Changing platform for ISA shares

aroominyork

My ISA shares are curerntly held on Co-Funds. I want to move to a new IFA and have met two potential firms, neither of which use Co-Funds. One says the shares would need to be re-bought (that's probably the wrong term but hopefully you know what I mean) on the new platform and he would charge a 3% fee. The other IFA says they can be moved across platforms easily and he would only charge 1%. Which is correct regarding the process for moving ISA shares from one platform to another?

Archi_Bald

As long as they offer the same shares, your new platform provider can do an "in-specie" transfer without selling the shares. Your existing provider might charge you exit fees (see their T&Cs) but there isn't really any need to pay an IFA for such a transfer. Just fill in the transfer form which you can get from the new provider and wait for them to complete it.

Here is a guide to transfers: http://monevator.com/how-to-transfer-a-stocks-and-shares-isa/. It is slightly out of date in that it says you cannot transfer S&S to cash, but if you just ignore that bit, the rest still stands.

RickyC_IFSWP

If the new platform has the same shares & share classes, then a re-registration ("in-specie" transfer as Archi Bald mentioned above) can be done - i.e. the shares do not need to be sold. This process can take around 4 weeks to complete though but is fairly simple.

Check that the fees charged are not just for simple re-registration but actually cover the whole advice process. Typically the new IFA would need to reassess your attitude to risk and the underlying funds too, so the fee charged should cover it.

Saying that, if you are happy with using Cofunds, I can't see why an IFA can't accommodate this.