A J Bell or Interactive Investor

Linton

I use II and manage  Mrs L's holdings in AJBell SIPP and ISA accounts.  In the past both have had issues but In recent years there have been no problems with either.  Given the extra security of using 2 platforms I have no intention of changing platforms

segovia

Linton said:

I use II and manage  Mrs L's holdings in AJBell SIPP and ISA accounts.  In the past both have had issues but In recent years there have been no problems with either.  Given the extra security of using 2 platforms I have no intention of changing platforms

What risks are mitigated with using two platforms ?

Linton

segovia said:

Linton said:

I use II and manage  Mrs L's holdings in AJBell SIPP and ISA accounts.  In the past both have had issues but In recent years there have been no problems with either.  Given the extra security of using 2 platforms I have no intention of changing platforms

What risks are mitigated with using two platforms ?

IT problems or some other temporary disruption to service are the main concerns.  For some platforms there could be longer term disruption should the company go bust but II are part of abrdn worth about £3Bn,  and AjBell is worth > £1Bn so perhaps not a major concern.

Perhaps the main benefit is to minimise worries.

segovia

Linton said:

segovia said:

Linton said:

I use II and manage  Mrs L's holdings in AJBell SIPP and ISA accounts.  In the past both have had issues but In recent years there have been no problems with either.  Given the extra security of using 2 platforms I have no intention of changing platforms

What risks are mitigated with using two platforms ?

IT problems or some other temporary disruption to service are the main concerns.  For some platforms there could be longer term disruption should the company go bust but II are part of abrdn worth about £3Bn,  and AjBell is worth > £1Bn so perhaps not a major concern.

I have never had an outage that I can recall, and my cash is in a fund which I am hoping is resilient to any financial woes of the platform provider.  

EdSwippet

coyrls said:

EdSwippet said:

Interactive Investor. I hold my SIPP with them, and I'm entirely happy with it. It is actually a refugee from an AJ Bell debacle a few years ago (Youinvest and Sippdeal are previous names used by the AJ Bell platform), something they then followed up closely with a second one. My SIPP holds funds, not ETFs.

Over the years this move has saved me thousands of pounds.

Me too.  I did eventually get my transfer out charges refunded after going through the ombudsman.

And I didn't, after the same process. Weird inconsistency; shrug. Still, no regrets, saved thousands overall even after being stitched up by AJ Bel for transfer out charges.

It just leaves a nasty taste, doesn't it?

segovia

EdSwippet said:

coyrls said:

EdSwippet said:

Interactive Investor. I hold my SIPP with them, and I'm entirely happy with it. It is actually a refugee from an AJ Bell debacle a few years ago (Youinvest and Sippdeal are previous names used by the AJ Bell platform), something they then followed up closely with a second one. My SIPP holds funds, not ETFs.

Over the years this move has saved me thousands of pounds.

Me too.  I did eventually get my transfer out charges refunded after going through the ombudsman.

And I didn't, after the same process. Weird inconsistency; shrug. Still, no regrets, saved thousands overall even after being stitched up by AJ Bel for transfer out charges.

It just leaves a nasty taste, doesn't it?

What are the transfer out charges related to?

EdSwippet

segovia said:

What are the transfer out charges related to?

In a nutshell, some time back AJ Bell hugely increased their SIPP charges (in my case it was a six-fold multiplier, so not a small increase), but at the same time refused to waive their SIPP transfer out charge, which was then £20/holding plus a £90 flat fee on top.

I had to pay this ... and with hindsight, it turns out to have been excellent value, given the savings since! (Although even after charging handsomely for the transfer out, AJ Bell still made a mess of it, and which required a formal complaint to get it done correctly.)

At the time, it wasnt just AJ Bell, but a lot of platforms were adjusting their prices to cover disruption from the 'Retail Distribution Review' (RDR). However, all the others waived transfer out charges for a limited period, perhaps 30 days, for any customer who did not agree to the changes in the T&Cs that increased their fees. AJ Bell -- then known as Youinvest/Sippdeal -- did not. The calculus at the time was either pay six times the previous annual charge, or pay some hundreds of pounds to avoid the increase.

From the look of things, AJ Bell appears to have now dropped SIPP transfer-out charges (reluctantly, under pressure?), but it still has them for transfers out of ISA and general investing accounts.

Anyway, I have a long memory, and within it is a list of companies that have acted in a way that means I personally will never use them again. AJ Bell is on that list. Your own experiences, both with AJ Bell and with Interactive Investor, may of course be different.

cloud_dog

segovia said:

Linton said:

segovia said:

Linton said:

I use II and manage  Mrs L's holdings in AJBell SIPP and ISA accounts.  In the past both have had issues but In recent years there have been no problems with either.  Given the extra security of using 2 platforms I have no intention of changing platforms

What risks are mitigated with using two platforms ?

IT problems or some other temporary disruption to service are the main concerns.  For some platforms there could be longer term disruption should the company go bust but II are part of abrdn worth about £3Bn,  and AjBell is worth > £1Bn so perhaps not a major concern.

I have never had an outage that I can recall, and my cash is in a fund which I am hoping is resilient to any financial woes of the platform provider.  

Have a read of this with Prudential, another sizeable and probably considered resilient pension provider.  Whilst the title is LGPS AVC their issues did not just impact LGPS schemes.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6240757/problem-with-lgps-avcs-with-prudential/p1

I had a similar nightmare with them, after they upgraded their IT system.  One example was that they lost one of my contributions (not a small amount), but were adamant the account was up to date.  Took me over 10 months to prove to them that they were wrong.

Albermarle

cloud_dog said:

segovia said:

Linton said:

segovia said:

Linton said:

I use II and manage  Mrs L's holdings in AJBell SIPP and ISA accounts.  In the past both have had issues but In recent years there have been no problems with either.  Given the extra security of using 2 platforms I have no intention of changing platforms

What risks are mitigated with using two platforms ?

IT problems or some other temporary disruption to service are the main concerns.  For some platforms there could be longer term disruption should the company go bust but II are part of abrdn worth about £3Bn,  and AjBell is worth > £1Bn so perhaps not a major concern.

I have never had an outage that I can recall, and my cash is in a fund which I am hoping is resilient to any financial woes of the platform provider.  

Have a read of this with Prudential, another sizeable and probably considered resilient pension provider.  Whilst the title is LGPS AVC their issues did not just impact LGPS schemes.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6240757/problem-with-lgps-avcs-with-prudential/p1

I had a similar nightmare with them, after they upgraded their IT system.  One example was that they lost one of my contributions (not a small amount), but were adamant the account was up to date.  Took me over 10 months to prove to them that they were wrong.

I read that for a period their customer service was so bad, that they were handing out £200 compensation cheques like confetti !

dealyboy

Do banks still take confetti?