charles stanley direct fees?

smithers1981

i invested in vanguard life strategy with charles stanley direct. I only invested £500 dipping my toe in so to speak.

Ive reread the fees and am unsure if the minimum annual fee of £20 applies?

can anyone clarify please.........i would message CSD but figure i could get answer quicker here thanks.

darkidoe

Check this out: http://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/

Yes minimum fee of £20 applies on a sum of £500 investment. (If it qualifies as a Stock/Share according to CSD https://www.charles-stanley-direct.co.uk/content/cms/images/P.NBW.CHAR_7.pdf).

£20 does not apply if it is a Unit Trusts/OEICs.

smithers1981

Fear i may have made an error, i either need to invest more or move ISA

Plus

Surely the £20 fee only applies to stocks and shares? The fee for funds is 0.25%, ie £1.25 per year.

The £20 fee would apply if you bought a Vanguard fund as an ETF not a unit trust/OEIC, but Lifestrategy isn't an ETF.

smithers1981

that was why i was getting confused i feared the £20 but having read the terms believe it to be the 0.25%. Have secure messaged CSD for exact clarification.

darkidoe

Plus wrote: »

Surely the £20 fee only applies to stocks and shares? The fee for funds is 0.25%, ie £1.25 per year.

The £20 fee would apply if you bought a Vanguard fund as an ETF not a unit trust/OEIC, but Lifestrategy isn't an ETF.

I think Plus is probably right. Lifestyle should be classified as a 'fund' rather than 'stocks/shares' thus the £20 minimum fee will not apply. See what CSD says.

smithers1981

i've had a reply(very quick i'm impressed)

The platform charge relating to funds is based on 0.25% of the value of the fund itself. This is an annual charge and is levied from the cash balance in your account on a monthly basis, on the first working day of each month. Therefore, using the value of your fund(s) to be £500 as an example, the annual charge would be £1.25. Please note that the value of your fund will more than likely change on a daily basis therefore this figure would also change in turn. The minimum annual charge of £20 that you refer to is only applicable if you hold shares within your account.

darkidoe

CSD looks very good, service wise, website wise and pricing wise for small investors (<£30 000). It was one of my top choices for a broker but I decided to choose TD Direct for a more long term view.

JohnRo

CSD charge monthly in arrears based on a 0.25%pa platform fee.

There is no platform charge for cash held on the account. The fee applies to investment value.

You've invested £500 in a fund, as opposed to an exchange traded product, so assuming there is no change in the fund valuation, they will charge you a monthly fee of just over 10.4 pence.