How I learned to stop worrying and love Interactive Investors

le_loup

(With apologies to Dr Strangelove)

Once upon a time there was a man who, with his relative, had a considerable sum of money in funds in S&S ISAs with nice Mr Hargreaves and nice Mr Lansdown. One day, suddenly, Mr Hargreaves demanded large amounts of money in order to continue to be the man’s best friend. “Cor blimey”, said the man “I could do better by getting a new friend”. And so he searched and searched all over the forest and bumped into a really nice man who didn’t have a proper name but said all his friends called him II or, if they were a special friend, III. Whilst III (they are very good friends, they must be as they contacted each other most days as they tried to sort out little problems) also wanted money, he only wanted the man’s dinner money, not the entire pocket money. And so a new – and exciting – relationship was born.

But the warning was in the name. The man should not have trusted anyone known as II or as the real spelling: aye aye! (Many people native to Madagascar consider the aye-aye an omen of ill luck. For this reason they often have been killed on sight.)

Well the rest is history.

But wait, the man has escaped! Hurrah!

In just under three weeks I have sold the lot, got Nationwide, my Cash ISA provider, to take the cash and have grovelingly returned it to H-L and will use it to buy Investment Trusts at a cost of £45 a year. By putting the investment into cash and using the new ISA transfer flexibility, I have reduced the time to a manageable length and whilst I have been out of the market for a short while, (but happily benefited thereby) Nationwide pay interest from the time my transfer request was received by them and II were able to react immediately they received the request. Well, when I say “able to react immediately”, they actually chose not to until I threatened them with the Ombudsman. Their initial reaction being:
“Transfers out take typically 6-8 weeks to transfer an ISA Account however I would suggest contacting your new broker to establish their transfer timescales as there is not a set time a transfer must take within the industry. Also, your new broker is responsible for handling your ISA Account transfer. I am sorry for any inconvenience caused.”
Yea, really sorry ‘cause we normally like to sit on client’s (client? ha!) money for as long as possible.

And so children, don’t be too disheartened, there is a way out.

Nixter

Many congratulations for escaping these villains.
As I'm mainly invested in Vanguard LifeStrategy funds, my next move is most likely Halifax Sharedealing...

Surely they can't be worse than iii...? ;-)

colsten

Nixter wrote: »

As I'm mainly invested in Vanguard LifeStrategy funds, my next move is most likely Halifax Sharedealing...

Wouldn't iWeb be better for you? Same outfit as Halifax Sharedealing, just different branding, and possibly quite a bit cheaper.

Nixter

colsten wrote: »

Wouldn't iWeb be better for you? Same outfit as Halifax Sharedealing, just different branding, and possibly quite a bit cheaper.

That is a good point. However, looking at their website, the first impression isn't very good as it looks very cheap and amateurish. Correct me if I'm wrong?

The reason for Halifax Sharedealing is that I used to be their customer 5 years ago. I never had any issues with them. I then moved to Hargreaves Lansdown following a transfer-in promotion and general recommendation from the public. It was a good move up until the price hikes.

masonic

le_loup wrote: »

In just under three weeks I have sold the lot, got Nationwide, my Cash ISA provider, to take the cash and have grovelingly returned it to H-L and will use it to buy Investment Trusts at a cost of £45 a year. By putting the investment into cash and using the new ISA transfer flexibility, I have reduced the time to a manageable length and whilst I have been out of the market for a short while, (but happily benefited thereby) Nationwide pay interest from the time my transfer request was received by them and II were able to react immediately they received the request.

I don't really understand why going to cash and then moving to Nationwide would have been quicker than going to cash and then moving direct to HL?

Personally, I've also been manoeuvring most of my holdings into ETFs and ITs (more for reasons that these are now on a more equal footing in terms of trading cost and allow me to take advantage of dips more easily). However, if I decide to jump ship at some stage, all indications are that an in specie transfer will be significantly less headache with a portfolio of shares.

colsten

iWeb is indeed a minimalist website, even more so than the Halifax Sharedealing one. But it's the same engine behind it, and the same people.

If all you want to do is hold and trade mainly Vanguard funds, there's no real reason to pay a lot to the platform. IMO, anyway.

I am in a similar situation like you are, and I signed up in a rush a few months ago with Halifax, to transfer from HL. I now wish I had gone to iWeb, but the Halifax exit charges are putting me off for now.

Archi_Bald

masonic wrote: »

However, if I decide to jump ship at some stage, all indications are that an in specie transfer will be significantly less headache with a portfolio of shares.

Did you really mean that, or were you meant to say "than with a portfolio of shares?

masonic

Archi_Bald wrote: »

Did you really mean that, or were you meant to say "than with a portfolio of shares?

I really meant what I wrote (with a very loose definition of shares to include ETFs/ITs). Funds (OEICs/UTs) are the big slowcoaches when it comes to in specie transfers. This is especially the case, it seems, with III because they have their own sharedealing service, but outsource their funds platform.

Archi_Bald

Ah I see.

My funds transferred reasonably swiftly but I was fortunate enough not to go near II. My (LSE) shares took forever and a day, and in the end I decided to sell them and transfer them as cash. Didn't really want to own individual shares, anyway, so the transfer delay was a long overdue kick in the proverbial.

masonic

Archi_Bald wrote: »

My funds transferred reasonably swiftly but I was fortunate enough not to go near II. My (LSE) shares took forever and a day, and in the end I decided to sell them and transfer them as cash. Didn't really want to own individual shares, anyway, so the transfer delay was a long overdue kick in the proverbial.

Interesting, there have been several others who held a mixture of shares and funds who said their shares moved across in a few weeks, but they were waiting months for the funds. I can understand that, because the fund managers can introduce extra delays, but I wouldn't have expected it to be the other way around for anyone.

le_loup

masonic wrote: »

I don't really understand why going to cash and then moving to Nationwide would have been quicker than going to cash and then moving direct to HL?

Cautiousness.
I have had previous excellent transfer results to and from Nationwide before. I therefor assumed that they would act immediately at both ends of the process (they did) and that any delay would be pinnable on II rather than the sorts of "it wasn't me guv' wot delayed your transfer, it was the other guy" nonsense that we have all experienced.
In addition, I intend to drip the cash from NW to H-L because I'm a little worried about the market currently.
However, that's not to say that a sell and direct transfer would not have been quicker and better. It's just that I have been very bruised by this whole procees as have most of us.