Query about Halifax Share Dealing platform's trading costs

ColdIron

EdSwippet wrote: »

As a lifelong Hargreaves-dodger, I've never encountered their funds (or any other) offering directly.

Can you say what HL offers for funds above and beyond what iWeb and similar provide? This isn't meant as snark -- I'm genuinely curious.

Well, I am in much the same position as you but from the other Vantage point (see what I did there:)), I've never encountered iWeb's offering directly so no I can't. I'm not attempting to be a tubthumper or cheerleader for HL, I am trying to highlight some differences to a novice investor who has no experience of either, (and thanks for your contribution). I like HL for ITs but not for OEICS/UTs due to cost and I think I was pretty clear about that. Price is not the only metric. If it were HL, and for that matter Waitrose, would be out of business

OP you are right, there is a limit to what you can find out without registering but you could roadtest a few of them by phoning up customer service and asking them any account opening, charge etc questions you have

You could also have a look at these links
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5583030
http://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/

In the interests of full disclosure I am a huge fan of Waitrose and don't want to start a bunfight about that either but their cream cheese with paprika stuffed chillies are to die for

badger09

When I started, late in life, to move away from cash ISA savings into investments, I started with Hargreaves Lansdown. I'd heard of them, a friend used them, they got mostly positive comments on here and Which? rated them:cool:

I had to start somewhere and researching investments was challenging enough, without also having to compare platforms. I opened both an S&S ISA and SIPP with them and was happy with my choice.

Then they changed their fee structure which made a massive difference to me so I moved my S&S ISA to IWEB but left my small SIPP with HL. The S&S xfer didn't go smoothly, with both sides blaming the other, but that aside, I'm happy with IWEB.

I only hold Vanguard Lifestrategy in my ISA and invest lump sums so IWEB's £5 transaction charge is much better than HL's annual 0.45% as my ISA grows.

I'm in the process of switching 2 of the funds in my SIPP to an ETF and will hold the original funds in IWEB instead.

Long story short - HL was great when I started on my journey but there came a point when I wasn't prepared to pay for Waitrose' 1 Premium range, when Aldi or Tesco's produce tasted just as good:D

AnotherJoe

Audaxer wrote: »

I assume there is no way of knowing how good or user-friendly the platform is until you actually open an ISA with the platform provider. I am tempted to go for one with a flat admin fee rather than a percentage, but I would be disappointed if I opened an ISA and found that it was particularly poor. I know that on HL's website you can see all the funds that you can invest in with them before actually opening the ISA, but I can't see a list of available funds on the Halifax Share Dealing site.

I would say that HL is exceptionally user friendly, and their customer support by phone or messaging is top notch. I"ve been using them for about 10 years, maybe longer.

However, their charges for funds are very high, so i only have one now (Fundsmith) everything else is IT's, shares and ETFs. That means their on going charges for me are very low. If I wanted to hold a large amount in Funds I'd probably open another SIPP just for those.

Camster

I've just given Halifax a call about their fund search function not working and they said they are aware of the problem and their technical team are currently working to resolve the issue.

bowlhead99

ColdIron wrote: »

In the interests of full disclosure I am a huge fan of Waitrose and don't want to start a bunfight about that either but their cream cheese with paprika stuffed chillies are to die for

Well, if you are looking at cheap alternatives, there's always a DIY version with lower costs.

Get some fresh jalapenos.
Get some soft cheese like Boursin (other brands are available);
Slice open the peppers and rip out some of the innards (leave some seeds if you like spiciness);
If you avoided Waitrose and M&S when buying the first two ingredients you can probably afford some strips of bacon to wrap a bit around each pepper;
Use a cocktail stick to "pin" each pepper closed and hold stuff in place while they bake.

If not satisfied add some spices to cheese mix (e.g. a bit of smoked paprika) or add a few drips of maple syrup at the end, to pimp them up.

Midcrisislife

Sorry to go off into a tangent but I have a Virgin S&S ISA and am hearing often there are better options out these. I hear a lot of good stuff about Vanguard but isn't that a steep minimum entry of 100k?

Eco_Miser

Midcrisislife wrote: »

Sorry to go off into a tangent but I have a Virgin S&S ISA and am hearing often there are better options out these. I hear a lot of good stuff about Vanguard but isn't that a steep minimum entry of 100k?

Less of a tangent than stuffed peppers
The £100k minimum entry is only if you go direct to Vanguard. You can buy in much smaller quantities via your S&S ISA (and if you can't at Virgin, transfer to a platform where you can).

ColdIron

bowlhead99 wrote: »

Well, if you are looking at cheap alternatives, there's always a DIY version with lower costs.

Get some fresh jalapenos.
Get some soft cheese like Boursin (other brands are available);
Slice open the peppers and rip out some of the innards (leave some seeds if you like spiciness);
If you avoided Waitrose and M&S when buying the first two ingredients you can probably afford some strips of bacon to wrap a bit around each pepper;
Use a cocktail stick to "pin" each pepper closed and hold stuff in place while they bake.

If not satisfied add some spices to cheese mix (e.g. a bit of smoked paprika) or add a few drips of maple syrup at the end, to pimp them up.

Thanks for the suggestion

I didn't bother with the bacon. I also decided to forgo the cocktail sticks as I figured the jalapenos would add enough structure on their own, plus you have to buy 50 of them and I only wanted 8. To keep costs down I went for synthetic peppers rather than physically replicated ones but they were drier and flakier than I anticipated. I relented and added some cocktail sticks but they haven't helped much and are just sort of sitting there

In the end I decided on an 80/20 paprika/everything else mix as I figure single sector spices have more potential to have an impact albeit at the risk of more volatility

The result? Well I'm a little disappointed if I'm honest. The cat won't touch it either, well not for a second time anyway. On the positive side I think I have located all the pools of cat sick which was helped by their remarkable red colour, though it's hard to tell if that was the paprika or the embedded cocktail sticks

In hindsight I think the professionally constructed Waitrose offering would have been a wiser choice for me

badger09

bowlhead99 wrote: »

Well, if you are looking at cheap alternatives, there's always a DIY version with lower costs.

Get some fresh jalapenos.
Get some soft cheese like Boursin (other brands are available);
Slice open the peppers and rip out some of the innards (leave some seeds if you like spiciness);
If you avoided Waitrose and M&S when buying the first two ingredients you can probably afford some strips of bacon to wrap a bit around each pepper;
Use a cocktail stick to "pin" each pepper closed and hold stuff in place while they bake.

If not satisfied add some spices to cheese mix (e.g. a bit of smoked paprika) or add a few drips of maple syrup at the end, to pimp them up.

Ok, as ColdIron has come back on this, so will I:D

I don't think that approach will suit everyone, especially those who know only convenience food, and takeaways. I don’t think its for me either.

Fresh jalapenos - ok, I can buy a small pack to start with as they might be too spicy for me.

Soft cheese - so many varieties, low fat, full fat, vegetarian etc. Some have additional flavours - will they enhance or ruin the balance of my dish. Which to choose?

Slice open the peppers - last time I did that I had stinging sensations in some very unusual places. How many of the seeds should I remove? Will the final result be the same if I remove all of them? How do I avoid getting stung? Suppose I could ask Mr badger to do it and leave him to deal with any unpleasant repercussions.

My local Co-op rarely stocks such exotic items, so a trip to M&S or Waitrose will be necessary, which rules out the porky blankets.

Cocktail sticks – ok, already got some left over from my cheese & pineapple hedgehog masterpiece circa 1985 so no additional outlay

Bake – how long for? What temperature?

Breadcrumbs - you forgot to mention the breadcrumbs! And pimping with maple syrup is surely best left to the thrill seekers.

I’m not convinced the DIY version would be any cheaper. I think it is fraught with potential pitfalls for an amateur who doesn’t even know what the Waitrose version looks or tastes like, and whether his creation will come back to haunt him and put him off cooking for life.

On the other hand, I can't eat the Waitrose version either, so I'm out:rotfl: