II vs Hargreaves Lansdown

ddc79

Hi everyone,

I put in £20k to my HL Stocks & Shares ISA last tax year and they charge 0.45% as a platform fee.

I’ve been considering moving to Interactive Investor due to the expected growth in annual ISA additions, growth in what I’m investing in and benefit from lower costs due to the flat fee. In 5 years I am to have approx. £100k in there.

Before I do this, I’d like to ask this fantastic community what you might do in deciding on HL or III?

Thank you all,
DDC :beer:

masonic

Presumably you are using II's increased platform fee of £10 per month in your calculations. If you trade infrequently you might be better off at iWeb where there is zero platform fee and £5 per trade. Otherwise II is still fairly low cost for those who are buying regularly and can benefit from the 99p trades and £8 per month free trading credit.

In your shoes I'd hang on at HL for another year or two before moving. There is a chance HL could drop its transfer fees in the next couple of years, it has commented about welcoming new industry rules banning exit fees.

quirkydeptless

Maybe leave the £20K with H&L for now (avoiding costly exit fees), and put your next ISA allowance into another provider.

Spreads the risk of platform failure around if you are super uber-cautious about such things.

There are some moves afoot to stop platform exit fees, and when those are gone, maybe wait for a juicy cashback offer to switch platforms :money:

Thrugelmir

x-o charge no annual fees on their ISA.

ColdIron

Shares only though, I am guessing that the OP has funds

JohnRo

Personally I would avoid III, whatever that's worth. Just too many problems in the past and woeful customer service for anything but the most basic of tasks.

Switching to an equivalent ETP might be a worthwhile consideration if that option is available.

OP some more detail about your holdings and planned investment schedule would help.

Is the annual £20K to be paid in once each year to one fund and then left alone or are you planning multiple trades throughout the year into and/or out of multiple funds?

Alexland

At £20k neither II or HL provide good value S&S ISAs.

The II fee structure is intended for much higher account balances. HL's fee structure is beaten by iWeb, Halifax SD or Cavendish depending on your investments and trading activity.

Alex

Albermarle

Maybe leave the £20K with H&L for now (avoiding costly exit fees

According to HL website if you transfer your isa out in cash it only costs £25 + VAT so not very significant .

ColdIron

Strictly the £25 + VAT is the account closure fee but there are also additional charges of £25 per holding to transfer funds or £25 as cash. Still not a life changing amount but the full picture will depend on the number of funds and how they are transferred

masonic

Albermarle wrote: »

According to HL website if you transfer your isa out in cash it only costs £25 + VAT so not very significant .

The transfer out fee for cash transfers is £25 (no VAT). There is also an account closure fee of £25 + VAT, so the minimum you'll pay is £55 and you'll pay more if you hold more than 1 fund and wish to transfer in specie.

To put that in context, a year of platform fees from a £20k portfolio is £90.

triplea35

Until recently I had a small ISA with HL and a much larger one with II. I thought it was about time to tidy up/consolidate. The transfer to II being the obvious choice as it would make no difference to the existing fee's paid on that account.

I opted for a transfer in cash. Still added up, as I had three share holdings to sell at £11.95 each. I actually missed the closure fee in any calculations until the process was in place.

The transfer went very smoothly. The upside was a a few weeks after the transfer HL messaged to say: 'Your transfer is now complete, however upon processing the cash payment to your new provider we did not charge the applicable fee as stated in our Terms & Conditions.
As this was our error, we will not be reclaiming this fee. We just wanted to keep you informed.' Small bonus!
I have kept a small SIPP with HL. I do find their site much more user-friendly than II or other sites