Woodford Concerns

AnotherJoe

HL do not charge for buying or selling funds.
Was that the Q?
(p.s. my only connection to HL is as a customer)

[Deleted User]

No, the question is: Does Hargreaves Lansdown charge a brokerage fee for movement of funds under their aegis?

OldMusicGuy

ZingPowZing wrote: »

By them having over 1.1m customers and a quarter of them being interested in Woodford products.

Is that even defensible? The classic HL investor - when it comes to investment strategy - couldn't find her couch in the living room:- that's why she pays HL.

Good opportunity for anyone connected with Hargreaves Lansdown to clear this up, please.

You don't appear to understand how HL works. Clients do not pay for advice, they pay for the SIPP platform. HL is not advising them on anything unless they engage an HL financial adviser, which will be extra cost (I know because I did this).

So HL is not advising the vast majority of their clients on investment strategy.

There are no charges in the SIPP for fund transfers. I sold my Woodford Income Focus holdings in June 2018 and transferred the money to other funds in my SIPP. It cost nothing (apart from the overall platform fees which are a % of my total SIPP less cash, nothing to do with specific funds).

I do agree that HL is culpable in this case because they bombard their clients with marketing guff which, to the uninitiated, appears like "advice" when in fact it's just marketing. Their "research" function was too positive about Woodford for far too long IMO which again created the impression for the uninitiated that Woodford was a "safe" bet. Definite conflict of interests there IMO.

masonic

ZingPowZing wrote: »

No, the question is: Does Hargreaves Lansdown charge a brokerage fee for movement of funds under their aegis?

A "brokerage fee" is an American term for a fee charged by a broker to execute transactions or provide specialised services. HL would not really be considered a broker for the purposes of this discussion. It does not make its money through transaction fees. It does not charge any transaction fees or commissions for transactions (if that's what you mean by the term "movement") in funds under their aegis.That now includes transfers in and out of their investment platform.

[Deleted User]

HL works. Clients do not pay for advice, they pay for the SIPP platform.

Quite.

And HL control what HL clients see on their platform.


There are no charges in the SIPP for fund transfers.

Not the question. The issue is: if two "house" funds "rebalance" by moving one investment from one to the other, is there a brokerage fee? I don't know, but would appreciate it if a HL spokesperson or other could clarify.

[Deleted User]

It does not charge any transaction fees or commissions for transactions (if that's what you mean by the term "movement") in funds under their aegis. - masonic

If you are on the HL website now, access your fund: click on the sixth tab: this will detail your transaction costs.

masonic

ZingPowZing wrote: »

It does not charge any transaction fees or commissions for transactions (if that's what you mean by the term "movement") in funds under their aegis. - masonic

If you are on the HL website now, access your fund: click on the sixth tab: this will detail your transaction costs.

I left HL quite some time ago, but I never paid any transaction costs when buying and selling funds. If you think you have been charged some transaction costs, please feel free to share a screenshot, suitably redacted and perhaps someone can help you understand what they are.

Here is why you should not be charged any transaction fees:

https://www.hl.co.uk/investment-services/isa/savings-interest-rates-and-charges
https://www.hl.co.uk/pensions/sipp/charges-and-interest-rates
https://www.hl.co.uk/investment-services/fund-and-share-account/charges-and-interest-rates

[Deleted User]

Again, nobody is saying HL charge when you buy and sell funds.

But you do pay transaction charges when you hold funds promoted on their platform; as the fund managers adjust their portfolios.

masonic

ZingPowZing wrote: »

But you do pay transaction charges when you hold funds promoted on their platform; as the fund managers adjust their portfolios.

It doesn't matter whether funds are being promoted on a platform or not. Within all investment funds the fund manager bears costs for transactions within the fund and charges these to the fund. This is not a brokerage fee and it is not paid to the company where your investments are being held.

[Deleted User]

And, given the above, a possible explanation for Hargreaves Lansdown's terrible loyalty to Woodford (promoting his funds up to the day they were suspended).

There may be a more plausible explanation; we're all ears.