HL Portfolio+

dibby1939

I have been with HL for a long time and I have 2 accounts.  One is a straightforward Stocks & Shares ISA which I manage myself and the other is a Porfolio Management Service ISA..   The latter is comprised almost entirely of HL Multi-manager funds and is manged by HL - for a price!

Looking at the HL web site recently (which I don't do as often as I probably should) I can find no reference to PMS accounts - just Portfolio+.   Are these two the same - just a name change?    If not, can anyone tell me what the difference is?

Thanks.

masonic

I was under the impression that one was overpriced financial advice, whereas the other just consists of overpriced house funds they promote. Perhaps with the former you also get the latter, but it is also possible to be led to them through marketing as a DIY investor.

dibby1939

You are probably right on both counts, which is why I am looking at the PMS with a view to moving out of it - which I think I should have done a long time ago.

Thanks for your input.

Audaxer

All I can see on the HL site about Portfolio Management Service is some archived articles, like the one below:
Portfolio Management Service update (hl.co.uk)

dibby1939

That's interesting.   As I say, there is no mnetion of PMS on the HL website, yet the last quarterly report of my accounts I received last November has a section devoted to "...your Portfolio Management Service ISA"!!    Very odd!

Albermarle

masonic said:

I was under the impression that one was overpriced financial advice, whereas the other just consists of overpriced house funds they promote. Perhaps with the former you also get the latter, but it is also possible to be led to them through marketing as a DIY investor.

I think it might be a bit unfair to say their financial advice is overpriced , although of course some people think all financial advice is overpriced .
For sure though their multi manager funds /managed portfolios are expensive + the platform fee is the highest.

masonic

Albermarle said:

masonic said:

I was under the impression that one was overpriced financial advice, whereas the other just consists of overpriced house funds they promote. Perhaps with the former you also get the latter, but it is also possible to be led to them through marketing as a DIY investor.

I think it might be a bit unfair to say their financial advice is overpriced , although of course some people think all financial advice is overpriced .
For sure though their multi manager funds /managed portfolios are expensive + the platform fee is the highest.

It's about value for money. Nothing wrong with paying for good financial advice from an IFA, but if all HL do is plonk you in their MM funds, 1% initial plus 0.365% per year is overpriced IMHO. A competitive IFA could do better and for less if all costs are taken into account.

Albermarle

masonic said:

Albermarle said:

masonic said:

I was under the impression that one was overpriced financial advice, whereas the other just consists of overpriced house funds they promote. Perhaps with the former you also get the latter, but it is also possible to be led to them through marketing as a DIY investor.

I think it might be a bit unfair to say their financial advice is overpriced , although of course some people think all financial advice is overpriced .
For sure though their multi manager funds /managed portfolios are expensive + the platform fee is the highest.

It's about value for money. Nothing wrong with paying for good financial advice from an IFA, but if all HL do is plonk you in their MM funds, 1% initial plus 0.365% per year is overpriced IMHO. A competitive IFA could do better and for less if all costs are taken into account.

Although 0.365% ongoing is competitive for smaller funds , where an IFA would charge 1% . Although if they just plonk you in the MM funds then the advantage is completely lost.

masonic

Albermarle said:

masonic said:

Albermarle said:

masonic said:

I was under the impression that one was overpriced financial advice, whereas the other just consists of overpriced house funds they promote. Perhaps with the former you also get the latter, but it is also possible to be led to them through marketing as a DIY investor.

I think it might be a bit unfair to say their financial advice is overpriced , although of course some people think all financial advice is overpriced .
For sure though their multi manager funds /managed portfolios are expensive + the platform fee is the highest.

It's about value for money. Nothing wrong with paying for good financial advice from an IFA, but if all HL do is plonk you in their MM funds, 1% initial plus 0.365% per year is overpriced IMHO. A competitive IFA could do better and for less if all costs are taken into account.

Although 0.365% ongoing is competitive for smaller funds , where an IFA would charge 1% . Although if they just plonk you in the MM funds then the advantage is completely lost.

Would the platform fee would normally be included in an IFA ongoing charge? If so, it would be 0.82% vs 1%.

It looks like they've designed the service as one-off transactional, but have built in a annual check circumstances haven't changed as an optional add-on. The whole service appears to be a hand-holding equivalent of what can be obtained through their website tool for free, though I suppose they do an initial fact find and suitability check.

dunstonh

Would the platform fee would normally be included in an IFA ongoing charge? If so, it would be 0.82% vs 1%.

No. Post RDR (Jan 13) it has to be unbundled.

dibby1939

Thank you all for your measured and helpful replies.

I am new to MSE, and having perused (though not used) a number of other forums I was quite expecting a series of critical (and some times hysterical) responses along the lines of "you shouldn't be doing this" or " you are a fool for  having anything to do with that expensive platform?".   So I was pleasantly surprised at the sensible and understanding tone of these repsonses.   I shall certainly come here again for information and help when I need it.

Thanks again.