Aj Bell Youinvest. v. Interactive investor

ayayay

Im looking to move my Sipp and Isa from hargreaves (isn't everyone).
£150k and £50k mainly shares, some funds. Im stuck between youinvest and iii. There doesn't seem much between them. Any views/ experience?

Linton

I have a SIPP with YouInvest, mainly in funds and an ISA with iii mainly in shares. I am happy with both and see no reason to transfer completely to either.

The dealing platforms are similar, but YouInvest has a useful portfolio fund analysis tool and fund database from morningstar. iii's website is pretty basic but but works perfectly well for my purposes. YouInvest handled the transfer of a set of private pensions and setting up a drawdown SIPP efficiently. Both provide helpful and knowledgeable customer service.

So I think YouInvest is better for funds, I have made little use of shares in the SIPP so cant really compare on that side. From a quick look at the charges for larger portfolios, YouInvest appears cheaper for shares whilst iii is cheaper for funds but neither are expensive compared with some other platforms.

SnowMan

At the moment Youinvest don't charge a custody charge for shares and ETFs so for them you are just looking at the SIPP administration charge and dealing costs which is why they look good value.

But you need to factor in that Youinvest may introduce a custody charge for shares and ETFs with just 30 days notice, and past experience is they won't waive their substantial exit penalties to leave if they do, even if it involves a quadrupling or more of charges. Youinvest claim that they can increase charges without offering a penalty free exit to 'avoid cross-subsidy between customers'. So work out what your exit charges would be if Youinvest were to do this (£25 per investment £90 SIPP closure fee). Would you prepared to take a case to the Financial Ombudsman Service if they were to introduce charges on shares and ETFs?

So of those two Interactive Investor would be my choice. While they have said they aren't planning to increases, some are still querying (reasonably) how long they can sustain their charges.

darren72

Have you considered iweb ?

kidmugsy

ayayay wrote: »

Im looking to move my Sipp and Isa from hargreaves (isn't everyone)

No; for my small SIPP they're fine. And for my wife's.

Yorkshirebornandbred

I have just moved my wife and I to Interactive investor Sipp's and ISA's It has all gone very smoothly so far. I am very pleased with the service and the charging structure especially after linking our accounts. I didn't look at Youinvest so I can't help there. Good luck with the move!

jamesd

It's worth wondering whether their change to SIPP exit charges makes it sensible to move anyway, though, if you think that the total pot sizes will eventually become large enough for the pricing issues to matter for you.