S&S ISA Query/Advice

ltdouglas13

Hello,
Very long time reader, first time poster.

I currently have a Wealthify Stocks & Shares ISA with about £2.1k in it that i've been paying little bits into for the last few years and have had good returns on it (about 19% - £185). I went freelance this year and I'm earning more money than before so I'm thinking of putting a chunk of money into my Wealthify. I've been advised to open a S&S ISA with Hargreaves Lansdown so I can pick and choose funds/stocks/shares and would like to give it a go, but keep my Wealthify.

I am aware that I can only pay into ONE S&S ISA in a tax year, but my question is could I potentially max out my Wealthify before the end of the tax year, and then at the start of the new one open one with HL and leave my Wealthify to do it's thing....or would I have to transfer it all across HL?

Many thanks.

bowlhead99

ltdouglas13 wrote: »

I am aware that I can only pay into ONE S&S ISA in a tax year, but my question is could I potentially max out my Wealthify before the end of the tax year, and then at the start of the new one open one with HL and leave my Wealthify to do it's thing....or would I have to transfer it all across HL?

With ISAs the restriction is that all the 'current year' money for the same type of ISA (e.g. cash ISA, S&S ISA, LISA) must be sitting in the same place - you can't contribute to two separate companies' ISAs in the same year unless you transfer the first to the second.

However, once a new year rolls around, you can start all over again and do what you like with that year's contribution, subject to the rule that the then 'current year money' must stick together. So in 2019/20 you could have up to £20k of new money going into Wealthify and staying there - while in 2020/21, all your new money could be going into an entirely different provider, without needing to first transfer the old money into the new place.

Alexland

ltdouglas13 wrote: »

I've been advised to open a S&S ISA with Hargreaves Lansdown so I can pick and choose funds/stocks/shares and would like to give it a go, but keep my Wealthify.

Who advised you to do this? Why? Amateur stock picking can be fun but most people would make more money simply buying a low cost diversified fund.

HL and Wealthify are both fairly expensive S&S ISA options. I don't know how much longer Aviva are going to keep Wealthify going as a fairly uninspiring 'me too' robo platform. Moola was similar and recently announced their closure. Its looking like Nutmeg might be the only robo to gain enough customers to survive long term.

Have you considered going with low cost funds on the Vanguard Investor platform?

Or Cavendish (who resell Fidelity) for a greater choice of funds?

Alex

dd95

bowlhead, can you contribute to a S and S ISA and a LISA jn the same year if they are different providers?

Novice_investor101

You can contribute to a LISA & a Stocks & shares ISA in the same tax year whether they are with the same or different providers.

ltdouglas13

I was advised by a family member who has had a good experience/return themselves and I just wanted to query whether it was possible for me to do it and keep my Wealthify money where it was without having to transfer.

re. moving from Wealthify I have been looking at Vanguard (and I'm separately interested in their upcoming SIPP), but I felt my Wealthify was already providing me with good returns. However I am open to shifting to Vanguard; do you have any comparisons of the two over the last few years? I'm the the "Adventurous" investment plan with Wealthify.

ltdouglas13

Bowlhead did specify "type" of ISA in their description, and I understand you can only have one of each type in a year e.g. one S&S, one LISA, one standard ISA etc (provided combined they don't add up to more than £20k)....I just wanted clarification on whether you could open a S&S with a different provider each year and leave the existing one to continue to generate returns.

Alexland

Yes provided you stop contributing new money into the old Wealthify S&S ISA (giving appropriate notice to cancel any regular contributions) you are fine to open the HL ISA and add new money from 6th April onwards.

Unfortunately because the robo advisors tend to use portfolios of ETFs they don't have comparable industry standard performance data on Trustnet, etc. The best research into robos seems to be done by Holly at Boring Money who invested £500 into 20 accounts just over 2 years ago.

https://www.boringmoney.co.uk/learn/articles/the-proof-of-the-500-pudding/

That analysis also includes some traditional accounts and it's no surprise that Vanguard come in the top 5 due to their solid approach + low fees and HL come in the bottom 5 due to the high fees - not just on their platform but also their in-house funds not considering what rubbish (Woodford, etc) might be within them.

Alex