Can't transfer my HSBC OEIC to Freetrade. Any suggestions to consider?

BigBlueSky

vacheron said:

BigBlueSky said:

@vacheron - I was just wondering how you got on with this and what you decided ?

I'm in a similar position and looking to move my SIPP in order to take advantage of the 1% cashback offer being offered by Freetrade.  Currently invested in the Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% fund, but this is not available with Freetrade.

Hi BigBlueSky. 

Like so many of lifes non-urgent problems, and the good info raised by the experienced posters on this thread which casted a few doubts, plus other things getting in the way, I am still where I was, however, in anticipation I had signed up to Freetrades £11 per month service which offered shares + SSISA + SIPP, and forgot until it auto renewed so I am already £22 worse off simply by doing nothing! 

Current thinking is to wait it out until a platform who offers HSBC OEIC's has a similar promotion and then just move across the exact products I currently own. If nothing is forthcoming in the next few months, I will look at this again.

At the moment, contingency planning for any potential GCT implications from of Mr Starmers "painful budget" announcement is a far more pressing matter. 

Thanks for the update.  Similar situation but don't want to miss out on the 1% cashback promotion.  I've never invested in an ETF before, have always used funds so will need to do a lot more research.

granta

Martico said:

I transferred a legacy pension to the Freetrade SIPP a few months ago, and have ploughed the bulk of it into VWRP - you may want to investigate that to see if it suits (I don't know enough to say how comparable it is, only that it's been broadly recommended as a global fund and is available on Freetrade). I pay £11.99 per month for the privilege. Should also say that the Freetrade team were very responsive on email throughout the transfer process

This is good to hear re customer service as they are completely new to me. Like the OP, I did hold the HSBC Global Strategy Fund (but the Dynamic/Adventurous version I think) and took the plunge a few years ago to switch to a ETF only holding. This has allowed me to hold them on Fidelity and HL with their capped fees and generous cashback offers.

Now thinking about transferring to Freetrade to benefit from the 1% cashback offer.

Was the transfer process relatively straightforward and timely?

Martico

granta said:

Martico said:

I transferred a legacy pension to the Freetrade SIPP a few months ago, and have ploughed the bulk of it into VWRP - you may want to investigate that to see if it suits (I don't know enough to say how comparable it is, only that it's been broadly recommended as a global fund and is available on Freetrade). I pay £11.99 per month for the privilege. Should also say that the Freetrade team were very responsive on email throughout the transfer process

This is good to hear re customer service as they are completely new to me. Like the OP, I did hold the HSBC Global Strategy Fund (but the Dynamic/Adventurous version I think) and took the plunge a few years ago to switch to a ETF only holding. This has allowed me to hold them on Fidelity and HL with their capped fees and generous cashback offers.

Now thinking about transferring to Freetrade to benefit from the 1% cashback offer.

Was the transfer process relatively straightforward and timely?

it was speedy from Freetrade, but the legacy pension company dragged their heels. Fair enough, they wanted to ensure that I was fully on top of my finances and wasn't transferring out on a whim without understanding what I was doing. Freetrade kept in regular contact. The whole process ended up taking a couple of months. 

Also, I'd signed up for an offer than depended on an annual contract. I (mistakenly) clicked the box for monthly DD to them. They were happy for me to change that to an annual DD after the fact, and still processed the reward swiftly.  

granta

Martico said:

granta said:

Martico said:

I transferred a legacy pension to the Freetrade SIPP a few months ago, and have ploughed the bulk of it into VWRP - you may want to investigate that to see if it suits (I don't know enough to say how comparable it is, only that it's been broadly recommended as a global fund and is available on Freetrade). I pay £11.99 per month for the privilege. Should also say that the Freetrade team were very responsive on email throughout the transfer process

This is good to hear re customer service as they are completely new to me. Like the OP, I did hold the HSBC Global Strategy Fund (but the Dynamic/Adventurous version I think) and took the plunge a few years ago to switch to a ETF only holding. This has allowed me to hold them on Fidelity and HL with their capped fees and generous cashback offers.

Now thinking about transferring to Freetrade to benefit from the 1% cashback offer.

Was the transfer process relatively straightforward and timely?

it was speedy from Freetrade, but the legacy pension company dragged their heels. Fair enough, they wanted to ensure that I was fully on top of my finances and wasn't transferring out on a whim without understanding what I was doing. Freetrade kept in regular contact. The whole process ended up taking a couple of months. 

Also, I'd signed up for an offer than depended on an annual contract. I (mistakenly) clicked the box for monthly DD to them. They were happy for me to change that to an annual DD after the fact, and still processed the reward swiftly.  

Thanks. I'm hoping to do a full in specie transfer from a DIY investment platform so hopefully should be straightforward. And only have one ETF in it

BigBlueSky

granta said:

Martico said:

granta said:

Martico said:

I transferred a legacy pension to the Freetrade SIPP a few months ago, and have ploughed the bulk of it into VWRP - you may want to investigate that to see if it suits (I don't know enough to say how comparable it is, only that it's been broadly recommended as a global fund and is available on Freetrade). I pay £11.99 per month for the privilege. Should also say that the Freetrade team were very responsive on email throughout the transfer process

This is good to hear re customer service as they are completely new to me. Like the OP, I did hold the HSBC Global Strategy Fund (but the Dynamic/Adventurous version I think) and took the plunge a few years ago to switch to a ETF only holding. This has allowed me to hold them on Fidelity and HL with their capped fees and generous cashback offers.

Now thinking about transferring to Freetrade to benefit from the 1% cashback offer.

Was the transfer process relatively straightforward and timely?

it was speedy from Freetrade, but the legacy pension company dragged their heels. Fair enough, they wanted to ensure that I was fully on top of my finances and wasn't transferring out on a whim without understanding what I was doing. Freetrade kept in regular contact. The whole process ended up taking a couple of months. 

Also, I'd signed up for an offer than depended on an annual contract. I (mistakenly) clicked the box for monthly DD to them. They were happy for me to change that to an annual DD after the fact, and still processed the reward swiftly.  

Thanks. I'm hoping to do a full in specie transfer from a DIY investment platform so hopefully should be straightforward. And only have one ETF in it

How does an in-specie transfer work if the receiving company (Freetrade) in this case don't offer the fund ?

Does the existing platform sell each fund (and charge the trading fee for each one) before sending it over, or does the new provider somehow do that?

I have a number of funds which Freetrade don't offer funds, but also don't want to have to pay £5 to cash in each one before transferring over the funds unless necessary.

granta

BigBlueSky said:

granta said:

Martico said:

granta said:

Martico said:

I transferred a legacy pension to the Freetrade SIPP a few months ago, and have ploughed the bulk of it into VWRP - you may want to investigate that to see if it suits (I don't know enough to say how comparable it is, only that it's been broadly recommended as a global fund and is available on Freetrade). I pay £11.99 per month for the privilege. Should also say that the Freetrade team were very responsive on email throughout the transfer process

This is good to hear re customer service as they are completely new to me. Like the OP, I did hold the HSBC Global Strategy Fund (but the Dynamic/Adventurous version I think) and took the plunge a few years ago to switch to a ETF only holding. This has allowed me to hold them on Fidelity and HL with their capped fees and generous cashback offers.

Now thinking about transferring to Freetrade to benefit from the 1% cashback offer.

Was the transfer process relatively straightforward and timely?

it was speedy from Freetrade, but the legacy pension company dragged their heels. Fair enough, they wanted to ensure that I was fully on top of my finances and wasn't transferring out on a whim without understanding what I was doing. Freetrade kept in regular contact. The whole process ended up taking a couple of months. 

Also, I'd signed up for an offer than depended on an annual contract. I (mistakenly) clicked the box for monthly DD to them. They were happy for me to change that to an annual DD after the fact, and still processed the reward swiftly.  

Thanks. I'm hoping to do a full in specie transfer from a DIY investment platform so hopefully should be straightforward. And only have one ETF in it

How does an in-specie transfer work if the receiving company (Freetrade) in this case don't offer the fund ?

Does the existing platform sell each fund (and charge the trading fee for each one) before sending it over, or does the new provider somehow do that?

I have a number of funds which Freetrade don't offer funds, but also don't want to have to pay £5 to cash in each one before transferring over the funds unless necessary.

I'm not sure. Recently I have only done in specie transfers to avoid market fluctuations.

However, years ago when I wanted to transfer out of Nutmeg to a DIY platform, they sold all my investments into cash and moved it as cash. I then bought the funds I wanted at the time.

You could do a consolidation exercise in your existing provider but only if this fits with your overall strategy. I wanted to convert my holdings to ETFs anyway.

BigBlueSky

granta said:

BigBlueSky said:

granta said:

Martico said:

granta said:

Martico said:

I transferred a legacy pension to the Freetrade SIPP a few months ago, and have ploughed the bulk of it into VWRP - you may want to investigate that to see if it suits (I don't know enough to say how comparable it is, only that it's been broadly recommended as a global fund and is available on Freetrade). I pay £11.99 per month for the privilege. Should also say that the Freetrade team were very responsive on email throughout the transfer process

This is good to hear re customer service as they are completely new to me. Like the OP, I did hold the HSBC Global Strategy Fund (but the Dynamic/Adventurous version I think) and took the plunge a few years ago to switch to a ETF only holding. This has allowed me to hold them on Fidelity and HL with their capped fees and generous cashback offers.

Now thinking about transferring to Freetrade to benefit from the 1% cashback offer.

Was the transfer process relatively straightforward and timely?

it was speedy from Freetrade, but the legacy pension company dragged their heels. Fair enough, they wanted to ensure that I was fully on top of my finances and wasn't transferring out on a whim without understanding what I was doing. Freetrade kept in regular contact. The whole process ended up taking a couple of months. 

Also, I'd signed up for an offer than depended on an annual contract. I (mistakenly) clicked the box for monthly DD to them. They were happy for me to change that to an annual DD after the fact, and still processed the reward swiftly.  

Thanks. I'm hoping to do a full in specie transfer from a DIY investment platform so hopefully should be straightforward. And only have one ETF in it

How does an in-specie transfer work if the receiving company (Freetrade) in this case don't offer the fund ?

Does the existing platform sell each fund (and charge the trading fee for each one) before sending it over, or does the new provider somehow do that?

I have a number of funds which Freetrade don't offer funds, but also don't want to have to pay £5 to cash in each one before transferring over the funds unless necessary.

I'm not sure. Recently I have only done in specie transfers to avoid market fluctuations.

However, years ago when I wanted to transfer out of Nutmeg to a DIY platform, they sold all my investments into cash and moved it as cash. I then bought the funds I wanted at the time.

You could do a consolidation exercise in your existing provider but only if this fits with your overall strategy. I wanted to convert my holdings to ETFs anyway.

I'm seriously considering moving at least some of my SIPP to Freetrade to take advantage of the up to £2,000 cashback.  That would mean investing in ETFs, but if I did the consolidation with my existing provider (Interactive Investor) I would have to pay £4/£5 each time to sell my existing funds.  I think I have about 20 different funds at the moment - too many, but they have just built up over the years.

If there was a way to do the transfer without having to pay these fees, that would be even better.

granta

BigBlueSky said:

granta said:

BigBlueSky said:

granta said:

Martico said:

granta said:

Martico said:

I transferred a legacy pension to the Freetrade SIPP a few months ago, and have ploughed the bulk of it into VWRP - you may want to investigate that to see if it suits (I don't know enough to say how comparable it is, only that it's been broadly recommended as a global fund and is available on Freetrade). I pay £11.99 per month for the privilege. Should also say that the Freetrade team were very responsive on email throughout the transfer process

This is good to hear re customer service as they are completely new to me. Like the OP, I did hold the HSBC Global Strategy Fund (but the Dynamic/Adventurous version I think) and took the plunge a few years ago to switch to a ETF only holding. This has allowed me to hold them on Fidelity and HL with their capped fees and generous cashback offers.

Now thinking about transferring to Freetrade to benefit from the 1% cashback offer.

Was the transfer process relatively straightforward and timely?

it was speedy from Freetrade, but the legacy pension company dragged their heels. Fair enough, they wanted to ensure that I was fully on top of my finances and wasn't transferring out on a whim without understanding what I was doing. Freetrade kept in regular contact. The whole process ended up taking a couple of months. 

Also, I'd signed up for an offer than depended on an annual contract. I (mistakenly) clicked the box for monthly DD to them. They were happy for me to change that to an annual DD after the fact, and still processed the reward swiftly.  

Thanks. I'm hoping to do a full in specie transfer from a DIY investment platform so hopefully should be straightforward. And only have one ETF in it

How does an in-specie transfer work if the receiving company (Freetrade) in this case don't offer the fund ?

Does the existing platform sell each fund (and charge the trading fee for each one) before sending it over, or does the new provider somehow do that?

I have a number of funds which Freetrade don't offer funds, but also don't want to have to pay £5 to cash in each one before transferring over the funds unless necessary.

I'm not sure. Recently I have only done in specie transfers to avoid market fluctuations.

However, years ago when I wanted to transfer out of Nutmeg to a DIY platform, they sold all my investments into cash and moved it as cash. I then bought the funds I wanted at the time.

You could do a consolidation exercise in your existing provider but only if this fits with your overall strategy. I wanted to convert my holdings to ETFs anyway.

I'm seriously considering moving at least some of my SIPP to Freetrade to take advantage of the up to £2,000 cashback.  That would mean investing in ETFs, but if I did the consolidation with my existing provider (Interactive Investor) I would have to pay £4/£5 each time to sell my existing funds.  I think I have about 20 different funds at the moment - too many, but they have just built up over the years.

If there was a way to do the transfer without having to pay these fees, that would be even better.

A while ago I had a cumbersome portfolio with ii in my ISA. I used their trading credits to sell out of many holdings over 2 years and using the funds to buy into a much more streamlined portfolio.
It took time but I am happy with where I'm now at. I now save on fees and have a moveable etf portfolio. It took a few years to learn all of this partly from helpful posts on this forum.
And now I don't expect to make many changes and am much more disciplined with what I buy.