Which platform is best please?

havingaball74

Thank you so much for all your advice. That's amazing! Yep, I want to invest all in one go but am nervous about doing that! I may well drip feed 20 k at a time. So sorry if this is a stupid question, but after watching a few YouTube tutorials, would it be sensible to put some in VLS 60 and some in VLS 80? Are they rebalanced by Vanguard? The other one I was looking at was HSBC Global Strategy Balanced Fund. Would that be sensible alongside the VLS 60/80? I read on Monevator that this fund can allocate any amount from 40% to 70% in equities which may not pay off as it is more actively managed. Does that make sense? Last question! Do you pay more in fees for having a VLS 60, 80 and HSBC or do the fees go on % of the whole balance? Thank you all again!

Albermarle

All the funds you mention have their own % Fee ( OCF ) The funds pay themselves so you never directly pay for this but indirectly you do of course. You pay the same % fee whether you have £1,000 or £10,000.
The investment platform you hold the funds on have their own separate fee structure . Sometimes this is a % of the total amount . Sometimes there is a fixed fee regardless of how much you hold.
I read on Monevator that this fund can allocate any amount from 40% to 70% in equities which may not pay off as it is more actively managed. Does that make sense?
On the other hand it might pay off . Some would argue it is better than Vanguards rigid allocations.( and higher UK bias)
They are both in the end trying to achieve the same thing so a big difference in performance is unlikely , but there will be some difference . You can look at the historical data but it will not tell you how they will perform in future .
One of each could be a sensible strategy . 

granta

ChilliBob said:

It's seldom mentioned on here but Lloyds isn't a bad option - it's basically iWeb (both owned by Halifax), but £40 a year and cheaper dealing for funds. 

Thanks ChilliBob! Did not know about the Lloyds option but £40 a year + £1.50 per fund trade looks to be a good option for transferring my old ISA for a buy and hold portfolio. Surprised it's not mentioned more. Also considering the Fidelity option for ETfs only with the £45 cap.

Anyone know of any other low cost gems like this?

havingaball74

Ooh, decisions! I was set on iweb but will now look into Lloyds. 

havingaball74

All the funds you mention have their own % Fee ( OCF ) The funds pay themselves so you never directly pay for this but indirectly you do of course. You pay the same % fee whether you have £1,000 or £10,000.

So, it costs more to have both VLS 60 and VLS 80?

george4064

havingaball74 said:

All the funds you mention have their own % Fee ( OCF ) The funds pay themselves so you never directly pay for this but indirectly you do of course. You pay the same % fee whether you have £1,000 or £10,000.

So, it costs more to have both VLS 60 and VLS 80?

It will only cost more if you go with a platform that incurs transaction costs, since transacting on two funds will cost more than transacting on simply one fund.

What will probably ‘cost’ you more is investing a fund that doesnt meet your objectives, so most important of all is choosing a fund or funds that suit your objectives, tolerance to risk etc and that you keep costs under control but not let costs entirely dictate what you invest in.

dunstonh

would it be sensible to put some in VLS 60 and some in VLS 80?

Not really.   

 Are they rebalanced by Vanguard? 

The underlying funds are.  However, if you split to use two VLS funds then they will not be rebalanced unless you do it.

The other one I was looking at was HSBC Global Strategy Balanced Fund. Would that be sensible alongside the VLS 60/80?

Its closest match in risk is to VLS60.  It's a cheaper fund and has more natural weightings which are fluid with more risk control and that has led to higher returns than VLS in recent years.  It is also an unfettered fund of funds (which allows the underlying funds to come from different fund houses) unlike VLS which is fettered (only uses Vanguard funds).

read on Monevator that this fund can allocate any amount from 40% to 70% in equities which may not pay off as it is more actively managed.
 

HSBC GS is risk targetted.  VLS is not. VLS has rigid fixed interest/equity weightings and they don't change the underlying weightings much.  HSBC is more fluid.      

VLS keeping a fixed equity/fixed interest split is a management decision.  Not making as many changes to the underlying assets and rebalancing them to that more rigid weighting is a management decision. Deciding to go overweight in UK equity is a management decision.   So, an unbiased article could say that any of the management decisions made by Vanguard may not pay off.   Every management decision or investment style can have the same thing said about it.

There can be a trend on the internet for some sites to treat Vanguard as if it's the best option. Possibly because, for a while it was.  I like vanguard.   I have three of their funds in my portfolio.  However, I also have two HSBC and two ishares.    No fund house is the best in every area.   

havingaball74

dunstonh said:

would it be sensible to put some in VLS 60 and some in VLS 80?

Not really.   

 Are they rebalanced by Vanguard? 

The underlying funds are.  However, if you split to use two VLS funds then they will not be rebalanced unless you do it.

The other one I was looking at was HSBC Global Strategy Balanced Fund. Would that be sensible alongside the VLS 60/80?

Its closest match in risk is to VLS60.  It's a cheaper fund and has more natural weightings which are fluid with more risk control and that has led to higher returns than VLS in recent years.  It is also an unfettered fund of funds (which allows the underlying funds to come from different fund houses) unlike VLS which is fettered (only uses Vanguard funds).

read on Monevator that this fund can allocate any amount from 40% to 70% in equities which may not pay off as it is more actively managed.
 

HSBC GS is risk targetted.  VLS is not. VLS has rigid fixed interest/equity weightings and they don't change the underlying weightings much.  HSBC is more fluid.      

VLS keeping a fixed equity/fixed interest split is a management decision.  Not making as many changes to the underlying assets and rebalancing them to that more rigid weighting is a management decision. Deciding to go overweight in UK equity is a management decision.   So, an unbiased article could say that any of the management decisions made by Vanguard may not pay off.   Every management decision or investment style can have the same thing said about it.

There can be a trend on the internet for some sites to treat Vanguard as if it's the best option. Possibly because, for a while it was.  I like vanguard.   I have three of their funds in my portfolio.  However, I also have two HSBC and two ishares.    No fund house is the best in every area.   

That is really useful, thank you. I think I'll go for VLS 60 and the HSBC fund. One last question. I was pretty set on going with iweb but another poster mentioned Lloyds who are both Halifax. I believe Lloyds is cheaper? The platform choice is now my final decision!

underground99

havingaball74 said:

dunstonh said:

would it be sensible to put some in VLS 60 and some in VLS 80?

Not really.   

 Are they rebalanced by Vanguard? 

The underlying funds are.  However, if you split to use two VLS funds then they will not be rebalanced unless you do it.

The other one I was looking at was HSBC Global Strategy Balanced Fund. Would that be sensible alongside the VLS 60/80?

Its closest match in risk is to VLS60.  It's a cheaper fund and has more natural weightings which are fluid with more risk control and that has led to higher returns than VLS in recent years.  It is also an unfettered fund of funds (which allows the underlying funds to come from different fund houses) unlike VLS which is fettered (only uses Vanguard funds).

read on Monevator that this fund can allocate any amount from 40% to 70% in equities which may not pay off as it is more actively managed.
 

HSBC GS is risk targetted.  VLS is not. VLS has rigid fixed interest/equity weightings and they don't change the underlying weightings much.  HSBC is more fluid.      

VLS keeping a fixed equity/fixed interest split is a management decision.  Not making as many changes to the underlying assets and rebalancing them to that more rigid weighting is a management decision. Deciding to go overweight in UK equity is a management decision.   So, an unbiased article could say that any of the management decisions made by Vanguard may not pay off.   Every management decision or investment style can have the same thing said about it.

There can be a trend on the internet for some sites to treat Vanguard as if it's the best option. Possibly because, for a while it was.  I like vanguard.   I have three of their funds in my portfolio.  However, I also have two HSBC and two ishares.    No fund house is the best in every area.   

That is really useful, thank you. I think I'll go for VLS 60 and the HSBC fund. One last question. I was pretty set on going with iweb but another poster mentioned Lloyds who are both Halifax. I believe Lloyds is cheaper? The platform choice is now my final decision!

Lloyds charges an admin fee of £40 a year but only £1.50 per transaction to buy or sell the funds. IWeb charges more per transaction and has an initial fee to get set up with them but doesn't have the £40 per year charge. I

f you are only going to transfer over your £85k in chunks of about £20k a time, you will only need 4 transactions to deploy the money (two purchases of the HSBC fund at £21.25k each time, and two of Vanguard fund at £21.25k each time.  So you will not benefit much from Lloyds's lower transaction costs and after a few years will have spent more on the ongoing admin fee than it would have cost to establish the account at IWeb that doesn't have an ongoing admin fee.

Of course, in a few years time the platforms may change their admin fees, merge, rebrand etc as they are both ultimately owned by Lloyds Banking Group.

havingaball74

underground99 said:

havingaball74 said:

dunstonh said:

would it be sensible to put some in VLS 60 and some in VLS 80?

Not really.   

 Are they rebalanced by Vanguard? 

The underlying funds are.  However, if you split to use two VLS funds then they will not be rebalanced unless you do it.

The other one I was looking at was HSBC Global Strategy Balanced Fund. Would that be sensible alongside the VLS 60/80?

Its closest match in risk is to VLS60.  It's a cheaper fund and has more natural weightings which are fluid with more risk control and that has led to higher returns than VLS in recent years.  It is also an unfettered fund of funds (which allows the underlying funds to come from different fund houses) unlike VLS which is fettered (only uses Vanguard funds).

read on Monevator that this fund can allocate any amount from 40% to 70% in equities which may not pay off as it is more actively managed.
 

HSBC GS is risk targetted.  VLS is not. VLS has rigid fixed interest/equity weightings and they don't change the underlying weightings much.  HSBC is more fluid.      

VLS keeping a fixed equity/fixed interest split is a management decision.  Not making as many changes to the underlying assets and rebalancing them to that more rigid weighting is a management decision. Deciding to go overweight in UK equity is a management decision.   So, an unbiased article could say that any of the management decisions made by Vanguard may not pay off.   Every management decision or investment style can have the same thing said about it.

There can be a trend on the internet for some sites to treat Vanguard as if it's the best option. Possibly because, for a while it was.  I like vanguard.   I have three of their funds in my portfolio.  However, I also have two HSBC and two ishares.    No fund house is the best in every area.   

That is really useful, thank you. I think I'll go for VLS 60 and the HSBC fund. One last question. I was pretty set on going with iweb but another poster mentioned Lloyds who are both Halifax. I believe Lloyds is cheaper? The platform choice is now my final decision!

Lloyds charges an admin fee of £40 a year but only £1.50 per transaction to buy or sell the funds. IWeb charges more per transaction and has an initial fee to get set up with them but doesn't have the £40 per year charge. I

f you are only going to transfer over your £85k in chunks of about £20k a time, you will only need 4 transactions to deploy the money (two purchases of the HSBC fund at £21.25k each time, and two of Vanguard fund at £21.25k each time.  So you will not benefit much from Lloyds's lower transaction costs and after a few years will have spent more on the ongoing admin fee than it would have cost to establish the account at IWeb that doesn't have an ongoing admin fee.

Of course, in a few years time the platforms may change their admin fees, merge, rebrand etc as they are both ultimately owned by Lloyds Banking Group.

Iweb it is then. Thank you so much for your help.