HL u-turn on investment trusts

Rollinghome

gadgetmind wrote: »

Ah, right, I guess I'll now delete 3/4s of the letter I'd written.

We'll still be moving two ISAs and a SIPP and asking for fees to be waived.

No need for that. Just mention it to Ian Gorham and he'll "revert to a charging structure that clients are happy with".

gadgetmind

I doubt we'll be seeing the £24pa for holding Vanguard Lifestrategy any time soon!

westy22

Anyone like to start a 'book' on how long it will be before HL reconsider their 0.45% on funds now that they seem to stand out as the most expensive platform and that 0.35% looks to be nearer the norm?

gadgetmind

I think they may wait and see how many of the letters actually turn into formal complaints and actual transfers.

Rollinghome

grey_gym_sock wrote: »

well, the proof of the pudding is in the inflow/outflow of investments over (say) the next 6 months. this is something HL always report on (interim results, also out today, showed very strong inflows up to the end of december).

don't assume that the reactions on MSE, especially from active posters, are typical.

(i still hold HL shares, which may be warping my judgment on this )

I think much of the talk around the imminent decline of HL has been exaggerated though this diatribe "The truth and greed behind Hargreaves price noise" on Fundweb is good fun.

However there's no doubt that there has been a change in attitudes and perceptions of the company that's happened gradually over the past few years and not just in recent weeks. There was a time when HL were the automatic recommendation on this board for funds with few dissenters. They were seen as a discount broker who offered good value and countless clients would have found their way to HL as clients after reading recommendations here.

That's not the case any more either on this board or on others. It's true that the people who comment are small in number but they may be disproportionately influential in setting the tone. What's becoming clear is that Hargreaves Lansdown has become a company that's hugely disliked by many people. Far from becoming the Waitrose of financial services as they fantasised, they've become as disliked as Tesco - and possibly for similar reasons.

That's something they'll need to reverse otherwise they're offering a big opportunity for competitors over the next few years.

gadgetmind

Rollinghome wrote: »

It's true that the people who comment are small in number but they may be disproportionately influential in setting the tone.

Maybe, but they haven't back-tracked because of a far noisy dissenters. They've clearly been rammed with emails, calls, letters and complaints as a result of a wide-spread backlash.

Rollinghome

gadgetmind wrote: »

Maybe, but they haven't back-tracked because of a far noisy dissenters. They've clearly been rammed with emails, calls, letters and complaints as a result of a wide-spread backlash.

It reminds me of those budgets where one side excitely waves their order papers and says what a clever presentation of some dodgy wheezes the chancellor made. Then a few days later it all falls apart...

I suspect piling yet another charge on for leaving might not be as smart as it seemed at the time. For me the new £30 account closure fee for each sub-account will only be another £120 (closing trading accounts + ISA accounts x 2) but it's £120 that might as well be in my pocket as theirs and has just prompted me to get on with it and get out before June rather than hang around and see what happens.

ayayay

I was someone who complained about the doubling of my fees because of the treatment of ITs and was in HL's complaints procedure. Because of this climbdown, my rationale for complaining that HL won't waive exit fees has dropped away.

However, in the meantime I've been researching other providers, and will probably change my SIPP anyway (before the exit fee shoots up). Had HL not embarked on this foolish endeavour (linked with the misleading marketing surrounding it)., I have no doubt that I would never have considered moving.

I have no choice but to keep my ISA with HL because of the ludicrous exit fees.

aldershot

advice for a passive investor. I hold a few HSBC index trackers as well as some individual equities and ORB bonds. I was going to switch out from HL as the £2 per fund charge migrating to 45bp was going to hurt (around 100k in funds). If I switched the funds to ITs, my charges would remain capped at £200pa (which I am happy to pay). What would be the disadvantage of moving to ITs and what are the boards recommendations for the cheapest pseudo trackers (UK, US, JP, EU and PR)?

gadgetmind

Why not use Vanguard ETFs?

https://www.vanguard.co.uk/uk/mvc/investments/etf