Aberdeen takeover of Interactive Investor

masonic

itm2 said:

marlot said:

itm2 said:

molerat said:

You mean Abrdn ............

Yes of course. Apologies for the unauthorised inclusion of vowels

I wonder what do they can call ii after they've removed its vowels?

ntrctvnvstr of course. Rolls off the tongue

The i's will get even bigger once they drop the e's again.

TBC15

If the new owners decide to hike charges swapping  the ISA to I web doesn’t seem to be much of a chore.  Any idea what the score is with a trading account. I’d hate to get hammered for CGT if I had to sell and re-buy.  If I re-buy within 30 days on a new platform can I keep the original purchase information for CGT purposes?

masonic

TBC15 said:

If the new owners decide to hike charges swapping  the ISA to I web doesn’t seem to be much of a chore.  Any idea what the score is with a trading account. I’d hate to get hammered for CGT if I had to sell and re-buy.  If I re-buy within 30 days on a new platform can I keep the original purchase information for CGT purposes?

iWeb has been having some very long transfer delays this year, including cash transfers. Bed and breakfast rules would apply if you self-transferred a trading account (or requested a cash transfer). It would be cheaper to transfer in specie though, the only reason you might not be able to do so is if some of your holdings weren't available at iWeb, in which case you would have to make a disposal for CGT as anything you repurchased would be a different financial instrument.

older_and_no_wiser

Apart from the concerns about removal of the flat fee structure of II (fingers crossed they won't do this), perhaps the abrdn takeover may trigger an improvement of the II mobile app. It's horrendous currently and has so little functionality compared with, say, the HL app.

dunstonh

older_and_no_wiser said:

Apart from the concerns about removal of the flat fee structure of II (fingers crossed they won't do this), perhaps the abrdn takeover may trigger an improvement of the II mobile app. It's horrendous currently and has so little functionality compared with, say, the HL app.

Neither of the existing Abrdn platforms has a mobile app.

Thrugelmir

dunstonh said:

older_and_no_wiser said:

Apart from the concerns about removal of the flat fee structure of II (fingers crossed they won't do this), perhaps the abrdn takeover may trigger an improvement of the II mobile app. It's horrendous currently and has so little functionality compared with, say, the HL app.

Neither of the existing Abrdn platforms has a mobile app.

Cheaper to buy an existing business than build your own. A leaf out of the FANGs book. 

hoc

Not good for competition. UK platforms were already expensive before all these rebrands and takeovers.

milton1970

abrdn plc ("the Company")

 

 

Statement regarding potential acquisition

 

 

The Company notes recent media speculation and confirms that it is currently in discussions with J.C. Flowers & Co regarding a potential acquisition of Interactive Investor.  

 

There can be no certainty that these discussions will result in a transaction and a further announcement by the Company will be made as and when appropriate.

 

8 November 2021

 

 

 

Alexland

itm2 said:

This doesn't look like good news for investors:

Why? II were already the generally more expensive fixed price platform when compared to those with no ongoing charge on ISAs such as iWeb or the low capped fees on a SIPP that could be achieved with Fidelity when holding exchange traded investments. It's very rare that II works out best for the platform questions people post on this forum.

In recent years the II management has seemed excessively greedy and happy to deploy sharp business practices leaving some customers of business they acquire in poor situations. Aberdeen (despite their stupid new name) have a good understanding of the UK investment market, will understand the type of customers II attracts, and would not buy II to damage it.

Aberdeen already have a fixed price retail offering for buying into their investment trusts via share plans and ISAs. At £24+vat pa it's good value on a large account if you only ever buy and optionally reinvest dividends. They do charge £15+vat if you ever need to sell shares.

From the annual report of my Aberdeen investment trust over 10% of the shares are held in an Aberdeen plan and 14% are held at Interactive Investor as the biggest single shareholder. There is plenty of scope to market Aberdeen investments to II customers.

I'll keep an open mind as changes might even tempt me to start using them for an account in future.

Thrugelmir

hoc said:

Not good for competition. UK platforms were already expensive before all these rebrands and takeovers.

US investors lose out in other ways.