Platform for investments

jae123

I have bought a few stock n share isas over the years via a discounted broker.
The discounted broker is now trying to get me to put these in his company’s Investment Platform.
I understand that with a platform all the isas would be put together under the same platform to make it easier to sell n buy future investments if I wanted to.
My question is how can I compare the platform prices with where they are at the moment, what are the charges called with fund company, do they call it there own platform or is it a different name.

eskbanker

jae123 said:

I have bought a few stock n share isas over the years via a discounted broker.
The discounted broker is now trying to get me to put these in his company’s Investment Platform.
I understand that with a platform all the isas would be put together under the same platform to make it easier to sell n buy future investments if I wanted to.
My question is how can I compare the platform prices with where they are at the moment, what are the charges called with fund company, do they call it there own platform or is it a different name.

If your broker is recommending a move from wherever these investments are now into his company’s Investment Platform, then he should obviously be able to identify the costs (and benefits) of doing so, but regulated platforms must publish pricing clearly and comprehensively so you should be able to see for yourself on their website.

I don't quite understand your last points - in general the costs associated with funds themselves (as opposed to platform costs) will be identical regardless of where you choose to hold the funds, although some platforms offer discounts.

If you need further help on here, it would probably be better if you actually identified the names of all the companies and funds concerned

jae123

Think I understand it now, would appreciate if you could let me know if I’m correct.
My investments are with axa framlington and Armetis which are still with them.
Platforms are run by independent brokers who will charge me a fee or percentage to hold all investments.
If I move to a platform I will still carry on paying management charges to axa and armetis in addition to the platform.

jae123

Sorry forgot to say 
with Axa Framlington I have 3 different funds
Armetis I’m invested in 1 fund

Albermarle

The different well known investment platforms all have different ways of charging .
For example some charge a % of your total funds on the platform and some just charge an annual fee regardless of the amount of money invested. Here is a link to a comparison table.
https://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/

jae123

If I use a platform will that reduce charges with the fund providers or do they not change

2unlimited91

eskbanker said:

in general the costs associated with funds themselves (as opposed to platform costs) will be identical regardless of where you choose to hold the funds, although some platforms offer discounts.

That is the usual position when holding funds on platforms, but it may not be the case for somebody still holding funds with the fund managers, instead of on a platform. They may still be in an old ("dirty" or "inclusive") class of units of each fund, which costs more but effectively includes the platform costs.

Moving to a modern platform may involve converting to a new ("clean") class of units of the same fund, which costs less, but then you pay explicit charges for the platform on top of that. Nowadays, when you are on a real platform (i.e. not direct with the fund manager), platform changes have to be explicit.

But start by checking what class of units you have in each fund. Usually identified by a random-looking letter or 2.

cattie

If you use a platform it should make little or no difference to the charges currently paid to the fund providers. If your funds are held by an Independent Financial Advisor or Financial Advisor tied to a bank or similar, then you should save the fees you pay them to manage your funds by switching to a platform. 

As mentioned by Albermarle, have a look at the provided link to see which would be the most cost effective platform for you if you did decide to switch.

Albermarle

Suggest you go to the websites of a few of the platforms and see if they actually offer the funds you refer to ( they should but worth checking ) and what the charges for the funds are. 

jae123

Thanks everyone for advice and help.
2unlimited91 all the funds are R class 

2unlimited91

jae123 said:

2unlimited91 all the funds are R class 

Those are the old, "inclusive" units.

E.g. look at Axa Framlington European: https://www.trustnet.com/factsheets/o/fr26/axa-framlington-european-r-inc and look at te "All Units" tab, and scroll down to "Charges". The measure of charges you probably want to use is the OCF, which is 1.61% for class R, or 0.86% for class Z.

On a platform, nowadays you'd expect to be holding class Z, which is a "clean" class, and as you can see, is 0.75% cheaper. And then the platform would charge you an explicit fee. Most platforms would charge something between 0.25% and 0.45%, so you would overall  be better off holding class Z on a platform than class R direct with Axa Framlington. (And other platforms don't charge a percentage at all, but have some other way of charging — which could be better or worse for you, depending on your circumstances.)

So check whether your broker is going to switch you into "clean" units, and what explicit charges they have.

That is just a random example of an Axa Framlington fund, but other funds from the same manager will usually use the same letters for classes.

To take an example Artemis Fund, see Artemis Income: https://www.trustnet.com/factsheets/o/af77/artemis-income-r-inc . Class R has an OCF of 1.55%, and there is also class C with an OCF of 1.25%, and class I with an OCF of 0.80%. On a platform, you'd usually be holding class I (and class C is just there to confuse us ), so again that is 0.75% cheaper than class R. This is a pretty typical difference.