Platform help please!

TUVOK

I have always found choosing a new platform a very difficult task. I am going to open a 2021-22 S&S ISA.
I currently have a HL, Fidelity and Vanguard platforms.
The Vanguard is a non runner as I do not want further passive funds at this moment
HL is dear and the service is dropping off, so that's out.
Fidelity, I have found to be ok , so it's a possibility.
My new ISA is going to be composed of very secure investments, i.e. Capital Gearing, Troy X, PNL etc and possibly a few IT's.
After funding this ISA, I do not anticipate any further dealing.
Two other platforms that I have looked at are Barclays Smart Investor account and IWebb.
I would really appreciate any views/advice etc that can see through the fog of my search.

underground99

TUVOK said:

My new ISA is going to be composed of very secure investments, i.e. Capital Gearing, Troy X, PNL etc and possibly a few IT's.
After funding this ISA, I do not anticipate any further dealing.
Two other platforms that I have looked at are Barclays Smart Investor account and IWebb.

Capital Gearing, PNL, and all ITs are traded on a stock exchange and can be bought through any broker that deals on the London exchange - doesn't need to be a full service funds platform.  If you chose to hold them on a funds platform like HL or Youinvest you wouldn't be paying the full 'expensive' rates of 0.45% or 0.25% on the overall value of your ISA to get the platform intermediary / custody service, because those platforms recognise that the ongoing percentage rates for open-ended funds are high compared to normal stockbrokers who just have fixed transaction fees for placing trades. So they cap the fees on exchange-traded assets (e.g. the percentage rate per year stops being charged at £45 for HL and Fidelity, and at a similar £42 for AJ Bell Youinvest but at a lower percentage rate). 

Is that 'dear' at HL ? The holding charge would only be 0.225% on £20k and less when your ISA grows.  You will not need much service to hold a few ITs so it doesn't really matter if the service is 'dropping off'?  Still, if you can avoid ongoing holding charges altogether it would be better to do that if you can.

If you were going IT-only, Jarvis's execution only broker at www.x-o.co.uk is cheap and cheerful. If you were using mostly ITs but the occasional fund like Troy X, you could try IWeb sharedealing who offer both funds and shares and similarly don't charge for just holding stuff in an ISA wrapper once you've paid to buy it.  IWeb do charge a one-off fee to open an account with them in the first place ; X-O.co.uk don't charge you to open one, but they may charge to eventually close it.

If you're not particularly cost sensitive and prefer the ease of having things in one place, and you already have assets at Fidelity and don't object to their service levels, it would be handy to use them I suppose, though I've never tried them.

maxsteam

It's always going to be your personal preference. As there is plenty of time for your 21/22 decision, one option is to open ordinary trading accounts with all the brokers' on your shortlist and fund this with a few hundred pounds just to test-drive the platforms.

bd10

I hold all my investment trusts with HL. Not on purpose but rather for the simple reason that HL was my first ISA platform. At £45 per year custody fee, not bad if one hardly trades. I have my dividends automatically reinvested at their rather modest fee. This turns out cheaper that AJB. The only negative experience to date was actually liquidity. I struggled to buy CTY.L last March. It gotten a bit ridiculous imho. £20k order is not particularly large (and CTY.L is very liquid) and yet I could not get it properly filled: I had to buy in three clips which was really annoying. While I appreciate that markets were in turmoil I saw plenty of shares on offer and yet their liquidity providers could not or did not want to fill me. Excuse was I should have used a fill-or-kill even though I placed a market order. Anyways, I think things seems to have improved now. No complaints on recent fills.

DireEmblem

Some of the newer free trade type sites offer you an ISA for your investment trusts fee free.  The problem with this is that most of them don't offer transfer in/outs.

I've been looking over my accounts recently, and the broker/platform you choose cost wise, comes down to the balance you have, and what you would like to invest in.

Fidelity charge what 0.35%, or Interactive Investor charge £9.99 a month with one free trade a month.  So £120 for arguments sake divided by 0.35% is 34k.  So if you do minimal trading, then II could be better than HL/Fidelity, and still offer a lot of investment options within one platform if you have a decent balance.

Myself, I'm on 0.25% with Fidelity until September, and use 212 for Investment Trusts outside an ISA.

Once I grow my balance, I may merge the two into one platform.

grumiofoundation

DireEmblem said:

Some of the newer free trade type sites offer you an ISA for your investment trusts fee free.  The problem with this is that most of them don't offer transfer in/outs.

I've been looking over my accounts recently, and the broker/platform you choose cost wise, comes down to the balance you have, and what you would like to invest in.

Fidelity charge what 0.35%, or Interactive Investor charge £9.99 a month with one free trade a month.  So £120 for arguments sake divided by 0.35% is 34k.  So if you do minimal trading, then II could be better than HL/Fidelity, and still offer a lot of investment options within one platform if you have a decent balance.

Myself, I'm on 0.25% with Fidelity until September, and use 212 for Investment Trusts outside an ISA.

Once I grow my balance, I may merge the two into one platform.

As said above Fidelity cap charges for ITs, shares, ETFs at £45 per year.

TUVOK

My thanks for all replies.
I have just received a message from Fidelity in response to an inquiry from me re costs.
Their reply was that I will pay 0.25%, but no mention that it will change in September!
I was with Cavendish prior to their take over by Fidelity, so fear that it could go up to 0.35% in September.
I'm about to pose that question to Fidelity now.

dunstonh

TUVOK said:

My thanks for all replies.
I have just received a message from Fidelity in response to an inquiry from me re costs.
Their reply was that I will pay 0.25%, but no mention that it will change in September!
I was with Cavendish prior to their take over by Fidelity, so fear that it could go up to 0.35% in September.
I'm about to pose that question to Fidelity now.

Fidelity are unlikely to pre-announce any announcements regarding charges.   However, it is very common for them (and other platforms) to offer special terms to different distribution channels and for those terms to be retained even when the original agent no longer exists (Cavendish being the original agent).

TUVOK

Fidelity have informed me that the rate for the next year will remain at 
0.25% for me.
I will probably open another ISA with them at that rate.

Albermarle

They are also taking on a large number of new customers from Legal and General ( many times more than they did from Cavendish).  L&G customers for the ISA for example just had one charge ( not a separate platform and fund charge ) so it is not clear how they will be absorbed into the Fidelity charging structure .  

Alexland

Albermarle said:

L&G customers for the ISA for example just had one charge ( not a separate platform and fund charge ) so it is not clear how they will be absorbed into the Fidelity charging structure .  

They have indicated that customers will not pay more than they did when buying the funds directly with L&G so my guess is that they will either reduce the OCF on the retail class by 0.35% or convert the units to the cheaper institutional class. Still I may never find out now we have transferred our L&G ISAs into our main iWeb accounts and L&G seem clear they have not sold our SIPPs even if Fidelity seem to think they are getting them.