Break Intermediary link to ISA Investments?

dogfonos

Would appreciate guidance from those in the know or those who have been through the process.

I wish to transfer my Unit Trust/OEIC's, held in an ISA, from the current AEGON/Cofunds platform to another, cheaper, alternative platform - still within the ISA wrapper. Thing is, the funds in the AEGON/Cofunds account are linked to an intermediary because they were initially purchased through that intermediary many years ago.

Question is: Can I transfer the funds in my Stocks&Shares ISA from AEGON/Cofunds to another platform, such as iWeb, and break the link with the intermediary in the process? Thanks.

masonic

Providing the funds in question are the actual funds provided by the relevant fund house and not a mirror fund operated by the intermediary, and iWeb offer those investments, then there should be no issue transferring them. Otherwise, you'd have to transfer the ISA in cash and purchase new investments within the iWeb ISA when the transfer is complete.

dogfonos

"Providing the funds in question are the actual funds provided by the relevant fund house and not a mirror fund operated by the intermediary."

Never heard of a mirror fund - how could I tell one from the original 'fund house' fund?

Yes, iWeb offer all the funds I hold in Aegon/Cofunds.

Assuming I managed to transfer the funds to a new provider, would the link to the intermediary be broken? Thanks.

short_butt_sweet

but do iweb offer the same classes of the funds that you are currently holding? there are a few kinds of codes that you can use to check, such as whether they have the same ISIN, or whether they have the same MEXID.

it's unlikely to be the same fund classes unless you've had your funds converted to "clean" classes. and many clean classes have only existed since about 2014. iweb will now only let you hold clean classes.

yes, the transfer would break the link with the intermediary.

masonic

dogfonos wrote: »

Never heard of a mirror fund - how could I tell one from the original 'fund house' fund?

A mirror fund is a fund that's been set up by another provider with the permission of the fund house that offers the underlying fund. It copies all of the investments of the main fund, but is not the main fund. It will normally contain the name of the main fund, but also the name of the provider of the mirror fund, for example something like 'Aegon Invesco Perpetual Income'.

Take not of short butt sweet's comment. If these are funds you've held for a long time, it is likely they will need to be converted, which iWeb might be able to do as part of the transfer, or they might insist that you transfer in cash.

This could be a good opportunity for you to start again with a clean slate and it will only cost you £5 per fund to recreate your portfolio.

dogfonos

short_butt_sweet wrote: »

but do iweb offer the same classes of the funds that you are currently holding? there are a few kinds of codes that you can use to check, such as whether they have the same ISIN, or whether they have the same MEXID.

it's unlikely to be the same fund classes unless you've had your funds converted to "clean" classes. and many clean classes have only existed since about 2014. iweb will now only let you hold clean classes.

The funds currently held with Aegon/Cofunds were all converted to a clean class a few years back. Fortunately, the corresponding funds offered by iWeb seem to be of the same share class.

"yes, the transfer would break the link with the intermediary."

Excellent news. On a similar note, can I remove the intermediary link to other funds I currently hold in Fidelity's Fundnetwork platform or would I need to transfer the funds to another platform provider to break the link? Thanks.

short_butt_sweet

dogfonos wrote: »

On a similar note, can I remove the intermediate link to other funds I currently hold in Fidelity's Fundnetwork platform or would I need to transfer the funds to another platform provider to break the link?

i'd expect that to be possible, because fundsnetwork is also available to direct clients (i.e. without advisors).

but would you be better off transferring to iweb anyway? because fundsnetwork would still be charging you an on-going platform charge for funds (at 0.35% a year if you have under £250,000 with them), and iweb wouldn't (but would instead charge £5 for each purchase or sale of a fund).

dogfonos

short_butt_sweet wrote: »

...but would you be better off transferring to iweb anyway? because fundsnetwork would still be charging you an on-going platform charge for funds (at 0.35% a year if you have under £250,000 with them), and iweb wouldn't (but would instead charge £5 for each purchase or sale of a fund).

A valid point but I don't know the answer. I appreciate iWeb is one of cheapest (if not the cheapest) platforms currently available for a buy-and-hold investor like myself. However, I need to check out the small print of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for investments. I know the FSCS limit is £50,000 per person per firm but I don't know if "the firm" would refer to the platform provider or, as I suspect, to the individual investment companies that actually hold my investment.

masonic

dogfonos wrote: »

A valid point but I don't know the answer. I appreciate iWeb is one of cheapest (if not the cheapest) platforms currently available for a buy-and-hold investor like myself. However, I need to check out the small print of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for investments. I know the FSCS limit is £50,000 per person per firm but I don't know if "the firm" would refer to the platform provider or, as I suspect, to the individual investment companies that actually hold my investment.

It refers to the provider (Halifax) for fraud protection where your investments are not made, though fraud is pretty unlikely, or the cost of the company going into administration beyond the money they are required to put aside for this. It's per fund house for fraud occurring within the investment company (also very unlikely from mainstream fund providers). It doesn't apply for ETFs, investment trusts or shares.