H & L Platform for large amounts

MarcoM

Hi,


I would like to know if other posters here would use online platforms such as H & L for large sums ie. 500k or more.


I wonder what would happen of a platform went bust over night.


Thanks

ColdIron

If they went bust your investments would be safe as you are invested via HL not in HL. They are a FTSE100 company and I would have no problems using them for £500K or more on the grounds of safety but I could have a problem with their charges at this level. For Investment Trusts, shares, ETFs and bonds they are good value but for funds you would be looking at an eye watering £2,250 a year

le_loup

........ but for ITs shares and ETFs it wold only cost £45 pa plus dealing costs.

ColdIron

le_loup wrote: »

........ but for ITs shares and ETFs it wold only cost £45 pa plus dealing costs.

Only in an ISA, £0 unwrapped

AnotherJoe

le_loup wrote: »

........ but for ITs shares and ETFs it wold only cost £45 pa plus dealing costs.

I've mostly switched out of funds with them for this reason.

bowlhead99

Imagine you have £500k on HL's platform and it's invested in ten funds: £50k in each of two M&G funds, £50k in a Woodford fund, £50k in an Invesco fund, £50k with Blackrock, £50k with Vanguard etc. etc.

If HL go pop, but have registered you as the owner of the units of those underlying funds, you are still the owner of the funds, you just have an admin headache to get your units registered elsewhere (or wait until someone takes over HL's business - there would be plenty if suitors waiting in the wings to do that). Similarly if an Invesco or Vanguard go bang : you are invested in their funds, not in them.

The real problem is if HL went under because of some crazy criminal fraud where every time you placed an order the staff at HL took your money and printed you a fake contract note and reported your new holding in the underlying fund as having been bought, when the money was in fact in the directors' back pocket. Then they run off with their billions to a country without an extradition treaty and you are in trouble because FSCS only insures the first £50k of your balance with them.

If it was trouble not with HL doing a big fraud or maladministration but with the underlying fund houses like Vanguard or Invesco having a fund go bang due to fraud and misrepresentation, then you would still be ok because of generally only having £50k with each provider, within the FSCS compo limit for investments.

Except with M&G where you are only covered for your first £50k of losses and you have £100k with them across their two fund products that you use (in the random example I made up, not necessarily in your personal circumstances )

ChesterDog

MarcoM wrote: »

Hi,


I would like to know if other posters here would use online platforms such as H & L for large sums ie. 500k or more.


I wonder what would happen of a platform went bust over night.


Thanks

I have well over £600k (split between my wife and me) with one platform.

But it's not HL.

joerugby

ColdIron wrote: »

If they went bust your investments would be safe as you are invested via HL not in HL. They are a FTSE100 company and I would have no problems using them for £500K or more on the grounds of safety but I could have a problem with their charges at this level. For Investment Trusts, shares, ETFs and bonds they are good value but for funds you would be looking at an eye watering £2,250 a year

HL fees may be negotiable with that level of investment

ColdIron

ColdIron wrote: »

for funds you would be looking at an eye watering £2,250 a year

I forgot about the tiered charging structure where only the first £250K attracts 0.45%. The remaining £250K would only be charged at 0.25% bringing the annual platform charge down to a much more reasonable £1,750

bowlhead99

ColdIron wrote: »

I forgot about the tiered charging structure where only the first £250K attracts 0.45%. The remaining £250K would only be charged at 0.25% bringing the annual platform charge down to a much more reasonable £1,750

You can still haggle though, by telling them it's 0.25% then 0.10% with a rival provider, or perhaps it's just £12.50 a year plus transaction fees with a different rival provider, and you're happy to take the half million elsewhere if they can't improve on that £1750 figure. Most MSEs wouldn't actually be paying the full headline rates with half a million at HL.

It's like if you have a mobile phone contract, the price is what it is, until you enquire about how to move your account away from them and you get transferred out of the usual call centre to the unadvertised "customer retention" department on the next desk over.

chucknorris

I've got just over £750k in HL, all in ETF's, apart from the £11.95 when I invest more (and very occasionally sell) the only HL fees that I pay are £200 for my SIPP and £45 for my ISA, both per annum.