ASI UK Smaller Companies

HardCoreProgrammer2

I would like to move some investments in ASI UK SMALLER COMPANIES CLASS S (https://www.hl.co.uk/funds/fund-discounts,-prices--and--factsheets/search-results/s/asi-uk-smaller-companies-income/key-features, ISIN = GB00BBX46290) from Hargreaves Lansdown to Fidelity, but there are 3 funds with similar names in Fidelity. I would appreciate if anyone could advise on which is the one I am looking for. Thank you in advance.

1. ASI UK Smaller Companies Fund Retail Income (https://www.fidelity.co.uk/factsheets/ASI-UK-Small-Cmpns-Fd-Rtl-Inc-GBP-Unhgd/GB00BYQNBS53-GBP/?id=GB00BYQNBS53GBP&idType=isin&marketCode=&idCurrencyid=), ISIN = GB00BYQNBS53

2. ASI UK Smaller Companies Fund Platform 1 Accumulation (https://www.fidelity.co.uk/factsheet-data/factsheet/GB00B7FBH943-asi-uk-small-cmpns-fd-pl-1-acc-gbp-unhgd/key-statistics), ISIN = GB00B7FBH943

3. ASI (AAM) UK Smaller Companies Fund I Acc (https://www.fidelity.co.uk/factsheets/ASI-(AAM)-UK-Smaller-Companies-Fd-I-Acc/GB00B07T4859-GBP/?id=GB00B07T4859GBP&idType=isin&marketCode=&idCurrencyid=), ISIN = GB00B07T4859

Notes:
a.  ASI UK SMALLER COMPANIES CLASS S consists of a 0.22% discount in management fees which is only available in Hargreaves Lansdown and not in Fidelity.)

For these funds, I checked the manager (all Derek Nimmo), and the Performance (all different).

chiang_mai

Acc stands for Accumulation which means the fund reinvests any income, income means it is paid out in the form of a dividend. Which do you want?

underground99

HardCoreProgrammer2 said:

I would like to move some investments in ASI UK SMALLER COMPANIES CLASS S (https://www.hl.co.uk/funds/fund-discounts,-prices--and--factsheets/search-results/s/asi-uk-smaller-companies-income/key-features, ISIN = GB00BBX46290) from Hargreaves Lansdown to Fidelity, but there are 3 funds with similar names in Fidelity. I would appreciate if anyone could advise on which is the one I am looking for. Thank you in advance.

1. ASI UK Smaller Companies Fund Retail Income (https://www.fidelity.co.uk/factsheets/ASI-UK-Small-Cmpns-Fd-Rtl-Inc-GBP-Unhgd/GB00BYQNBS53-GBP/?id=GB00BYQNBS53GBP&idType=isin&marketCode=&idCurrencyid=), ISIN = GB00BYQNBS53

2. ASI UK Smaller Companies Fund Platform 1 Accumulation (https://www.fidelity.co.uk/factsheet-data/factsheet/GB00B7FBH943-asi-uk-small-cmpns-fd-pl-1-acc-gbp-unhgd/key-statistics), ISIN = GB00B7FBH943

3. ASI (AAM) UK Smaller Companies Fund I Acc (https://www.fidelity.co.uk/factsheets/ASI-(AAM)-UK-Smaller-Companies-Fd-I-Acc/GB00B07T4859-GBP/?id=GB00B07T4859GBP&idType=isin&marketCode=&idCurrencyid=), ISIN = GB00B07T4859

Notes:
a.  ASI UK SMALLER COMPANIES CLASS S consists of a 0.22% discount in management fees which is only available in Hargreaves Lansdown and not in Fidelity.)

For these funds, I checked the manager (all Derek Nimmo), and the Performance (all different).

Option 1 and 2 are the same fund you currently hold, with option 1 paying out dividends (as your current fund does) and option 2 accumulating them internally within the fund and continually reinvesting.

Option 1 is the 'full retail' package version of the fund with a high management fee creating an ongoing charges figure of over a percent each year (which fidelity then discounts to get it back under a percent).

Option 2 is the standard 'platform' share class with a lower headline fee that doesn't attract a discount. It will look slightly better on the manager's factsheet than option 1, as it has lower running costs, but may end up being a few basis points worse than doing option 1 and getting the associated discount or rebate. The main difference is Income paying Vs accumulation type and if you are looking at Fidelity's page for either of these share classes the other one is available via a drop-down option.

Option 3 is a different fund. Aberdeen Standard Investments was formed from merger of Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life. The "ASI (AAM) UK smaller companies fund" was AAM's product while the one you hold was the ex-SL product. After the firms merged, a couple of years ago Harry Nimmo took over responsibility for the ex-AAM fund too, but it is not as big and it has a different portfolio composition (albeit most of the larger holdings are common to both).

HardCoreProgrammer2

chiang_mai, In Fidelity, you can set a preference to automatically re-invest all income. As I am not drawing an income from the investments, I do not mind whether Income or Accumulation.
underground99, Thank you for the quick response. I did not realise that options 1 and 2 are the same thing, because even their return for the last year ("Performance" tab -> "Annual performance (%)" section -> "31 Dec 19 - 31 Dec 20") are different: 3.53 vs 3.92.
In Hargreaves Lansdown, dividend payments are included in the returns, so you get the same return in income and accumulation versions, but perhaps they do things differently in Fidelity.
As you say that option 3 is a much smaller fund (and probably not as good return), so perhaps it will be merged into option 2 at some point in future.

underground99

HardCoreProgrammer2 said:

.
underground99, Thank you for the quick response. I did not realise that options 1 and 2 are the same thing, because even their return for the last year ("Performance" tab -> "Annual performance (%)" section -> "31 Dec 19 - 31 Dec 20") are different: 3.53 vs 3.92.

Well, that's to be expected - one has a higher management fee and operating costs, by about 0.3-0.4% per year, so the factsheet is going to show a better result as a total return. That is nothing to do with the administration of whether or not they pay out a dividend (and assume you reinvest it) or accumulate them. It's just a difference in running cost.

As fidelity and other platforms will rebate the extra management fee as a 'discount', the net result would be about the same.