SVS Securities - shut down?

LEAR1

masonic wrote: »

I was thinking of iWeb, run by Halifax.

(but I do currently use Interactive Investor for the bulk of my investments, my only concern with them is that they are loss-making, though the new charging structure might help with that)

Masonic, I also have a sizeable shareholding and cash balance with II in the form of a SIPP. I've actually moved a lot into cash in recent times, given the market uncertainty and prospect of better entry levels in the coming say 6-12 months. This whole saga with SVS (who had my wife's ISA) has really made me think hard about the integrity and solvency of the custodian. With that in mind, and coupled with a less than brilliant ii service to date, I have been doing some provisional looking around at alternatives - IG and AJ Bell are two bigger providers with solid track records that I favour. Perhaps more of a leaning to the former than the latter (as IG's flat fee commission and annual charges are better than AJB's % based model).

Questions for you are:

i) presumably no immediate concerns with ii if you're with them too - and can you share link to their most recent accounts;

ii) do you use / have a view on IG / AJB - or indeed another? (I have meaningful exposure to iWeb in the form of my own ISA, so don't want to increase that.)

Thanks in advance

johnburman

What about Halifax share dealing . and Lloyds share delaing.....but are we not counting our chickens?

olderbutnowiser

Alexland wrote: »

I would be surprised if it is economical or justifiable for the administrators to operate a process to enable the individual transfer out of accounts. It makes more sense to sell the customer base to another platform who would pay good money to bring those assets under management in the expectation the majority of new customers would stay and pay ongoing fees for years. Once on a new platform you would be able to follow their transfer out process.

Alex

That was my original thought and what you say makes perfect sense. I may well be reading too much into it but by saying:

"information will be provided to clients on how they may transfer their investment or assets to another broker"

it sort of implies that we get a choice. If they were planning to move us all en mass then I think they would have worded it differently. Anyway it all rather moot until we hear further from LC.


In the meantime, like others, I am considering where I would like my portfolio to end up.

I have been looking at The Share Centre which appears to tick a lot of boxes. I would appreciate any feedback from anyone who currrently uses them.

masonic

johnburman wrote: »

How do we push LC for some 'comfort' that there is not "much amiss with our XO accounts"?

They will provide you with an update when they publish their proposals towards the end of September. That provides a reasonable timescale for them to have completed any preliminary investigations. It would be quite improper of them to share a view with investors without being sure of the situation.

I recall the recent demise of London Capital & Finance, in which the lead administrator from Smith & Williamson LLP went on air on the Moneybox programme to assure bondholders that he was optimistic about making a "full recovery". A few weeks later and he was back on the programme predicting a 20p in the pound recovery. So it is preferable not to 'comfort' people prematurely.

masonic

LEAR1 wrote: »

i) presumably no immediate concerns with ii if you're with them too - and can you share link to their most recent accounts;

One of the key websites you'll want to bookmark if you want to evaluate a company is that of companies house: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/
Note if you want to see the group accounts it is Interactive Investor Limited you'll want to search. The 2018 accounts are due in a couple of months.

ii) do you use / have a view on IG / AJB - or indeed another? (I have meaningful exposure to iWeb in the form of my own ISA, so don't want to increase that.)

I use AJ Bell and am generally positive about them. I now stick to investing in investment trusts and ETFs there to benefit from the cap in platform fees. I don't hold IG in particularly high regard, though I have no direct experience - their main focus is on high risk speculative products such as CFDs and binary options.

johnburman wrote: »

What about Halifax share dealing . and Lloyds share delaing.....but are we not counting our chickens?

There are plenty of options that would be considerably less likely to fail than SVS.

johnburman

I suppose the only question to ask is which ones are less likely to fail? And other than a crystal ball how do you know?

For the larger investor the£85k protection limit is too small and spreading the portfolio seems sensible as well as putting it into joint names. But you can't do that with an ISA. BTW the protection limit in the USA is 500k USD.

masonic

johnburman wrote: »

I suppose the only question to ask is which ones are less likely to fail? And other than a crystal ball how do you know?

Providers that have a long established and profitable business, those that offer a range of other regulated services, larger companies that are required to have higher standards of corporate governance, would be the ones to favour. These and other factors have been discussed earlier in the thread. It isn't necessary to pick a firm that is a shining example of everything good. There was a vast gulf in terms of safety between SVS and most other providers. It wasn't something that had concerned me, but it is a lesson I will learn having escaped any exposure this time.

For the larger investor the£85k protection limit is too small and spreading the portfolio seems sensible as well as putting it into joint names. But you can't do that with an ISA. BTW the protection limit in the USA is 500k USD.

You can spread an ISA portfolio. I am split between 2 providers, 3 if you include my LISA. You can have an unlimited number of S&S ISAs providing that you stick to one provider for money subscribed during the present tax year. Previous tax year money can be split up and transferred as you see fit.

I'm still fairly relaxed about being up to 3 times the FSCS limit. Though I'm willing to adjust that view depending on what the outcome is here.

eskbanker

johnburman wrote: »

spreading the portfolio seems sensible as well as putting it into joint names. But you can't do that with an ISA.

Not sure I'm following that line of argument - what benefit would a joint ISA deliver (with £170K collective coverage) versus two people each holding a sole ISA (with £85K protection each, i.e. £170K in total)?

johnburman wrote: »

BTW the protection limit in the USA is 500k USD.

That's not like for like though - it's $250K per person, i.e. that's the figure to compare with the UK's £85K (or $500K versus £170K if you prefer). There doesn't seem to be any protection beyond cash deposits though, according to https://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/faq.html:

Investment products that are not deposits, such as mutual funds, annuities, life insurance policies and stocks and bonds are not covered by FDIC deposit insurance.

Edit: ignore this last bit, I was looking at the wrong scheme, as below!

masonic

eskbanker wrote: »

That's not like for like though - it's $250K per person, i.e. that's the figure to compare with the UK's £85K (or $500K versus £170K if you prefer). There doesn't seem to be any protection beyond cash deposits though, according to https://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/faq.html:

Presumably, the reference is to the SIPC: https://www.sipc.org/for-investors/what-sipc-protects

johnburman

You can not have a joint ISA. You can have a joint trading account though. Can you now split an existing sole named ISA into several ISAs with different providers?