Baillie Gifford closing direct accounts

Reaper

I've just had a letter from Baillie Gifford saying they are closing all directly held accounts, which is a shame (you can still invest in their funds, but not directly any more).

They offer a switch to HL with discounted prices for 3 years but then the offer expires and all the high HL charges come in.

So now I am on the hunt for a provider which accepts Bare Trusts with low annual fees. Trading will be minimal.

YouInvest looks good at a max £30pa if only holding Investment Trusts (ie the transferred Baillie Gifford ones).

Can anyone improve on that?

Vortigern

https://www.bailliegifford.com/en/uk/individual-investors/literature-library/individualintermediary-non-fund/investment-trust/client-communications/baillie-gifford-transfers-investment-trust-savings-scheme-to-hargreaves-lansdown/

I can't see any benefit here. If migrated to HL will we have to pay HL's account closure fee?

Chino

Reaper wrote: »

but then the offer expires and all the high HL charges come in.

Which of these charges do you feel will impact you ("Trading will be minimal")?

If you're just holding Investments Trusts in an HL Fund & Share account then:
"There is no charge to hold investment trusts in the HL Fund & Share Account."
https://www.hl.co.uk/help#charges-and-fees/investment-trust-charges/investment-trusts/how-much-does-it-cost-to-hold-investment-trusts-in-the-hl-fund-and-share-account

I've no idea whether an HL Fund & Share Account can be held in a bare trust.

Reaper

Chino wrote: »

If you're just holding Investments Trusts in an HL Fund & Share account then:
"There is no charge to hold investment trusts in the HL Fund & Share Account."

Thanks! When I was reading the pack of info they sent I missed that. I was reading the annual charge for an ISA which does not apply.

Chino wrote: »

Which of these charges do you feel will impact you ("Trading will be minimal")?

There various other ones when the 3 year discount runs out. All of these Baillie Gifford offered for free whereas HL charge for: paper fee, transfers to another provider, stock transfer between HL accounts or another provider, closure fee, share dealing, regular investment fee, automatic income reinvestment, fee to sell automatically when other fees are due.

Chino wrote: »

I've no idea whether an HL Fund & Share Account can be held in a bare trust.

They can.

Reaper

Vortigern wrote: »

I can't see any benefit here. If migrated to HL will we have to pay HL's account closure fee?

Not if you close your HL account it in the first 3 years. But after that yes.

Alexland

Very sad to see the BG scheme end it was one of the best and the customer service was excellent. We closed our child savings plan early about 6 months ago to focus on ISAs and they gave us an unexpected £10 M&S voucher.

cloud_dog

Darn. I'm running a savings plan with the idea of gifting X number of shares to my nephew's as they turn 18. First one is later this year, with last one being April 2022.

Hopefully the last one will fall within the 3 year window. I'll have to check out HL charges for materialising share certificates.

Drp8713

We have a childrens saving plan with BG, and a JISA with HL for our son.

Is it possible to bed the shares from the bare trust into the JISA? The amount last time i looked was 3k so within a years allowance.

If not i assume he will get a fund and share account and JISA.

bowlhead99

Drp8713 wrote: »

We have a childrens saving plan with BG, and a JISA with HL for our son.

Is it possible to bed the shares from the bare trust into the JISA? The amount last time i looked was 3k so within a years allowance.

You can't put shares directly into a JISA, but assuming you mean that the trust disposes of the shares, receives cash proceeds and contributes those resulting proceeds into the JISA, where the same or similar investment is purchased with the money... it's unlikely that the son will later object, given he'll get tax advantages and is happy that you're investing for him. So, in that sense it's perfectly possible.

However, whether HL has a special solution to help you do that, I don't know. The JISA will have a parent named as the official controller/registered contact of the account, and that might be the exact same person as the person who is the trustee of the bare trust, in which case one would hope they could distribute the cash from the trust account to the JISA internally at HL without going through an external bank account and you needing to take some extra action to then subscribe it back into the JISA product at HL. Although, that's assuming it's the same controlling person and there isn't some other trustee of the bare trust in your family (e.g. an uncle or grandparent who has rights and obligations as a trustee) who wants to object.

If not i assume he will get a fund and share account and JISA.

Yes, if BG are offering all types of investors (including bare trust child plans) a transfer to an account maintained at HL, then presumably the trustees will end up with a basic fund and share account at HL. What you as trustees want to do thereafter is up to you.

Reaper

Drp8713 wrote: »

We have a childrens saving plan with BG, and a JISA with HL for our son.

Is it possible to bed the shares from the bare trust into the JISA? The amount last time i looked was 3k so within a years allowance.

If not i assume he will get a fund and share account and JISA.

You would have to transfer the share account over, then Bed and ISA it over to a JISA.

Some things to note if you are doing this with HL:
1) The Bed & ISA involves selling the shares and moving the cash over.
2) The selling and buying is free of charges (apart from spreads), as are all subsequent trades for 3 years for Baillie Gifford funds only. After 3 years or when buying non-BG funds you will have to pay their normal charges (normally £11.95 per trade).
3) You will NOT get the discounted rate on the ISA annual charge for 3 years because you have done this subsequently (so max £45 instead of max £39)

Albermarle

After 3 years or when buying non-BG funds you will have to pay their normal charges (normally £11.95 per trade).

I do not think HL charge for buying or selling any funds/OEIC's- only the annual service charge applies.