Interactive Investor... dire

Alexland

Most fund managers don't want the adminstration or cost of dealing with end investors. They are in the business of managing investments not running customer service help desks.

But there are exceptions such as M&G, Orbis and Fundsmith who value a direct relationship. It probably makes the customers more sticky.

Some such as Vanguard split their fees to be transparent about which cost are for the running of the fund and which cost are for the end customer relationship.

Alex

aroominyork

OK, forget the fund manager. Why can't I buy a fund from a broker and own it without the broker continuing to take future x% each year? Just like if if I buy a company's shares from a broker, the broker does not take an ongoing percentage.

bigadaj

aroominyork wrote: »

But why do you need a platform at all? Why can't you just buy a fund through a broker who then has no further involvement? Or even buy it direct from the fund manager, just like we now buy plane tickets direct from the airline with no need a travel agent?

You can buy investment trust if you want which might achieve a similar purpose.

The centra, issue for most is cost and in many instances going direct can be more expensive. You can buy form some of the fund houses but it's more expensive than the cheapest platforms or brokers.

Buying direct from a fund manager may well still cost you a 5% initial charge so be careful what you wish for.

aroominyork

Our posts crossed, bigadaj. So, again, forget ITs and let's look at OEICs. Why can't a broker buy me an OEIC fund, take his commission and be done with it, just like buying a company's shares? If there is more of a spread so be it, but I pay the spread and then the fund is mine - no broker/platform takes a cut every year.

ColdIron

Chose a broker/platform that doesn't take a cut every year like iWeb?

Alexland

ColdIron wrote: »

Chose a broker/platform that doesn't take a cut every year like iWeb?

I did suggest that earlier but I think he actually wants to own the fund and not be dependent on iWeb holding the investment in a client account.

I guess the answer is that open ended funds aren't traded so you cannot own them like a share certificate which you could then sell at a price you determine (if you had a willing buyer).

aroominyork

ColdIron wrote: »

Chose a broker/platform that doesn't take a cut every year like iWeb?

Yes, iWeb an option, though there are many funds it does not offer. But that still leaves the question of why I need any platform to hold my OEIC instead of a broker buying the fund for me and then I hold the piece of paper and they have no further involvement?

capital0ne

Whether you have 4,000 or 2,000 funds to choose from the average investor will not be able to achieve a better return with the larger fund list. It will not make any difference.
TD have been good for me in the last 20+ years and I've never paid any fee for my portfolios.
And how much are posters in this thread talking about? I'll kick that one off with my portfolio's which are £200k+ as is my partners

digannio

But if you're thinking about a transfer and you've got your portfolio where you want it to be, you don't want to rip it up and start again if they just don't cover the funds you already have. And then there's the fact that if you do sell to repurchase something else that they do have, God knows how long they'll leave you out of the market, given how hard pressed platforms like II seem to be. It's not unreasonable to expect II to have the same offer rather than cutting it back after they've completed a takeover of another firm.

greenglide

When II move legacy II accounts to the TD platform (in December?) then presumably many funds which were available in II but not through TD will need to be available through the new (to II) platform.

So everything should be sorted by then! (Or not!)