Which Broker for buying and holding some Investment trusts?

RomfordNavy

Would I be correct in my understanding of these charges if I were for example to hold some Vanguard funds:
1). Direct with Vanguard - pay 0.15% yearly, £0 transaction charges
2). With iWeb - 0% yearly charge, £5 per transaction

So it would seem that for anything more than very small holdings iWeb are cheaper than Vanguard in the long-term. Or is there something I am missing are there better bid/offer prices direct from Vanguard or some other advantage that I don't know about?

ColdIron

That about sums it up, it's a balance between account size and trading frequency. There's a £25 account opening charge with iWeb. You'll encounter a spread on Vanguard's ETFs but you'll pay that whether in Vanguard Investor or out of it

RomfordNavy

Just discovered another nagative about Vanguard: they charge their holding fee not just on fund holdings but on everything including cash.

bowlhead99

RomfordNavy wrote: »

Just discovered another nagative about Vanguard: they charge their holding fee not just on fund holdings but on everything including cash.

If you want to hold significant amounts of cash, use a bank or building society and earn interest. If you are holding insignificant amounts of cash (say a couple of percent of your overall investment portfolio) pending investment, then a fee of 0 15% a year of that 2% is not really going to change your wealth. After an entire year it would add up to a six hundred and sixty seventh of one fiftieth of your portfolio.

If you want to hold cash on a platform ready for immediate investment, you may find yourself paying for that service, albeit at a pretty nominal fee. Some will prefer Vanguard's approach of charging a simple flat percentage on everything rather than using someone like (e.g.) HL and paying triple the flat fee on funds and nothing on cash...

RomfordNavy

bowlhead99 wrote: »

...
Some will prefer Vanguard's approach of charging a simple flat percentage on everything rather than using someone like (e.g.) HL and paying triple the flat fee on funds and nothing on cash...

Thanks for the info, it is these small details that are not immediately obvious without experience of each. I still have much to learn.

RomfordNavy

Anyone know what the Baillie Gifford charges are for direct investment?

pafpcg

RomfordNavy wrote: »

Anyone know what the Baillie Gifford charges are for direct investment?

For the Baillie Gifford Investment Trust Share Plan, when buying shares in an investment trust managed by Baillie Gifford, there are no charges other than stamp duty, the TakeOver Panel fee (£1 if purchase >£10k) and the dealing price spread. See here: www.bailliegifford.com/en/uk/individual-investors/how-to-invest/investment-trust-share-planisa/

But note that Baillie Gifford aggregate share sales and purchases at a time and date at their convenience - you won't know in advance what the cost per share will be. By aggregating sales and purchases, the bid-offer spread should be reduced (in theory!)

Glen_Clark

cashbackproblems wrote: »

just a warning about XO, their website and CS is a joke, constantly disabling/locking my account and having to call them, never had this problem with HL/Vanguard etc

and their service is extremely limited e.g. no dividend reinvest, having to each email time for withdrawals etc. Stick to HL

That has not been my experience with x-o - I have always found them efficient

Glen_Clark

bowlhead99 wrote: »

If you want to hold significant amounts of cash, use a bank or building society and earn interest. If you are holding insignificant amounts of cash (say a couple of percent of your overall investment portfolio) pending investment, then a fee of 0 15% a year of that 2% is not really going to change your wealth. After an entire year it would add up to a six hundred and sixty seventh of one fiftieth of your portfolio.

If you want to hold cash on a platform ready for immediate investment, you may find yourself paying for that service, albeit at a pretty nominal fee. Some will prefer Vanguard's approach of charging a simple flat percentage on everything rather than using someone like (e.g.) HL and paying triple the flat fee on funds and nothing on cash...

Even with no cash in my account I still have an instant dealing limit of £250k on x-o platform - and don't have to pay until settlement day.

Ash_Pole

Glen_Clark wrote: »

Even with no cash in my account I still have an instant dealing limit of £250k on x-o platform - and don't have to pay until settlement day.

I didn't know this (I've been with x-o for years). When is settlement day?