Royal London

CC21x

Hi, 

Again looking for some help and advice to try and get things better organised.  I will add that I am only starting to learn and gain knowledge regards Isa’s etc but minimal at the moment. 

I currently have
Royal London Corporate Bond 
Royal London Uk Income with growth. 

The accounts came to be as I was left some money many years ago.  I am ashamed to admit that these accounts have been left and I really don’t know 
1. What exactly they are? ( I think s&s Isa’s) 
2. What exactly or how well/or not they are doing. 

I do receive statements but find them confusing at this stage and there’s nothing on them that actually says Isa etc which would make it a bit easier for me. 

 

When I’m reading on MSE about different Isa’s etc, I can see rates of interest etc and things seem to be a bit clearer to understand.  The statements show shares and unit prices which is understandable if they are s&s Isa’s but nothing in an actual cash figure which would be better for me to try and get my head around.  

Basically there is some money in these accounts and I’m wondering if it’s actually benefiting me , Royal London isn’t something I see often posted about on the website ( not to say they’re not good)  but I really don’t know much about them. I have no issues with keeping/having the money in s&s for the long run but I’m looking for some advice. 

I did call them up thinking I’d be able to create some sort of online account but apparently is not something that I can create an online account to see or manage things from.

Thanks again in advance.  

Billxx

Your post will probably get some experts asking for more information.  But I can tell you that Royal London are a mutual, so they are pretty trustworthy (well as much as any business is).

Albermarle

CY24 said:

Hi, 

Again looking for some help and advice to try and get things better organised.  I will add that I am only starting to learn and gain knowledge regards Isa’s etc but minimal at the moment. 

I currently have
Royal London Corporate Bond 
Royal London Uk Income with growth. 

The accounts came to be as I was left some money many years ago.  I am ashamed to admit that these accounts have been left and I really don’t know 
1. What exactly they are? ( I think s&s Isa’s) 
2. What exactly or how well/or not they are doing. 

I do receive statements but find them confusing at this stage and there’s nothing on them that actually says Isa etc which would make it a bit easier for me. 

 

When I’m reading on MSE about different Isa’s etc, I can see rates of interest etc and things seem to be a bit clearer to understand.  The statements show shares and unit prices which is understandable if they are s&s Isa’s but nothing in an actual cash figure which would be better for me to try and get my head around.  

Basically there is some money in these accounts and I’m wondering if it’s actually benefiting me , Royal London isn’t something I see often posted about on the website ( not to say they’re not good)  but I really don’t know much about them. I have no issues with keeping/having the money in s&s for the long run but I’m looking for some advice. 

I did call them up thinking I’d be able to create some sort of online account but apparently is not something that I can create an online account to see or manage things from.

Thanks again in advance.  

An ISA just protects you from tax.
So if you have investments held in a Stocks and shares ISA, then you do not have to worry about any tax issues.
If you have a cash ISA it means the savings interest is protected from tax .

So the two funds you mentioned are investments held within a Stocks and shares ISA. Their performance over the years would be the same either held within an ISA or not.

The statements show shares and unit prices which is understandable if they are s&s Isa’s but nothing in an actual cash figure which would be better for me to try and get my head around.  

That would be unusual. Probably a good idea to post up a screen shot of the statement ( with all personal details blanked out of course)

CC21x

Hopefully everything has been omitted, please let me know if I haven’t done so correctly. 

The Uk Income with Growth and Corporate Bond are 2 investments held within one stocks and shares Isa?  I can’t see any total cash value figure on either. 

Thank you.

dunstonh

If you are getting a tax voucher then it means they are not in an ISA but held unwrapped. (not in any tax wrapper).

These look like old CIS funds.  RL bought CIS and operates it independently from the main RL branded products.   Probably as CIS products were pretty naff whereas RL's modern products are better.

CC21x

Yes, I’m sure they were originally from CIS. It’s not anything I chose it’s just what they were put into and then transferred to Royal London.   Would you suggest keeping with Royal London but  switching to a better product?  Or changing altogether? This is the trouble, as I don’t really know what they’re doing where they are and wondered if there was a better place to have them?

CC21x

 So the two funds you mentioned are investments held within a Stocks and shares ISA. Their performance over the years would be the same either held within an ISA or not.

At the moment I wouldn’t need to worry if they are in as Isa or not as I am not earning over £1000 in total interest from the accounts I have, here or elsewhere. 

If, as dunstonh mentioned they are not in an isa, would they just be stocks and shares investments through RL?  And would I be better off putting them in an isa long run or would it not make a difference? 

masonic

CY24 said:

 So the two funds you mentioned are investments held within a Stocks and shares ISA. Their performance over the years would be the same either held within an ISA or not.

At the moment I wouldn’t need to worry if they are in as Isa or not as I am not earning over £1000 in total interest from the accounts I have, here or elsewhere. 

If, as dunstonh mentioned they are not in an isa, would they just be stocks and shares investments through RL?  And would I be better off putting them in an isa long run or would it not make a difference? 

The bond fund is paying interest (currently covered by personal savings allowance), but the UK income with growth fund is paying dividends (currently covered by dividend allowance). Both have the potential for a capital gain, which would be taxed (if not covered by CGT allowance) in the tax year you sold and realised a gain.

Presumably you are reinvesting income and that's how you have some Group 2 units currently?

If there is a stream of reinvested income, as well as needing to find a base price from when you inherited them, this will make calculating capital gains quite complicated...

A case could certainly be made to switch to a cheap online provider and in the process move into an ISA, perhaps into one or more alternative funds based on your own circumstances.

CC21x

masonic said

Presumably you are reinvesting income and that's how you have some Group 2 units currently?

I have never taken anything from these accounts, so any income would be reinvested.  

I feel that there may be better, but also easier to understand  options out there to invest the funds.  As one of the previous comments, it seems the original CIS accounts weren’t great and even now with RL there could be better options elsewhere. 

Which is what I’m trying to figure out just now, I am aware of  online providers due to other threads but it’s the funds etc and where to invest within those. 

masonic

CY24 said:

masonic said

Presumably you are reinvesting income and that's how you have some Group 2 units currently?

I have never taken anything from these accounts, so any income would be reinvested.  

I feel that there may be better, but also easier to understand  options out there to invest the funds.  As one of the previous comments, it seems the original CIS accounts weren’t great and even now with RL there could be better options elsewhere. 

Which is what I’m trying to figure out just now, I am aware of  online providers due to other threads but it’s the funds etc and where to invest within those. 

I would tend to agree. Over 5 years the bond fund has broken even (including reinvested income) and the income with growth fund has returned about 3% per year. Both funds are 100% UK, whereas most would advocate a global approach. There is a lot of talk about multi-asset funds, which would be a popular choice, or you could opt for a 'robo' provider that would put you in something similar after assessing your attitude to risk.

The question is, can you sell up without incurring a capital gain above the annual allowance? If so, then you can avoid having to do the accurate sums and reporting to HMRC. The allowance has halved from the 2022/23 tax year and will halve again in the 2024/25 tax year.

The income with growth fund has a unit price of a little under £2, so your holding would be worth about £2,000, while the bond fund is 73p/unit, so worth about £3,000. So I don't think capital gains will be a concern. in this tax year when the allowance is £6000 and the gain is likely a fraction of what the funds are worth.

CC21x

masonic 

The question is, can you sell up without incurring a capital gain above the annual allowance? If so, then you can avoid having to do the accurate sums and reporting to HMRC. The allowance has halved from the 2022/23 tax year and will halve again in the 2024/25 tax year.

The income with growth fund has a unit price of a little under £2, so your holding would be worth about £2,000, while the bond fund is 73p/unit, so worth about £3,000. So I don't think capital gains will be a concern.

Sorry, I’m still very much learning here, by selling up do you mean getting the funds out and closing the accounts? 

With regards to the risk, I do plan to leave for the longer term. I’d really need to get advice should the time come, but from the little I do know,  I feel a mix with global funds would better than purely those in the UK . 

Due to the allowance reducing over the coming years it would seem then if I was going to take the finds to do it sooner rather than later?