Schroders Personal Wealth?

Stoodles

Any comments on this? I've just got power of attorney for my mother, who has used Lloyds Private Banking for many years.



I'll be meeting her advisor soon to discuss the change to Schroders. It seems her entire portfolio will be transferred to new holdings as part of the process.



There isn't much information online. Their own website doesn't even make it clear whether their advisors are restricted, but this article https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-7253985/Banks-revive-old-way-making-cash-Charging-advice.html says there will only be a choice of nine funds.


What questions would you be asking? My knowledge is so limited, but I'm concerned that the changeover could be expensive, and that mum may be paying too much for advice when all she wants is cautious income. She wants to stay with her current advisor, who seems pleasant, well informed and supportive.

SonOf

Their own website doesn't even make it clear whether their advisors are restricted

Lloyds Private banking was notorious for using Scottish Widows investments. Lloyds own Scottish Widows. However, Lloyds have signed a commerical relationship with Schroders to offer Schroder controlled investments. So, it will be restricted. It is not a comparable service to Lloyds Private banking which was a discretionary management service (expensive and generally low quality).

What questions would you be asking? My knowledge is so limited, but I'm concerned that the changeover could be expensive, and that mum may be paying too much for advice when all she wants is cautious income. She wants to stay with her current advisor, who seems pleasant, well informed and supportive.

It isnt going to be ticking many boxes for you and her.

kangoora

Probably just my jaded view of the world but I always find people to be pleasant, well informed and supportive if they are making money from you.

The question is, does she/you understand what the fee structure will be after the move, how much she will be paying and, most importantly, how that compares to other offerings.

Seeing you mention having a PoA I am assuming she is elderly and probably won't want to DIY but a local IFA might be able to offer an alternative solution?

Malthusian

Stoodles wrote: »

What questions would you be asking?

I wouldn't bother asking any. You can expect contact from Schroders to be minimal after the switch. Their aim is to milk the clients for maximum fees at minimal expense. No point asking them to confirm that because they will have a load of PR blather cocked and ready.

It would be worth seeing a local Independent Financial Adviser so you can discuss the suitability of investments, Inheritance Tax planning and provision for care if it comes to that.

However, you say your mother doesn't want to change anything, so the other option is to let sleeping dogs lie, and maybe get it away from Schroders once she is no longer in charge of her affairs (one way or another). She will be paying too much for what she is getting, but worse things happen at sea, and Schroders are highly unlikely to lose all her money.

Be cautious if Schroders start trying to flog complicated trusts or other products to her. (I don't know whether Schroders do that but other milkshed outfits like Quilter most definitely do.)

george4064

You may want to consider speaking with a local IFA, you can search for one here: https://www.unbiased.co.uk/

AnotherJoe

I would avoid any organization with the word "wealth" in its name.

DrSyn

There is the feeling at least from some on this forum that you should avoid advisers with "wealth" in there title. So I suppose that would include, Schroders Personal Wealth.

But wealth for whom is the question?

Such organisations seem to have large charges and fees. Some see them as over time transferring wealth from the customer to that of the organisation.

If you have no experience of investing and the sums are large, it would be reasonable to see an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) on what to do. However Schroders are not IFA. They can only tell you about what they have.

You may find something of use by looking through these:-
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/getting-financial-advice/
https://www.which.co.uk/money/investing/financial-advice
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-financial-advisers/

Before meeting any adviser I suggest watching both of these:-
http://www.kroijer.com/
https://www.ifa.com/indexfundsthemovie/

After watching both the above, consider if you are able to DIY simply by using a global muti asset fund adjusted to a risk level your mother would be comfortable with.
Two you might consider investigating are:-
https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/lifestrategy/#/
https://www.hsbc.co.uk/investments/isas/hsbc-global-strategy-portfolios/

Find out what the adviser can do for you, that you could not do for yourself at a lower cost. Also find out exactly how much each year in total, you will be paying the in £'s & % . Then use the T-Rex Score website below:-
https://larrybates.ca/t-rex-score/

I hope at least some of the above is of use.

Stoodles

You have all confirmed what I suspected. Surprisingly, when I mentioned to mum that costs might be a bit high, she was quite willing to consider moving. However, I'd need to check that with her on several different days as she is intermittently confused, but often manages to conceal it.


If it was my own money I think I'd be willing to DIY, but since it hers I'm not sure - the responsibility feels much greater.( If I did, I'd probably simplify massively and go to VLS 20 and a couple of similar but active funds) How much should I expect to pay for an IFA to manage about £450k, mostly in an ISA?



She has pensions that more than cover her living costs, and over £100k in various savings accounts, so she considers her investments are mainly to provide an inheritance. However, I foresee home care costs increasing quite a bit over the next few years. Schroders did mention a care annuity of some sort, but no details.

[Deleted User]

Stoodles wrote: »

If it was my own money I think I'd be willing to DIY, but since it hers I'm not sure - the responsibility feels much greater.( If I did, I'd probably simplify massively and go to VLS 20 and a couple of similar but active funds) How much should I expect to pay for an IFA to manage about £450k, mostly in an ISA?

.

Using my IFA it would be for the basic service - I quote this for info only - not for whether they are worth it
Initial service on setting up approx £2,500 plus VAT
On going retainer for portfolio basic service (advice and one review per year) approx £1,400 per year
Platform fee - 0.25% so £1,125 per year

sendu

Stoodles wrote: »

How much should I expect to pay for an IFA to manage about £450k, mostly in an ISA?

From my understanding the needs are relatively simple, so you ought to be able to find someone who charges less than £1000 for the initial work, and less than £1000 each year to manage things for you.

If their advice is worth anything, they should be handling this within a fixed-fee platform, and shouldn't be doing much in the way of trading, so platform-related fees ought to be under £36/yr.

SonOf

Lloyds Private Banking was a DFM service. So, it would be a portfolio rather than a simple option. If a portfolio services is still required from an IFA, then you would expect 0.5% p.a. to be the most commonly quoted figure. That is cheaper than LPB.

If their advice is worth anything, they should be handling this within a fixed-fee platform, and shouldn't be doing much in the way of trading, so platform-related fees ought to be under £36/yr.

This is your opinion and not one that matches most others. There is no IFA platform available that would offer services for £36 a year. There are some platforms that have a price cap but they are budget platforms with basic functionality. Fine if that is all that is required but not ideal for many people.