Investment Houses

nxdmsandkaskdjaqd

I currently have a 6 figure sum with HL both ISA's and Pension.  For safety I need to move the ISA's to another platform.  What is the next largest fund house in the UK? 

AlanP_2

If by fund house you mean platform, as that is what  HL is, then I would suggest either Fidelity or Vanguard both of which dwarf HL on company size.

Waht are you seeking safety from by the way?

Albermarle

nxdmsandkaskdjaqd said:

I currently have a 6 figure sum with HL both ISA's and Pension.  For safety I need to move the ISA's to another platform.  What is the next largest fund house in the UK? 

We get this sort of question very often.e.g.https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6262935/better-to-use-more-than-one-investment-platform#latest
In reality the chance of a mainstream investment platform like HL going bust is extremely unlikely ( they are very profitable) and in any case you still own the investments if anything went wrong, not the platform .
Many posters on here are holding hundreds of thousands with one platform and sleeping OK .
More sensibly if you have a six figure sum is looking at an alternative to HL with lower charges .
https://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/

nxdmsandkaskdjaqd

AlanP_2 said:

If by fund house you mean platform, as that is what  HL is, then I would suggest either Fidelity or Vanguard both of which dwarf HL on company size.

Waht are you seeking safety from by the way?

I don't like the whole 6 figure sum being in one location.  Nice for teh management of funds, but does cause me a little concern.

dunstonh

HL is about third or fourth in terms of the size of platforms.  It is very profitable and moving funds away from HL into a less profitable or non-profitable platform or a platform with high illiquid assets would be increasing your risks. Not reducing them.

Having assets on platforms is not the same as having money at the bank.

nxdmsandkaskdjaqd

dunstonh said:

HL is about third or fourth in terms of the size of platforms.  It is very profitable and moving funds away from HL into a less profitable or non-profitable platform or a platform with high illiquid assets would be increasing your risks. Not reducing them.

Who would be the 1st, 2nd and 3rd?

I didn't understand your comment about risk increasing, could you expand on this?

I do understand your point about savings in banks.

dunstonh

Who would be the 1st, 2nd and 3rd?

They are intermediary platforms.    i.e. you would need an IFA or and FA attached to that platform.   So, they wont be available to you as a DIY investor.   The biggest actually has some of the worst software. So, despite being the largest and probably the most secure financially. you really wouldn't want to use it if you are relatively active in transactions.  Invest and forget maybe ok but not if you want a clean front end. 

  Most of the platforms in the top 10 are intermediary only.   I think you would be looking at only HL and Fidelity making it into the top 10 who offer services to DIY investors.   Although I haven't seen an updated list for a long time and there has been some consolidations in the platforms in that period that would alter positions.  A J Bell may be in there now as an option open to DIY investors.

I didn't understand your comment about risk increasing, could you expand on this?

If you are already with one of the safest investment platforms out there, then any money shifted to a lesser platform (in terms of financial strength) increases your risk.   It doesn't reduce it.  

nxdmsandkaskdjaqd

dunstonh said:

Who would be the 1st, 2nd and 3rd?

They are intermediary platforms.    i.e. you would need an IFA or and FA attached to that platform.   So, they wont be available to you as a DIY investor.   The biggest actually has some of the worst software. So, despite being the largest and probably the most secure financially. you really wouldn't want to use it if you are relatively active in transactions.  Invest and forget maybe ok but not if you want a clean front end. 

  Most of the platforms in the top 10 are intermediary only.   I think you would be looking at only HL and Fidelity making it into the top 10 who offer services to DIY investors.   Although I haven't seen an updated list for a long time and there has been some consolidations in the platforms in that period that would alter positions.  A J Bell may be in there now as an option open to DIY investors.

I didn't understand your comment about risk increasing, could you expand on this?

If you are already with one of the safest investment platforms out there, then any money shifted to a lesser platform (in terms of financial strength) increases your risk.   It doesn't reduce it.  

I now understand your point about risk now.  That' a very interesting point.

I would like to see a list of all of the fund houses/intermediary's and who's SW they use.  Anyone?

Albermarle

I would like to see a list of all of the fund houses/intermediary's and who's SW they use.  Anyone?

This is an investment forum not an IT one !

When looking at a platform we would normally look at the charges , the investments available , whether they were a mainstream operator , if we liked the website and their reputation . The software they use would be a mystery and not of interest for the majority of investors .

Dunstonh is a professional so is more aware of these things.

nxdmsandkaskdjaqd

Albermarle said:

I would like to see a list of all of the fund houses/intermediary's and who's SW they use.  Anyone?

This is an investment forum not an IT one !

When looking at a platform we would normally look at the charges , the investments available , whether they were a mainstream operator , if we liked the website and their reputation . The software they use would be a mystery and not of interest for the majority of investors .

Dunstonh is a professional so is more aware of these things.

Dunstonh raised the point about the largest having the worst SW, so it seems a valid question to see who else is in that category.

dunstonh

Or Vanguard Investor, which I think isn't a huge platform in the UK, but Vanguard are one of the 2 biggest fund management groups globally.

The Vanguard platform is restricted and only allows own brand funds.  That is a negative in terms of investment selection but a positive in terms of financial security as it means they wont have any obscure illiquid investments that would take an administrator years to shut down (time = cost).   But then again, if Vanguard fails (which is inconceivable given their business), it means you wouldn't just be re-registering your funds to a new platform but also having to wait for the funds to be liquidated and some of the funds could have liquidity issues.  So, there can be negatives to having your platform and fund house all as one.

However, you can also massively overthink these things and create scenarios that are unlikely likely to occur with armageddon. 

We know that with platform failures, the FSCS uses the £85k per person to pay for the administrator.  A platform with a majority of liquid tradeable assets (UT/OEICs) can be moved on quickly by an administrator.  Although the most likely scenario is a buyer as they would get the AUM cheap.  However, in reality, a platform would have sought a buyer long before that point.  It's only really a problem if they hold illiquid assets to a level that scares off buyers.