Platform and Fund Recommendation - S&S ISA

MoneyMan01

I have around £30,000 in a Flex Cash ISA and £50,000 in Premium Bonds.

I’m looking to open a S&S ISA to transfer the £30,000 into a S&S ISA.

First question, is it possible to transfer the £30k from a cash ISA into a S&S ISA, or can I only open a S&S ISA with £20k?

Second question, what is the best platform in terms of lowest fees for the £30k? 

I have seen Freetrade and Trading212 (when they accept new applications) being good for fee’s? Any other suggestions?

Then I need suggestions on what to invest in within the platform. I want something similar to a robo invest option in the sense that ideally I’ll buy one “fund” that covers a diverse range and let that return a % annually. Would that also return dividends?

Any suggestions on what to invest in that matches the above?

george4064

What's wrong with the other thread you created asking a similar question?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6257612/wealthify-robo-investment

Ultimately you need to put in some groundwork to work put what's best for you, you seek to have asked similar questions in your numerous previous threads and so it implies you arent picking anything up.

MoneyMan01

I asked the above question on my last thread but didn’t get a response. That thread was regarding the specific robo investment product, this is not. 

I want to open a S&S ISA and went away did some research and saw Freetradr, Trading212 but wanted to know if there are others with cheaper fees, based on my question above about a £30k cash transfer (which I haven’t asked anywhere else). 

There’s also many many “set and forget” investments and I’m looking to see which one I should go for, based on the info I have opened this thread with. 

george4064

1. Yes you can transfer any amount from Cash ISA to S&S ISA, even if it exceeds £20k.

2. Decide for yourself here https://monevator.com/find-the-best-online-broker/

3. Plenty of options to choose from. Vanguard LS, BlackRock Consensus, HSBC Global Strategy and plenty more. Stick to passive and global, cant give anymore pointers since you have provided much info.

4. In terms of dividends, all funds 'return' dividends to unit holders if dividends have been received. Some funds offer either Accumulation or Income share classes. Accumulation rolls up any income into the unit price automatically, whilst Income share classes pay distributions to unit holders.

grumiofoundation

1. Yes, as above transfer not limited to 40k.

2. Generally is sensible to decide what to invest in, then decide what platform is best for this investment not vice versa.

If you are looking to invest in a fund and leave it then a passive global tracker (100% equities) or a multi-assets funds (% equities, % bonds etc). A number of links in your previous thread. 

You haven’t provided anywhere near enough information for anyone to ‘suggest’ investments. Without knowing details such as the timescale you are looking at, aims for the money, risk tolerance, wider financial position etc no one will be able to give advice on what you ‘should’ invest in (or at least look at investing in)...

MoneyMan01

Thank you very much for all of the information. 

I’ve spent a couple of days going through things to gain a greater understanding. Still got a lot to read up on so I’m more knowledgeable on it. 

From what I’ve gained so far, I basically want to put a lump sum of ~£25k in and then add to it each month. 

I want to purchase a global all world product which includes emerging markets. Either that or the S&P500 (not too sure which is best right now).

After considering everything, the platform I decided on was Trading 212 as there are no fees, however they aren’t allowing new accounts. 

Alternative was Freetrade but they charge £3 a month for their S&S ISA. 

They do have a general investment account that is free to open so I was debating whether to open a GIA with Freetrade and then move that across to T212 when they allow applicants. 

Though I do need to know how smooth that transfer would be, if and when possible. 

Obviously ideal world would be to open a T212 S&S ISA now but that isn’t possible.

There is a waiting list that can be signed up to. Has anyone signed up to the waiting list and since been given an account - if so, when did you sign up to that list and how long after was you given an account?

maxsteam

Personally I would choose x-o.co.uk in preference to freetrade.io or trading212. X-o.co.uk is run by Jarvis who is a full member of the London Stock Exchange while the others are not. It's certainly worth a look.

You need to make it clear to your present and future provider that the £30k is a transfer to another ISA. If the existing ISA is closed instead of being transferred, the funds will no longer be in an ISA wrapper. The annual £20k limit is in addition to any transfers.

ColdIron

X-O don't do funds which would significantly restrict the choice available to them, e.g. no multi-asset funds. Iweb at £5 per trade would be cheaper and provide a considerably wider range of products. OP should decide on what to invest in and only then choose the best platform to use for their chosen investment, cost is a secondary consideration. Ease of use, customer service, range of investments and services provided all have a value. I doubt the OP chooses their food, clothes or car by selecting the cheapest possible option

Alexland

TheDarkKnight93 said:

From what I’ve gained so far, I basically want to put a lump sum of ~£25k in and then add to it each month. 

I prefer the financial security and reasonably good choice that iWeb (a brand of Halifax Share Dealing) offers and the £5/trade is basically free anyway as Halifax give me £5/month for making a debit card payment out of a dedicated bank account into iWeb or one of our other platforms. Still the £100 iWeb setup is a write off.

So if you are sticking to funds (not ITs, ETFs or company shares) and contributing monthly you might prefer Lloyds (also HSD) at £40 pa and £1.50 per trade which over 12 trades a year works out £2 pa cheaper and avoids the £100 iWeb setup charge. Even if you did want to do ITs, ETFs or company shares Lloyds have a £1.50 rate for a scheduled regular investment it's just pricy on those adhoc trades.

I want to purchase a global all world product which includes emerging markets.

If you want 100% equities consider the HSBC FTSE All World fund at 0.13% available on iWeb and probably Lloyds as they are both HSD. The nearest ETF on a free trade platform is VWRL or VWRP but that costs 0.22% ongoing although I guess you could build a multi fund portfolio using cheaper greographic tracker ETFs which could get the cost down to similar to the HSBC fund.

If you want multi-asset to include some bonds for stability then consider the funds mentioned by george4064 above. If you don't need the dividend income pick the accumulation version of the fund to avoid trade fees reinvesting on platforms that charge for trades.

Either that or the S&P500 (not too sure which is best right now).

Given current valuations I wouldn't suggest going all-in on US shares if anything there is now an argument to go underweight on the US as it might again take a long period of disappointing performance for them to get back to normal relative pricing again.

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob

I invest with these:
LF Blue Whale Growth Fund – the flagship fund from Blue Whale Capital

read who is behind Stephen Yiu.

Take your own advice, if you lose money, its your fault not mine. 

underground99

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob said:

I invest with these:
LF Blue Whale Growth Fund – the flagship fund from Blue Whale Capital

read who is behind Stephen Yiu.

To save looking it up, the cornerstone investor of Blue Whale was family money from Peter Hargreaves (ex Hargreaves Landsdown where Stephen had previously worked).