Risk with having high portfolio % with one provider?

masonic

chucknorris said:

Audaxer said:

I think it depends how large your portfolio is. If your portfolio is up to say £100k I would say okay to have most of it with one large provider, but if significantly more than that I would personally wouldn't have it all with the one provider or on one platform.

My wife and I have virtually all our investments (apart from some savings and BTL's) with HL, what is the risk? Is it that if they went under, investments would be safe, but they might be an access issue until some other company is appointed to administer the investments?

Yes, the risk of being frozen out of your account for a period of time is the biggest risk with a significant player like HL. This would probably be measured in months, but might be even more prolonged if there are issues transferring to a new provider (especially if that new provider cannot cope as has happened with our friends over at SVS XO).

Shocking_Blue

masonic said:

chucknorris said:

Audaxer said:

I think it depends how large your portfolio is. If your portfolio is up to say £100k I would say okay to have most of it with one large provider, but if significantly more than that I would personally wouldn't have it all with the one provider or on one platform.

My wife and I have virtually all our investments (apart from some savings and BTL's) with HL, what is the risk? Is it that if they went under, investments would be safe, but they might be an access issue until some other company is appointed to administer the investments?

Yes, the risk of being frozen out of your account for a period of time is the biggest risk with a significant player like HL. This would probably be measured in months, but might be even more prolonged if there are issues transferring to a new provider (especially if that new provider cannot cope as has happened with our friends over at SVS XO).

That's concerning. I guess it's not just about real numbers but how much of your portfolio is with the platform. £125k / 100% S&S ISAs with iWeb now sounds more precarious than a few contributions back...

masonic

Shocking_Blue said:

masonic said:

chucknorris said:

Audaxer said:

I think it depends how large your portfolio is. If your portfolio is up to say £100k I would say okay to have most of it with one large provider, but if significantly more than that I would personally wouldn't have it all with the one provider or on one platform.

My wife and I have virtually all our investments (apart from some savings and BTL's) with HL, what is the risk? Is it that if they went under, investments would be safe, but they might be an access issue until some other company is appointed to administer the investments?

Yes, the risk of being frozen out of your account for a period of time is the biggest risk with a significant player like HL. This would probably be measured in months, but might be even more prolonged if there are issues transferring to a new provider (especially if that new provider cannot cope as has happened with our friends over at SVS XO).

That's concerning. I guess it's not just about real numbers but how much of your portfolio is with the platform. £125k / 100% S&S ISAs with iWeb now sounds more precarious than a few contributions back...

It depends. If you are a long term buy and hold type, with no need to access the money for 10+ years, it may not be of any concern. If you are planning early retirement next year and will live off your S&S ISA until pensions kick in, then it may be a significant concern.

When I got to that sort of level, I started a new S&S ISA with a different provider, but this wasn't my sole reason for doing so.

Thrugelmir

noclaf said:

Thrugelmir said:

noclaf said:

Does anyone actively choose not to use ETF's due to the lack of FSCS protection?

I'd be more concerned with a wide spread in both illiquid and volatile trading conditions.  

Is this referring to a lack of liquidity in the said fund or ETF e.g: market nose-dives and you want to sell X amount but the sell order becomes delayed due to lack of liquidity and by the time your broker has processed the sell, you took more of a hit than you would of liked?

As a traded stock like any share. The spread can simply widen between the quoted online buying and selling prices offered by the market makers. 
Don't have figures directly available for ETF's . As examples the maximum spread allowed on FTSE 100 shares is 5%. Other quoted stocks 10% -25%. US major stocks traded on the LSE ~10%. 

[Deleted User]

Also - the FSCS protection also doesn't cover Investment Trusts or non UK Funds such as Lindsell Train (that comes under the Irish with protection of a maximum of 20k euros)