Royal London investment ISA

Calbrow

Hi all,

Looking into setting up an investment or stocks & shares ISA at the moment. A family friend recommended Royal London as a good company to set up an account with. However, I read the MoneySavingExpert guide and there’s no mention of them (also not much mention when I google them).

Does anyone have any experience with them or know if any reason why the companies in the guides would be better?,

Thanks.

eskbanker

Calbrow wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience with them or know if any reason why the companies in the guides would be better?

I'd look at this the other way round and (having first established what you want to invest in) identify the best platform(s) for your desired investments from the comparative information on mainstream options at sites like:

http://monevator.com/compare-the-brokers/
http://www.comparefundplatforms.com/
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5583030

Then ask your friend exactly how Royal London would beat your chosen option(s) from those.

A slight caveat is that such comparisons are typically cost-driven and with investment platforms, as with most things in life, cheapest doesn't necessarily mean best. However, the cumulative effect of high-cost platforms versus lower cost ones can be eye-watering over the long term....

lpgm

Calbrow wrote: »

Looking into setting up an investment or stocks & shares ISA at the moment.

There are two main decisions to make: what to buy (the actual investment fund or funds) and where to buy and hold it (the platform service, which will offer a tax-free ISA wrapper for your fund or funds).

Your friend has decided that a Royal London fund is the fund for them, and to keep things simple, and possibly cheaper, they'll hold that fund directly with Royal London, in the Royal London ISA.

Most people here don't want to buy a Royal London fund - they want to buy funds from one or more other fund managers and hold them on an independent platform, like IWeb or AJ Bell or Charles Stanley or whoever.

dunstonh

family friend recommended Royal London as a good company to set up an account with.

Royal London are about to launch a new ISA product but currently, anyone that holds an ISA with them does so on a legacy product. They are not currently a provider you would expect anyone to say are a "good company" for an ISA.

However, I read the MoneySavingExpert guide and there’s no mention of them (also not much mention when I google them).

To be fair, MSE barely mentions any of the best companies. MSE has a long history of being rather naff when it comes to investment products/options. Companies it does highlight tend to be there either because they pay MSE or they buddy up a relationship with MSE.