SS ISA to CASH ISA

MQA

I am 'reviewing' my 30 SS ISA funds which have more or less remain the same funds for over 20 years. The plan made by my ex IFA  was to acheive a 6% return (not guaranteed). The total fees ( fund manager, 'IFA' and platform) is  around 2 - 2.5%

With this in mind, I would like to work out whether the funds are performing as planned,  Will comparing  the original and current fund unit prices will acheive this ?  it will still be a task to find the original price from over 20 years (as on the funds websites it only seem to go back 10years). As this maybe more straight forward to decide what to sell or hold/ tranfer. than using bench marking?

I was hoping to either transfer the funds to another platform (I will park it there while I do more research on selecting funds etc at least, some of the fees will be reduced

or

Selling  all SS ISA and then transfer to CASH ISA and hope to get at least 4% on interest (for now) and no fees while in Cash ISA and when I know what funds I want to invest in, then I can buy SS ISA.

I want to know whether my plan make sense or another option to DIY. Welcome your thoughts. 

masonic

Have you not added any money in the intervening 20 years? If not, then if you'd achieved your target 6%, your pot would be worth 3.2x its original value by now. Even if you have added money, if you know how much was added and when you can calculate your overall return more easily than trying to find 20-year data on 30 funds. But after fees of 2-2.5%, you'd need an investment return of 8-8.5% to achieve that. This goes to show how high fees raise the performance bar. Thirty funds seems excessive, as do the fees. It might be better to transfer as cash and start afresh.

jimjames

You don't need to transfer to a cash ISA to be able to switch funds. I'd say it would be better to keep as S&S ISA and rebalance funds if you're not happy with the performance but maybe because 30 is too many. Is that what your adviser suggested or have you added more funds subsequently? When you can get funds costing 0.1% or less then paying 2.5% is giving away a massive chunk of your gains.

Albermarle

The total fees ( fund manager, 'IFA' and platform) is  around 2 - 2.5%

Even for an IFA managed portfolio, this is excessive.

Selling  all SS ISA and then transfer to CASH ISA and hope to get at least 4% on interest (for now) and no fees while in Cash ISA and when I know what funds I want to invest in, then I can buy SS ISA.

It is usually best to avoid chopping and changing too much, especially between cash and investments.

Cash is good for money you might need in the next few years and investments better for longer. You should decide approx what is a suitable ratio between cash and investments for you, and stick to that.

MQA

jimjames said:

You don't need to transfer to a cash ISA to be able to switch funds. I'd say it would be better to keep as S&S ISA and rebalance funds if you're not happy with the performance but maybe because 30 is too many. Is that what your adviser suggested or have you added more funds subsequently? When you can get funds costing 0.1% or less then paying 2.5% is giving away a massive chunk of your gains.

My ex IFA had suggested all the funds (I did ask them why  same funds are same as my Pension funds!.. ) I agree about the fees, hence i was thinking to move to CASH ISA for now with a 1 year fixed rate), where possible

MQA

MQA said:

jimjames said:

You don't need to transfer to a cash ISA to be able to switch funds. I'd say it would be better to keep as S&S ISA and rebalance funds if you're not happy with the performance but maybe because 30 is too many. Is that what your adviser suggested or have you added more funds subsequently? When you can get funds costing 0.1% or less then paying 2.5% is giving away a massive chunk of your gains.

My ex IFA had suggested all the funds (I did ask them why  same funds are same as my Pension funds!.. ) I agree about the fees, hence i was thinking to move to CASH ISA for now with a 1 year fixed rate), where possible

May I ask the reason for your comment :

'It is usually best to avoid chopping and changing too much, especially between cash and investments?'   

I am thinking of selling and changing to CASH ISA as this is the only other option I know 

to keep it within the ISA wrapper. I would like to have a better understanding of funds and platform selection, (reading some posts it does not seem too difficult but for me it looks more complicated.  I have calculated my cash allocation etc, risk level and length of investments and expense etc,   and I will need to do my pension review, and perhaps I should do my pension first and then do my SS ISA after as that is a smaller pot. 

Appreciate all the posters.

Albermarle

MQA said:

jimjames said:

You don't need to transfer to a cash ISA to be able to switch funds. I'd say it would be better to keep as S&S ISA and rebalance funds if you're not happy with the performance but maybe because 30 is too many. Is that what your adviser suggested or have you added more funds subsequently? When you can get funds costing 0.1% or less then paying 2.5% is giving away a massive chunk of your gains.

My ex IFA had suggested all the funds (I did ask them why  same funds are same as my Pension funds!.. ) I agree about the fees, hence i was thinking to move to CASH ISA for now with a 1 year fixed rate), where possible

You have investments in a S&S ISA that you are not happy with and with high fees.

The most obvious action is to change/reduce/consolidate the funds within the S&S ISA.
Or if this is not possible, then transfer to another S&S ISA, with a suitable choice of investments and lower fees.
When you transfer you can transfer in cash from one S&S ISA to another . No need to put it in a Cash ISA first.

MQA

Albermarle said:

You have investments in a S&S ISA that you are not happy with and with high fees.

The most obvious action is to change/reduce/consolidate the funds within the S&S ISA.
Or if this is not possible, then transfer to another S&S ISA, with a suitable choice of investments and lower fees.
When you transfer you can transfer in cash from one S&S ISA to another . No need to put it in a Cash ISA first.

Yes, I agree.

As I do not think I have the sufficient knowledge to select funds etc, hence short term solution is to sale and put on CASH ISA, unless there are rules / consequences or more work later, if I take this option .  

If there are any funds I can transfer to another platform, I think I still have to pay the fund manager fee so really just paying less on platform fee?