iWeb announce post RDR charges (I think)

SnowMan

iWeb have just announced their changes, I think

http://www.iweb-sharedealing.co.uk/F...nd-changes.asp

Looks like a fund conversion process to clean funds plus the introduction of a trading charge for (clean) funds.

What will I be charged for fund trades from 31st March 2014?

Historically the trail commission we received from the Fund Manager covered the cost of our fund dealing service, which is why we currently do not charge a dealing commission for the purchase or sale of any funds.

As we will no longer receive trail commission from 'clean' share classes, from 31st March 2013 we will be introducing a dealing commission charge of £5.00 each time you buy or sell funds.

I can't work out what funds are available through iweb though. There appears to be a list here which includes HSBC trackers and a very restricted range of Vanguard trackers (e.g. Vanguard lifestrategy 100%).

And I'm not sure what their other existing charges are apart from trading charges (which will now extend to fund purchases and sales from 31st March 2014) and a one off £25 account opening charge. But no separate ongoing account charge except for SIPPs where there is an account charge (of either £18.75 per quarter or £37.50 per quarter) as shown here.

Something doesn't seem right here as there is an indication that (say) clean class HSBC trackers can after 31st March 2014 be held in an ISA for a one off account opening fee of £25, fund dealing charge of £5 and no custody charge?

grey_gym_sock

yes, it's either amazingly cheap or too good to be true.

i've only used iweb for shares, not funds, but AIUI they have been offering full-priced funds (AMC 1.5%) with no rebate at all; though they've also had HSBC 'retail' class trackers; and more recently added a subset of vanguard funds (which looked like a temporary freebie). so this would be a huge price cut.

it does look similar to halifax, as discussed here - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4865170 (iweb of course being a whitelabel of halifax).

Special_Saver2

That does sound really good. I will update my S&S ISA thread accordingly. They also have longstanding low charges for domestic and overseas share dealing, dividend reinvestment and no charges for corporate actions.

If there really is no platform charge, then I might well open up my 2014/15 S&S ISA with them and might transfer some of my old S&S ISAs. I am waiting to see what all the other providers announce - they will all have to announce their post-RDR prices by April.

For those of you who are with iWeb already, what do you think of the quality of their service? I am assuming they provide a good service if they are a white label of Halifax.

SS2

JohnRo

I hold a few shares on there already that I don't check regularly, might have to revisit the ETF route to index tracking investment after all.. it's turning into a bit of a minefield this platform carry on.

Them not applying custody charges isn't new, so the question is whether current fund commission kickbacks account for a significant contribution to their running costs. If not then I don't see why they would need to change very much.

The calculation will be whether rebalancing and switching charges work out to be cost effective compared to a percentage platform fee. A portfolio of 10 regional trackers, for example, might reasonably incur a rebalancing charge of £50 a year on iWeb at current prices if ignoring the one off account fee, which means a £20K break even point, or £30K if including the one off account fee, for a portfolio currently held on a platform charging 0.25% pa.

I decided against them a year ago because clean funds weren't available there and worked out cheaper elsewhere, also didn't think they had a comprehensive enough catalogue at the time. They're worth a second look.

For those of you who are with iWeb already, what do you think of the quality of their service? I am assuming they provide a good service if they are a white label of Halifax.

Don't use them regularly but the service provision is fine, haven't had cause to use their customer service though. Their web portal doesn't feel quite as comfortable to use as some but that's a minor issue. They have good resource data via digitallook.

TCA

SnowMan wrote: »

And I'm not sure what their other existing charges are apart from trading charges (which will now extend to fund purchases and sales from 31st March 2014) and a one off £25 account opening charge. But no separate ongoing account charge except for SIPPs.

Something doesn't seem right here as there is an indication that (say) clean class HSBC trackers can after 31st March 2014 be held in an ISA for a one off account opening fee of £25, fund dealing charge of £5 and no custody charge?

It certainly looks like £25 account opening fee and £5 per trade with no custody charges. Surely not? As grey gym sock said, it's a whitelabel version of Halifax's own product, which itself looks very cheap at £12.50 p.a. for an ISA.

I just wish all these platforms and brokers would get themselves sorted so we can make some decisions.

Porcupine

TCA wrote: »

It certainly looks like £25 account opening fee and £5 per trade with no custody charges. Surely not? As grey gym sock said, it's a whitelabel version of Halifax's own product, which itself looks very cheap at £12.50 p.a. for an ISA.

The fees for shares were pretty good before RDR, so they have a record of it.

Here's a list of funds which includes the funds are going to be converted to clean units and what they're going to. Many of them are halved in price.

Rollinghome

I'm a bit confused on what it is they're offering.

For example for M&G Optimal Income they offer both the class X at 1.5% AMC and the class A at 1.25%, and, what looks like the clean version, the class I, at 0.75%. When I looked at HSBC trackers I could only see dirty versions on offer.

I've contacted them for clarification but have yet to hear back.

TCA

JohnRo wrote: »

I decided against them a year ago because clean funds weren't available there and worked out cheaper elsewhere, also didn't think they had a comprehensive enough catalogue at the time. They're worth a second look.

Porcupine wrote: »

The fees for shares were pretty good before RDR, so they have a record of it.

This is looking like a good option for my ISA. Would be hard to beat for low volumes of purchases. Actually probably good for my normal investment account too now I think about it, so will need to reassess when Best Invest divulge their intentions. IWeb don't appear to have the full range of Vanguard trackers but I can probably work around that with HSBC or whoever. Although just seen Rollinghome's post above about those.

I'm assuming they offer access to the full range of UK (and Channel Islands) investment trusts? Can't find anything on their website except analytical tools, which doesn't always mean the same as actually selling them.

SnowMan

Rollinghome wrote: »

I'm a bit confused on what it is they're offering. ..........

When I looked at HSBC trackers I could only see dirty versions on offer.

I've contacted them for clarification but have yet to hear back.

I was going off the conversion list. The HSBC retail class trackers are being converted to C class according to that list.

Which suggested to me that the HSBC C class trackers would be available to invest in from 1st April 2014.

It doesn't follow that that is the case though.

So will be interesting to hear what you find out.

Rollinghome

Ah, that was the list I looked at before. Couldn't find it again just now, I find their site a nightmare to navigate.

The one I looked at just now was here http://www.iweb-sharedealing.co.uk/market-information/Funds.asp . Doesn't actually say they offer the funds listed and where they list clean funds they don't mention any additional platform charge. I guess it will all eventually become crystal clear, or not.

As I gather they're directly owned by Halifax, rather than just using their system, I assume they'll make clear what both will offer at the same time.

JohnRo

They always struck me as an outfit geared up primarily for share dealing and that fund investment was, at best an after thought. I'd consider an EFT portfolio with them but not funds as I never thought they offered anything like enough of a range and that doesn't look like it's about to change.