Transact platform/wrap - anyone using it ?

mountainbiker

Hi,

I have been a Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP customer for about 10 years but I have been talking to a new IFA about moving to him and using the Transact platform as it gives better control and a lower TER than HL.

It all seems safe but is anyone here using this platform. Any issues ? What research did you do beforehand ?

any help greatly appreciated as it seems like a big move and I want to get it right.

regards

AnotherJoe

Never heard of it but what better control do you get than HL?

jamesd

It seems possible that you would get a lower TER than HL given that at the levels where Transact might usually be suggested HL is quite likely to offer discounts to be competitive. The IFA is probably comparing discounted Transact with undiscounted HL. There's no guarantee that HL will choose to discount, of course. The IFA may also be using different investments compared to current investments on HL and not comparing comparable investments if held at HL. For example, they might use a low cost tracker at Transact and a higher cost one at HL if that is what you're using there, instead of comparing to a lower cost tracker at HL.

Also be aware of the charging differences, with HL not charging for fund purchases or sales while Transact charges 0.05% of the transaction value for purchases unless the average total portfolio value is over a million Pounds. That's not too bad if you don't do many deals but if you do it'll add up.

A few years ago Transact was heavily fined for failing to properly account for client money, so that the balance in the client money account might not have been sufficient to cover all of the client liabilities if the firm had failed. Firms are required to work out the correct amount every day and ensure that the amount is correct, Transact had not been doing that.

Ensure that Transact will take instructions in the way you want to give them and that you might not be, say, required to carry out transactions of some types only via the IFA, which could introduce undesirable delay and/or cost.

dunstonh

I have been a Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP customer for about 10 years but I have been talking to a new IFA about moving to him and using the Transact platform as it gives better control and a lower TER than HL.

Transact will offer the same funds at the same charges as HL. Just like most platforms. There will be the odd exception if a certain platform has a superclean charge and another one doesnt. However, most platforms have some superclean.

TER is a strange term to use as it is obsolete. OCF is the term that should be used for funds. It replaced TER. Although many fund houses still publish all three (AMC, TER and OCF).

The platform charge should be lower than HL. That is easy to beat as HL are quite expensive at most investment amounts.

It all seems safe but is anyone here using this platform. Any issues ? What research did you do beforehand ?

Transact is well known platform (in the platform arena) and used by very many people. It is an intermediary platform. You dont need to do any research as that is what you pay the IFA to do. If you are going to do your own research then you may as well DIY.

zagfles

Yes as jamesd mentions - HL do offer discounts for larger holdings so it's well worth contacting HL and telling them you're thinking of transferring out due to lower charges elsewhere - and see if they offer you a discount. Their usual charge is 0.45% platform charge up to £250k (for funds) which is quite expensive for larger holdings, but people have reported getting it down to as low as 0.2%.

DancingBadger

From an inexperienced end user's perspective, Transact is good.

Not kidding our ourselves we would make the right investment choices throughout retirement, we put a lot of research into finding a reliable IFA to manage our funds. He recommended Transact and so far we've had no problems; their website is user friendly and we have no problem keeping track of our investments.