Curiosity: why go with (example...) H/Lansdown, St James' Place?

ColdIron

MacPingu1986 said:

I’ve been with HL for about 15 years as a platform with a S&S ISA, SIPP and general fund & share account.

Hold mostly shares with some funds and have always been very happy, platform works, on rare occasions I’ve had to contact they’ve been good and responsive. Honest answer why I’m still with them is they seemed a safe solid choice 15 years ago and I’ve never changed.

That said perhaps now is a good time to re-evaluate… - any recommendations for platforms with lower holding fees?

HL is pretty good for shares but expensive for funds

IWeb for a large fund portfolio (£0 holding fees for a GIA and ISA) will beat HL hands down. Their SIPP is harder to evaluate at £180 pa (£360 if in drawdown). Fidelity's SIPP might be worth a look

So you will need to run your numbers and be prepared to split your portfolios depending upon your exact mix

I use HL for shares, ITs and ETFs in a GIA, ISA and a drawdown SIPP but IWeb for my ISA funds

jimjames

MacPingu1986 said:

That said perhaps now is a good time to re-evaluate… - any recommendations for platforms with lower holding fees?

You can't beat £0 holding fees with iWeb. It does cost £5 per trade but for long term buy & hold you can beat holding for no cost

george4064

I always think of the different platform providers like supermarkets. All provide the same products/investments, just different shopping experiences. (See breakdown below).

It's down to the individual which supermarket or investment platform they shop at/invest with. Many know that Waitrose (or HL) aren't the cheapest, however they prefer the experience over mid-tier places and certainly over the budget shops/platforms.

1. The luxury top tier. In the supermarket world is Waitrose and Ocado, across investments Hargreaves Lansdown fits this category.

2. Next you have the mid tier supermarkets. Sainsburys and Tesco, the likes of AJ Bell, Interactive Investor and Fidelity are here.

3. Finally the budget tier, I'm talking Aldi and Lidl where the shopping experience is typically not as pleasant than a trip to Waitrose. iWeb is the budget platform that comes to mind.

B0bbyEwing

GeoffTF said:

B0bbyEwing said:

Also regards AJ Bell and large/small accounts, I don't know what people consider large or small but I've 13.5k in my Lifetime ISA which I'd say is typically seen as a small number but isn't small change to me.

With AJB, you will be paying £13,500*0.25/100 = £33.75 plus £1.50 per year. With iWeb, you would be paying £5 per year. Your account is not small enough to make AJB cheaper. The break even point is £1,400.

masonic said:

GeoffTF said:

B0bbyEwing said:

Also regards AJ Bell and large/small accounts, I don't know what people consider large or small but I've 13.5k in my Lifetime ISA which I'd say is typically seen as a small number but isn't small change to me.

With AJB, you will be paying £13,500*0.25/100 = £33.75 plus £1.50 per year. With iWeb, you would be paying £5 per year. Your account is not small enough to make AJB cheaper. The break even point is £1,400.

I don't think you can hold a LISA at iWeb. I hold mine at AJ Bell and probably would have moved it if I could.

I'll take a look there.

Maybe I can't move my LISA along but I have about £6k in a S&S ISA which if that's the difference then I'll be looking at moving it.
Will need to see whether they offer the same investments or whether they're quite limited.

B0bbyEwing

Do all providers have to display what investments they offer before you sign up or is that not the case? 

Having a look at other possibly cheaper options out there to see if they can offer the same for less, I was finding it difficult to see the options. I would either find nothing at all, find that they seem to do shares only or find they do ETFs only (of which I still don't fully get & therefore don't know whether they'd be better, worse or no different to how I'm currently invested). 

This isn't me saying that's all some offer, just all I came across. 

masonic

B0bbyEwing said:

Do all providers have to display what investments they offer before you sign up or is that not the case?

Most providers do, as it saves them having to deal with questions from potential investors individually. iWeb does, I'm not sure which other cheaper providers you are researching.

DietIrnBru

For those with a need for more a hands on approach - the premium services may have something to offer- or those with a substantial number of assets needing more esoteric advice for tax etc.

For the plebe on the street - automation works pretty well - look at the state system - a buy and forget affair - not for nothing does nudge theory work - I like my index funds for that reason - will it make me Warren Buffet rich? No. But its simple and cheap to run.

GeoffTF

DietIrnBru said:

For those with a need for more a hands on approach - the premium services may have something to offer- or those with a substantial number of assets needing more esoteric advice for tax etc.

If you want that, it would be much cheaper to hire a qualified tax advisor.

B0bbyEwing

masonic said:

B0bbyEwing said:

Do all providers have to display what investments they offer before you sign up or is that not the case?

Most providers do, as it saves them having to deal with questions from potential investors individually. iWeb does, I'm not sure which other cheaper providers you are researching.

I just went to the S&S ISA section of the MSE main website & started looking at ones that are listed as the cheapest. 

iWeb as listed here in this thread didn't seem to be listed. 

I noted Trading 212 listed. I dabbled with them last year in to the start of this year but if memory serves, they were only shares? I was just playing with loose change and I think overall lost money because it was gambling with individual shares. 

In the end I took it as a lesson & knocked it on the head, sticking totally to funds. One of my holdings in one pot is Fidelity Index World P, another in another pot is HSBC Global Strategy Adventurous. 

wmb194

B0bbyEwing said:

masonic said:

B0bbyEwing said:

Do all providers have to display what investments they offer before you sign up or is that not the case?

Most providers do, as it saves them having to deal with questions from potential investors individually. iWeb does, I'm not sure which other cheaper providers you are researching.

I just went to the S&S ISA section of the MSE main website & started looking at ones that are listed as the cheapest. 

iWeb as listed here in this thread didn't seem to be listed. 

I noted Trading 212 listed. I dabbled with them last year in to the start of this year but if memory serves, they were only shares? I was just playing with loose change and I think overall lost money because it was gambling with individual shares. 

In the end I took it as a lesson & knocked it on the head, sticking totally to funds. One of my holdings in one pot is Fidelity Index World P, another in another pot is HSBC Global Strategy Adventurous. 

Trading212 has ETFs and investment trusts but not OEICs.