Hargreaves Lansdown - Absolute disgrace on ISA transfer times

jonb83

Hi all,
I am using this post more to vent rather than anything as I know with this Corona Virus thing on, customer complaints are not going to be handled in timely manner by either Hargreaves Lansdown ("HL") or the Ombudsman.
I initiated an ISA transfer from Hargreaves Lansdown to AJ Bell back in October 2019. It is a portfolio consisting of 9 shares, so not complex. During most of this period, my shares were effectively frozen, i.e I was unable to trade in/out of them since they were in the process of being transferred.
In that time, I have had to endure the volatility of Brexit /General Election and one of the worst stock market crashes in history.  I cannot begin to explain how mad I am. All I can advise potential new customers of HL is beware, these are the same scammers that put most of their clients into Neil Woodford Fund holdings, while turning away superior funds. 
If anyone can advise of another way besides complaining to HL (I've already done) and the Ombudsman which causes more people to hear of their disgraceful practices, I am open to suggestions. Bear in mind that each day that I have stocks or cash balances with HL, they earn some % of fees on that.
On a related note, it took an extraordinarly long period of time to move my SIPP from them to AJ Bell too, in that case I was given £150 as compensation (for a circa £25k portfolio).
Thanks
JB

masonic

In specie transfers are very slow. Many of us found this out when HL first introduced its 0.45% platform fee and we left for greener pastures. If I were to transfer again in the future, I'd consider moving to cash and risking a short time out of the market.

There isn't really anything you can do other than what you have done. How many weeks in total did the transfer take?

jonb83

Transfer not yet completed. Has now taken over 5 months. 

dunstonh

I have known some stock transfers take in excess of 6 months.  Shares are often much slower than funds.

All I can advise potential new customers of HL is beware, these are the same scammers that put most of their clients into Neil Woodford Fund holdings, while turning away superior funds. 

HL are not scammers.  You may wish to amend that as its defamation.

They did not put most of their clients into Woodford as HL is mostly an execution only firm.   Those that chose to invest with them put their money into Woodford but HL did not force them or advise them to.  HL do have a case to answer on their marketing list and how it promoted funds but that is not the same.

If anyone can advise of another way besides complaining to HL (I've already done) and the Ombudsman which causes more people to hear of their disgraceful practices, I am open to suggestions

It is almost certainly not HL that is taking their time. They are not the fastest on transfers (I have done a number away from them) but when it comes to in-specie transfers you are waiting for the third parties to do their bit.

On a related note, it took an extraordinarly long period of time to move my SIPP from them to AJ Bell too, in that case I was given £150 as compensation (for a circa £25k portfolio).

Cash transfers with the quickest are done in about 4 days.   The longer ones take a few weeks.   in-specie transfers again take longer (and you should allow 6 months).    £150 compensation sound jammy for something that they probably did nothing wrong on.

xylophone

After my experience transferring from II to iweb, (around six months and half way to apoplexy), I'd never transfer in specie again.

mr_accountant

xylophone said:

After my experience transferring from II to iweb, (around six months and half way to apoplexy), I'd never transfer in specie again.

I've done a few in specie transfers for relatives mainly from Old Mutual Wealth to II, Fidelity to II,  and then from ii to Iweb, all have been done in the stated time (max 8 weeks, often much quicker) and no charges by any of them, what normally causes the delay is not the platform but the fund company who can drag their heels transfering the nominee from old to new platform. some transfers can be done online,
But as one is never out of the market I can't see the issue if you are a buy and hold person. all were unit trusts with well known companies, eg vanguard, hsbc etc

masonic

mr_accountant said:

xylophone said:

After my experience transferring from II to iweb, (around six months and half way to apoplexy), I'd never transfer in specie again.

I've done a few in specie transfers for relatives mainly from Old Mutual Wealth to II, Fidelity to II,  and then from ii to Iweb, all have been done in the stated time (max 8 weeks, often much quicker) and no charges by any of them, what normally causes the delay is not the platform but the fund company who can drag their heels transfering the nominee from old to new platform. some transfers can be done online,
But as one is never out of the market I can't see the issue if you are a buy and hold person. all were unit trusts with well known companies, eg vanguard, hsbc etc

I agree with you in principle, but in practice people need to do things like rebalance their portfolio. When the transfer extends over many months this can still be a problem. The other issue is when mistakes are made and it is necessary to dispute holdings when the wrong number of units, or indeed the wrong holding entirely, turns up on the other side.

jonb83

dunstonh said:

I have known some stock transfers take in excess of 6 months.  Shares are often much slower than funds.

All I can advise potential new customers of HL is beware, these are the same scammers that put most of their clients into Neil Woodford Fund holdings, while turning away superior funds. 

HL are not scammers.  You may wish to amend that as its defamation.

They did not put most of their clients into Woodford as HL is mostly an execution only firm.   Those that chose to invest with them put their money into Woodford but HL did not force them or advise them to.  HL do have a case to answer on their marketing list and how it promoted funds but that is not the same.

If anyone can advise of another way besides complaining to HL (I've already done) and the Ombudsman which causes more people to hear of their disgraceful practices, I am open to suggestions

It is almost certainly not HL that is taking their time. They are not the fastest on transfers (I have done a number away from them) but when it comes to in-specie transfers you are waiting for the third parties to do their bit.

On a related note, it took an extraordinarly long period of time to move my SIPP from them to AJ Bell too, in that case I was given £150 as compensation (for a circa £25k portfolio).

Cash transfers with the quickest are done in about 4 days.   The longer ones take a few weeks.   in-specie transfers again take longer (and you should allow 6 months).    £150 compensation sound jammy for something that they probably did nothing wrong on.

Thanks for your view. 
RE Transfer Time - I don't see why there should be such a massive discrepancy between the transfer time for my SIPP and My ISA. My holdings are FTSE listed shares, could not be more vanilla. Re: Woodford and HL, as you pointed out there are serious questions around the buy lists that HL sent out and their bias towards Woodford Funds. Also note how many of those individuals who worked at HL and recommended Woodford have quietly left the firm, including Mark Dampier who made millions at HL.
I note that many customers are considering legal action, see Citywire article titled: "Law firms report contact from 3,700 Hargreaves clients over Woodford" Feb 2020.
£150 compensation sounds jammy - Nonsense, when they have lost me hundreds more than that because I have not been able to buy or sell in that particular ISA. They themselves have said that they are dealing with lots of transfers, presumably because of customer dissatisfaction.

Either way, I take all your comments on board with thanks that in-specie transfers are the way should I ever go through this process again.

eskbanker

jonb83 said:
Either way, I take all your comments on board with thanks that in-specie transfers are the way should I ever go through this process again.

Looks like you misunderstood (or mistyped), dunstonh was explaining that in specie is the slowest way of transferring so should be avoided if speed is important to you.

masonic

It might be of interest to some that I received a SMS from iWeb this morning warning me that ISA transfers to and from them are taking much longer than usual due to the Covid-19 crisis. Fortunately my IFISA to S&S ISA transfer to iWeb, which involved only cash was completed by them in just under 3 weeks before the most recent lockdown measures had been put in place.

jonb83

eskbanker said:

jonb83 said:
Either way, I take all your comments on board with thanks that in-specie transfers are the way should I ever go through this process again.

Looks like you misunderstood (or mistyped), dunstonh was explaining that in specie is the slowest way of transferring so should be avoided if speed is important to you.

sorry mistype. yes in specie not the way i meant..thank you