BMO FTSE ASTrck 2Acc. Should I look to move.

stepway

When my child was born back in 2008 we received the government Child Trust Fund contribution and chose F&C investments.  Following a divorce, change of address and contact details, back in 2016, this fund has been forgotten about.  I have just regained access and found out that the fund is now with BMO as a BMO FTSE ASTracker 2Acc but I can find no records on the account to show whether this has been performing as it should.  Does anyone know anything about this fund?  It appears that they are charging handling fees on a regular basis and I'm worried the money might not be in the best place as I believe it can now be moved?  All advice gratefully received!

kuratowski

A common suggestion is to open a Junior ISA (JISA) with Fidelity, who charge no platform fees.  Transfer the CTF into the JISA.  And switch to a global fund instead of a UK-only one.  Such as Fidelity Index World fund
https://www.fidelity.co.uk/junior-isa/
https://www.fidelity.co.uk/funds/easy-invest/

Alexland

stepway said:

BMO FTSE ASTracker 2Acc but I can find no records on the account to show whether this has been performing as it should.

That is a FTSE All Share tracker fund which according to Morningstar has an average total return of 6.97% pa during the past 10 years which is 0.63% pa lower than the index mostly due to the charges set at around this level. So yes it has generally been "performing as it should" if that's the market you wanted to track and the fund fees you were happy to pay.

BMO seem to charge a fixed £25+vat pa for the CTF account which could be significant if the account has a low valuation.

kuratowski said:

Transfer the CTF into the JISA.

Fidelity don't yet accept CTF transfers to it would need to first go via a JISA provider who does (or asking BMO to transfer it to their own JISA product). However if the child is now 13 it could soon be time to start derisking the portfolio if it's likely to be spent at 18 and given the attractive rates available on child accounts it might be easier to just pick a time in the next year or two to move to a best buy Cash JISA account. However if it's likely to remain invested beyond 18 then yes it might be worth moving to Fidelity and investing in a more globally diversified fund.

Albermarle

 It appears that they are charging handling fees 

Virtually all companies who hold investments on your behalf, and enable you to operate the account, change the investments ,withdraw and add money etc  will charge fees . They have to make a living .

There are a small number of mainly new app based companies who offer services for free, but presumably one day they will start charging, or go bust.

tebbins

It seems the technical aspects of your question have been mostly answered.
Most on the forum would suggest a global tracker but to go against the flow, what does well in one decade, ie the FTSE All Share in the 2010s, doesn't tend to repeat bad performance in the following decade. Vice versa the global stock market, led by the US' stellar performance over the past decade is unlikely to repeat that over the next 10 years.
In a way you would be selling low to buy high, personally I would hold what you have, or at most go 50:50.