Vanguard direct to customer offering confirmed

Glen_Clark

Whats the point of paying a platform fee to hold funds, when you can hold ETFs in another platform without any fees?

SnowMan

Don't know if it has been mentioned but the Vanguard official timescale for offering a SIPP is

https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/need-help (search for SIPP)

Do you offer a SIPP?


No, SIPPs are not part of our offer at the moment. However, we are planning to add a Vanguard SIPP within the next year

greenglide

Whats the point of paying a platform fee to hold funds, when you can hold ETFs in another platform without any fees?

What is the point of buying Heinz rather any other brand of baked beans or tomato soup or .....

To me the Vanguard offering is a shop that only sells one brand through their own shop.

Would you shop at a retailer that only sold, say, the Crosse & Blackwell brand of foods and nothing else?

koru

jamesd wrote: »

I don't care that 75% of the trackers or active funds are normally in the bottom 75% because I'm not going to buy them.

If it were true that the funds in the bottom three quartiles normally stay there then yes it would be easy to pick the ones that will outperform. But I thought the studies about persistence of performance (such as the ones cited by the FCA in their report last year) show that previous outperformance does not tend to persist?

https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/market-studies/ms15-2-2-interim-report.pdf

The FCA say (6.47): "There is little evidence of persistence in outperformance in the academic literature. ...previous UK academic analysis has found that the majority of funds with historical outperformance do not continue to outperform the relevant market index or peer group for more than a few years. By contrast, where performance persistence has been identified in the literature, it is poor performance persistence..."

By poor performance, they seem to mean bottom quartile, not bottom three quartiles.

They provide their own figures in 6.52, which they say provide evidence of persistence of poor performance, though I don't really see why. It shows that of the funds with bottom (4th) quartile performance in 2006-2010, 34.6% closed during 2011-15, but of the survivors way more than half outperformed during the second period (top two quartiles). That doesn't look like persistence to me, though it does look like a very high failure rate.

Those same figures show that by avoiding the bottom 3 quartiles for 06-10 (ie, by picking from the top quartile), you had only a 24.4% chance of your pick still being in the top quartile in the next five years. The figures seem to show it isn't as easy as you suggest.

Glen_Clark

greenglide wrote: »

What is the point of buying Heinz rather any other brand of baked beans or tomato soup or .....

To me the Vanguard offering is a shop that only sells one brand through their own shop.

Would you shop at a retailer that only sold, say, the Crosse & Blackwell brand of foods and nothing else?

I like Vanguard and would be happy to hold all my equity allocation in Vanguard funds
But why pay a fee to do that when there are other platforms where I hold their ETFs for free.

Glen_Clark

greenglide wrote: »

What is the point of buying Heinz rather any other brand of baked beans or tomato soup or .....

Slightly off topic but its a good question, because cheaper brands have come out better in blind taste tests.
Present kids with cereal boxes etc and they pick the brand leader. Present them with the unwrapped product and they usually don't.

kidmugsy

Glen_Clark wrote: »

Slightly off topic but its a good question, because cheaper brands have come out better in blind taste tests.
Present kids with cereal boxes etc and they pick the brand leader. Present them with the unwrapped product and they usually don't.

I learnt that when I was in short trousers and took the Pepsi Taste Challenge, or whatever exactly it was called. Lo, Pepsi did indeed taste better than Coke. It was many years before I learnt that that sort of "blind trial" was more advanced than much medical research of the day.

On the other hand journalists keep assuring me that the same is true of wine tasting. But I have run several "blind" wine tasting sessions, and not once has vox pop failed to pick out the most expensive wine as best. Of course, I have first ensured to the best of my ability that every wine in the set is the best known to me at its price point.

ChopperST

Just transferred x 2 JISAs. Spoke to them on the phone - straight through to a human who answered all my queries so they seem up on customer service. They also asked if there were any funds other than Vanguard I hold as they were looking for feedback as to other funds they should be offering, if enough people ask - they will look into it apparently.

BillTee

thetimewill wrote: »

I still have other investment with Fidelity but I have a respect for Vanguard,

I'm considering Fidelity for a SIPP but concerned over transfer out/drawdown charges. Potential for charges through their Retirement Services section according to terms:

"If you’re accessing benefits withdrawal options through Fidelity, you are required to have an initial discussion with Fidelity’s Retirement Service... if they consider it necessary for advice to be given or transfer would adverse" charges would then apply.

Have you had any experience of Fidelity trying to supplement costs in this way?

[Deleted User]

Hello BillTee,
I have a SIPP with Fidelity and I understand there is no charges/fees upon withdrawals/transfers. I have read this in their fee information details and also been told this via phone call. There may be charges if you make use of their retirement specialists as they offer advice. I am DIY.
Regards
Billy