usually a good idea to get more than one opinion. My own experience of HL has been excellent.

kidmugsy

If I had £350k I'd be loth to keep it in one place; I'd diversify across providers as well as across assets.

pip895

kidmugsy wrote: »

If I had £350k I'd be loth to keep it in one place; I'd diversify across providers as well as across assets.

As I understand it the cash isn't all in one place - its with whoever you put it with through HL.


I have to say I love the convenience of having things under one umbrella - a few button presses to transfer your holdings / fill your ISA allowance top up your pension etc. Also if you have a partner you can link accounts and have just one login for both. I have also got accounts (JISA's) for the kids linked in too.

Biggles

Totton wrote: »

If in the need of advice why not give HL a go and compare what they say alongside what your current adviser or another suggests.

Because he'll have to pay both of them.

pip895

Biggles wrote: »

Because he'll have to pay both of them.

If you are considering moving 350k into HL They will give you a free consultation - I seem to remember it has certain restrictions - they wont advise on individual funds unless you pay for the advise - personally I didn't want that anyway, asset allocation is much more of an issue.

Doshwaster

pip895 wrote: »

If you are considering moving 350k into HL They will give you a free consultation - I seem to remember it has certain restrictions - they wont advise on individual funds unless you pay for the advise - personally I didn't want that anyway, asset allocation is much more of an issue.

The consultation is free if you have over £20,000 to invest: http://www.hl.co.uk/advice/hl-insight