A J Bell or Interactive Investor

cloud_dog

Albermarle said:

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 !

It all started back in late 2019 (if my memory it still adequate) when they had a new IT system.  The issues or ability to respond was then probably also impacted by Covid (staffing), but the underlying IT issue(s) were, I feel, the prime cause.  I received my share of confetti.

coyrls

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?

Indeed.  On that basis I would never return to AJ Bell.  I think the only reason I got the refund was because AJ Bell were floating on LSE and wanted to clear FOS complaints.  That was after over 2 years of the FOS dealing with the complaint.

Pat38493

coyrls said:

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?

Indeed.  On that basis I would never return to AJ Bell.  I think the only reason I got the refund was because AJ Bell were floating on LSE and wanted to clear FOS complaints.  That was after over 2 years of the FOS dealing with the complaint.

One of the learnings I got from this board is that I would never sign up for a provider who has exit charges.

segovia

Pat38493 said:

coyrls said:

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?

Indeed.  On that basis I would never return to AJ Bell.  I think the only reason I got the refund was because AJ Bell were floating on LSE and wanted to clear FOS complaints.  That was after over 2 years of the FOS dealing with the complaint.

One of the learnings I got from this board is that I would never sign up for a provider who has exit charges.

Does A J Bell have an exit/transfer charge ?

Albermarle

segovia said:

Pat38493 said:

coyrls said:

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?

Indeed.  On that basis I would never return to AJ Bell.  I think the only reason I got the refund was because AJ Bell were floating on LSE and wanted to clear FOS complaints.  That was after over 2 years of the FOS dealing with the complaint.

One of the learnings I got from this board is that I would never sign up for a provider who has exit charges.

Does A J Bell have an exit/transfer charge ?

Not any more, most providers have dropped them after pressure from the FCA.

segovia

Some of the other reasons I was edging towards A J BELL is 1, when I make a company or personal contribution the deposits clear much quicker than II. 2, I have the same HSBC Global ETF which is listed in £; however, II pays dividends in $ which I have to transfer which take 2 days before I can invest it. A J BELL pays Dividends in £ immediately. I did query it will II but never got a straight answer from them

cloud_dog

segovia said:

Some of the other reasons I was edging towards A J BELL is 1, when I make a company or personal contribution the deposits clear much quicker than II. 2, I have the same HSBC Global ETF which is listed in £; however, II pays dividends in $ which I have to transfer which take 2 days before I can invest it. A J BELL pays Dividends in £ immediately. I did query it will II but never got a straight answer from them

Interestingly, I am trying to figure out if I prefer the II way of managing foreign currency (divis) or not.

cloud_dog

I asked AJB if they had anything like the II guide...

https://www.ii.co.uk/ii-accounts/sipp/income-drawdown/moving-funds-drawdown#step

...for the steps involved in actually placing monies in to drawdown and they replied to my secure message with a hand crafted (but detailed) description of the steps involved / buttons to press etc.  And having stepped through as far as I can (without actually drawing money) they both appear, on face value, to be equally straightforward and self contained via the online account.

So nothing to sway things one way or another TBH.

I am likely to end up leaving one of ours with II and the other with AJB, just from an infrastructure safety perspective.  

coyrls

Pat38493 said:

coyrls said:

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?

Indeed.  On that basis I would never return to AJ Bell.  I think the only reason I got the refund was because AJ Bell were floating on LSE and wanted to clear FOS complaints.  That was after over 2 years of the FOS dealing with the complaint.

One of the learnings I got from this board is that I would never sign up for a provider who has exit charges.

Well, that's easy now, not so much in 2016, which is when we are talking about.  Ancient history but EdSwippet's post brought back some painful memories!

segovia

cloud_dog said:

segovia said:

Some of the other reasons I was edging towards A J BELL is 1, when I make a company or personal contribution the deposits clear much quicker than II. 2, I have the same HSBC Global ETF which is listed in £; however, II pays dividends in $ which I have to transfer which take 2 days before I can invest it. A J BELL pays Dividends in £ immediately. I did query it will II but never got a straight answer from them

Interestingly, I am trying to figure out if I prefer the II way of managing foreign currency (divis) or not.

Without knowing how A J Bell does the calculation it's hard to compare, because II is in $ I can't auto invest divs