Negotiating lower platform fee with Hargreaves Lansdown

Chordeiles

Since the RDR upheaval of 2012 (and associated new price structure at HL) I've tried to minimise my HL fees by keeping funds in my SIPP only, but just shares, Investment Trusts and ETFs in my ISA.  Mixing funds and shares across accounts means the caps and price breaks are reached later, so results in higher fees for exactly the same holdings.

Then in 2017 I checked out what the SIPP fees would be in drawdown and decided to ask HL for preferential pricing.  I had over a million with them, nearly 2 million as a couple.  They did bother to reply but it was a flat refusal.  I know they used to be open to negotiation, but it seems they stopped by 2017.

My SIPP is now elsewhere !  I still haven't gone into drawdown, but until I do I'm paying less fees, and when I do I'll certainly be paying way less fees.  My wife's SIPP is also on its way out of HL, in anticipation of drawdown.

Our ISAs remain at HL.  Their fees for everything except funds are capped at £45 per annum, which to my mind is reasonable, there's no incentive to move these ISAs.

Every year in their annual report they quote how much money they are managing for how many clients.  By dividing one number by the other you can find how much money the "average client" has with them.  Every time I have checked, that was a shrinking number - which is obvious really, the clients with more invested via HL will be fleeing to platforms with a flat fee.

Thrugelmir

Chordeiles said:

Every year in their annual report they quote how much money they are managing for how many clients.  By dividing one number by the other you can find how much money the "average client" has with them.  Every time I have checked, that was a shrinking number - which is obvious really, the clients with more invested via HL will be fleeing to platforms with a flat fee.

Or they've attracted more new clients who are at the beginning of their investment journeys. 

83705628

sebtomato said:

Hi,

HL charges 0.45% on investments up to £250K, and then 0.25% on investments above £250K for its platform fee.

In comparison, Vanguard only charges 0.15%...

I understand that HL might provide better tools, choice, discount on some fund fees etc. but if most of my investment is going to be against Vanguard trackers, and the fund fees are the same between platforms, HL is starting to look costly.

Has anyone managed to negociate more favorable platform fee with HL? Surely, they would prefer to give some discount as opposed to losing long term customers to cheaper platforms?

Thanks,
S.

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I've used both platforms and found Vanguard much better, more tools than HL, they don't try and sell you the latest fad/trend/hot fund/idea, And they have all the funds you need. Hl haveso much choice it's actually unhelpful and unhealthy I would say. And VG don't have an app thank Christ so there's no temptation to constantly check your portfolio.

Why not just transfer to Vanguard? What are you actually getting for giving HL an extra 3% of your portfolio (potentially a whole extra year of drawdown) every decade?
Caveat: they htave sorted out drawdown on the SIPP yet.