Reorganising my investments with HL

minimalising

Exodi said:

minimalising said:

Re: £85k.  I'm thinking that if I've got more than that in one platform, I'd not be protected by FCSA for amounts over that.  That's the only rationale.

Since I don't believe it's been directly addressed - the FSCS is not particularly relevant in this context.

You own the investments in your name (though the provider holds them for you). Even if a company like HL or Vanguard or whoever did go belly up, it would just be an (inevitably long) process of working with the administrator in transferring the investments they hold for you to another provider. They certainly can't just sell your investments to pay creditors.

Don't let the £85k FSCS limit influence your investment decisions - you could hold your SIPP and ISA on the same platform, as many of us do (and you don't need to open multiple SIPP's or ISA's each time an account hits £85k, most will be sitting on six figures in their SIPP's).

For full disclosure, there is a small caveat that if funds have been 'mismanaged' (e.g. FTX) then the FSCS would step in and compensate as the money has effectively been stolen. This is of course a crime and people would go to prison (and would be surprising for a big audited fund house).

Haha I knew I should have Googled the name there!

Thanks for that info.  I mean knowing how cheap Vanguard are, I guess I could just transfer my ISA over to them?  Although presumably they don't deal in the funds HL do so there'd have to be some sort of movement in terms of what I end up in.  Do Vanguard only deal with their own funds? 

minimalising

El_Torro said:

if you're concerned about fund fees then one of the cheapest things you can do is go all in on global trackers or multi asset funds. You're talking a fund fee of about 0.25% or less if you do this. Most of us on this forum (myself included) are not big fans of managed funds (excluding multi asset funds, which it could be argued are managed funds). I do use a managed fund for my global smaller companies fund but most of my investments are in multi asset funds. 

Apart from being cheap global trackers (or multi asset funds) are well diversified and will change as the global market changes. So for example if the US starts losing value compared to other markets a global tracker will rebalance accordingly. 

As you say we can't give advice but my suggestion, assuming you don't really know why you bought this selection of funds in the first place, is to go this way. You don't have to use Vanguard, there are other providers too. This article gives you some idea of the different choices available: https://monevator.com/passive-fund-of-funds-the-rivals/

If you go this way the most important decision to make is how many bonds you want. Bonds will reduce the volatility but also impact the long term gains. To give you an idea my ISAs have about 40% bonds and my pensions roughly 20%. The idea being that I can dip into my ISAs whenever I want and I value stability at the expense of long term growth. 

Thanks, Torro.  I've heard a lot that managed funds don't generally beat index trackers so that was part of my thinking in terms of maybe ditching my managed ones and doing what you say.  I guess I don't know what I don't know though.

The reason I ended up on HL in the first place is that one day I said to a Director in work 'Chris, you're loaded, what do you do with your money?' and he got me started on the idea of a S&S ISA and a SIPP.  His were both in HL I think.  But back then I put the SIPP into Standard Life but then moved it to Vanguard because I'd read some stuff saying they were cheaper/better in some way.  

As you can probably see I'm trying to figure this out as I go along but at the moment it's up there with trying to learn jazz guitar!

poseidon1

minimalising said:

El_Torro said:

if you're concerned about fund fees then one of the cheapest things you can do is go all in on global trackers or multi asset funds. You're talking a fund fee of about 0.25% or less if you do this. Most of us on this forum (myself included) are not big fans of managed funds (excluding multi asset funds, which it could be argued are managed funds). I do use a managed fund for my global smaller companies fund but most of my investments are in multi asset funds. 

Apart from being cheap global trackers (or multi asset funds) are well diversified and will change as the global market changes. So for example if the US starts losing value compared to other markets a global tracker will rebalance accordingly. 

As you say we can't give advice but my suggestion, assuming you don't really know why you bought this selection of funds in the first place, is to go this way. You don't have to use Vanguard, there are other providers too. This article gives you some idea of the different choices available: https://monevator.com/passive-fund-of-funds-the-rivals/

If you go this way the most important decision to make is how many bonds you want. Bonds will reduce the volatility but also impact the long term gains. To give you an idea my ISAs have about 40% bonds and my pensions roughly 20%. The idea being that I can dip into my ISAs whenever I want and I value stability at the expense of long term growth. 

Thanks, Torro.  I've heard a lot that managed funds don't generally beat index trackers so that was part of my thinking in terms of maybe ditching my managed ones and doing what you say.  I guess I don't know what I don't know though.

The reason I ended up on HL in the first place is that one day I said to a Director in work 'Chris, you're loaded, what do you do with your money?' and he got me started on the idea of a S&S ISA and a SIPP.  His were both in HL I think.  But back then I put the SIPP into Standard Life but then moved it to Vanguard because I'd read some stuff saying they were cheaper/better in some way.  

As you can probably see I'm trying to figure this out as I go along but at the moment it's up there with trying to learn jazz guitar!

I think for most retail investors, cheap tracker funds or etfs must make sense.

Actively managed funds, investment trusts and like require far more engagement and monitoring than many retail investors are prepared or equipped to do.

Also blindly following a platform' s hot tip or their version of a managed fund can also be unwise.

An example with regard to HL is the  regrettable Woodford saga where many HL clients got burned, when investing in a so called 'star' active fund manager. I certainly had ago  and made money  and (profitably ) got out of his 'vanilla ' income fund. However once he moved into illiquid private equity positions ( something he was not known for ), that's when I parted company.  Most Woodford retail investors did not appreciate the immense level of risk this switch to illiquids meant and suffered accordingly. 

Yes I agree, HL can be more expensive if holding funds. I have a mix of funds and LSE quoted investments curently in their ISA, but will be slowly migrating across to Interactive Investors where the bulk of my Sipp and GIA now reside at a fixed fee.

Exodi

minimalising said:

Exodi said:

minimalising said:

Re: £85k.  I'm thinking that if I've got more than that in one platform, I'd not be protected by FCSA for amounts over that.  That's the only rationale.

Since I don't believe it's been directly addressed - the FSCS is not particularly relevant in this context.

You own the investments in your name (though the provider holds them for you). Even if a company like HL or Vanguard or whoever did go belly up, it would just be an (inevitably long) process of working with the administrator in transferring the investments they hold for you to another provider. They certainly can't just sell your investments to pay creditors.

Don't let the £85k FSCS limit influence your investment decisions - you could hold your SIPP and ISA on the same platform, as many of us do (and you don't need to open multiple SIPP's or ISA's each time an account hits £85k, most will be sitting on six figures in their SIPP's).

For full disclosure, there is a small caveat that if funds have been 'mismanaged' (e.g. FTX) then the FSCS would step in and compensate as the money has effectively been stolen. This is of course a crime and people would go to prison (and would be surprising for a big audited fund house).

Haha I knew I should have Googled the name there!

Thanks for that info.  I mean knowing how cheap Vanguard are, I guess I could just transfer my ISA over to them?  Although presumably they don't deal in the funds HL do so there'd have to be some sort of movement in terms of what I end up in.  Do Vanguard only deal with their own funds? 

Yes you can transfer your ISA to Vanguard (or whoever you want), this can take a few weeks/months so to minimise time out of the market, it's always recommended to transfer 'in specie' where possible (e.g. transferring your investments rather than selling everything and transferring in cash). Transferring in cash should be avoided where possible as it can cause you to be out the market for prolonged periods.

As you identify, Vanguard only deal with their own funds, so you could not transfer your current investments to them. You could, however, switch your investments to Vanguard funds on HL (e.g. HL Global Select is not too dissimilar from a global index fund,  HL UK Select is not too dissimilar from a UK index fund, etc) and then transfer them all in specie. To be honest, with the mess of investments you have, it might be better to just switch everything into a single global index fund or life strategy fund, but your portfolio is your decision.

How much is your total portfolio (SIPP+ISA) valued at? If it's less than £100k then low % fee platforms like Vanguard or Dodl is probably fine. If it's more, you should begin to consider about flat fee platforms.

minimalising

Exodi said:

minimalising said:

Exodi said:

minimalising said:

Re: £85k.  I'm thinking that if I've got more than that in one platform, I'd not be protected by FCSA for amounts over that.  That's the only rationale.

Since I don't believe it's been directly addressed - the FSCS is not particularly relevant in this context.

You own the investments in your name (though the provider holds them for you). Even if a company like HL or Vanguard or whoever did go belly up, it would just be an (inevitably long) process of working with the administrator in transferring the investments they hold for you to another provider. They certainly can't just sell your investments to pay creditors.

Don't let the £85k FSCS limit influence your investment decisions - you could hold your SIPP and ISA on the same platform, as many of us do (and you don't need to open multiple SIPP's or ISA's each time an account hits £85k, most will be sitting on six figures in their SIPP's).

For full disclosure, there is a small caveat that if funds have been 'mismanaged' (e.g. FTX) then the FSCS would step in and compensate as the money has effectively been stolen. This is of course a crime and people would go to prison (and would be surprising for a big audited fund house).

Haha I knew I should have Googled the name there!

Thanks for that info.  I mean knowing how cheap Vanguard are, I guess I could just transfer my ISA over to them?  Although presumably they don't deal in the funds HL do so there'd have to be some sort of movement in terms of what I end up in.  Do Vanguard only deal with their own funds? 

Yes you can transfer your ISA to Vanguard (or whoever you want), this can take a few weeks/months so to minimise time out of the market, it's always recommended to transfer 'in specie' where possible (e.g. transferring your investments rather than selling everything and transferring in cash). Transferring in cash should be avoided where possible as it can cause you to be out the market for prolonged periods.

As you identify, Vanguard only deal with their own funds, so you could not transfer your current investments to them. You could, however, switch your investments to Vanguard funds on HL (e.g. HL Global Select is not too dissimilar from a global index fund,  HL UK Select is not too dissimilar from a UK index fund, etc) and then transfer them all in specie. To be honest, with the mess of investments you have, it might be better to just switch everything into a single global index fund or life strategy fund, but your portfolio is your decision.

How much is your total portfolio (SIPP+ISA) valued at? If it's less than £100k then low % fee platforms like Vanguard or Dodl is probably fine. If it's more, you should begin to consider about flat fee platforms.

Less than 100 in total but I would expect to be at 100 in a couple of years.

So, after posting on here I actually contacted a local IFA to book a free consultation.  Anyway, she called me and we had a good chat.  I explained my position and goals.  And she said that for where I'm at I'd be alright to transfer the HL ISA over to Vanguard.  As you guys have said, the FSCS 85k thing really isn't a factor when it comes to this type of investing.

I explained that my SIPP is in LifeStrategy100 and she said putting the ISA into LS100 would also be fine because it's so diversified and, to some of your points, it'd actually remove the overlap I've got on the funds I showed above.  I mean I know that that's 100% overlap, but I think I know what she's saying.

MX5huggy

Nice “advice” from the IFA not dismissing DIY in cheap trackers as perfectly valid strategy.

you’ve talked about your fund fees but not your platform fees H&L is 0.45% Vanguard just 0.15%. 

LS100 is an interesting choice, not bad but it’s over weight in UK stocks compared with a global tracker. If you want to bet on the UK that’s fine but be aware that is what you are doing on some measures the UK is great value at the moment.

i have my ISA with Vanguard 100% in VHVG, its global dirt cheap 0.12%. Doesn’t have emerging markets or small cap, that adds cost but very little difference in performance. 

UncleK

I was with H&L with my UBS S&P 500 Tracker Fund. After a while I couldn't see any point paying the charges compared to what I would (not) be paying elsewhere, so I transferred them to iweb, which was very straightforward. iweb are still free to open an account.

minimalising

MX5huggy said:

Nice “advice” from the IFA not dismissing DIY in cheap trackers as perfectly valid strategy.

you’ve talked about your fund fees but not your platform fees H&L is 0.45% Vanguard just 0.15%. 

LS100 is an interesting choice, not bad but it’s over weight in UK stocks compared with a global tracker. If you want to bet on the UK that’s fine but be aware that is what you are doing on some measures the UK is great value at the moment.

i have my ISA with Vanguard 100% in VHVG, its global dirt cheap 0.12%. Doesn’t have emerging markets or small cap, that adds cost but very little difference in performance. 

That sounds like the way forward.  Cheap and global and I'd have everything with Vanguard.  Also they have an app now so that's a bit more convenient than it would have been.

badger09

Hope this doesn’t sound patronising, but before you make any rushed changes, can I suggest you read some of the articles on the Monevator website linked to earlier in the thread. It provides basic information about investing, fund choices, platforms etc all in non jargon language. 

Without this basic understanding, I think you’re in danger of chopping & changing and then in a year or two, going through the same ‘throw a dart at the board’ exercise. 

Good luck

minimalising

badger09 said:

Hope this doesn’t sound patronising, but before you make any rushed changes, can I suggest you read some of the articles on the Monevator website linked to earlier in the thread. It provides basic information about investing, fund choices, platforms etc all in non jargon language. 

Without this basic understanding, I think you’re in danger of chopping & changing and then in a year or two, going through the same ‘throw a dart at the board’ exercise. 

Good luck

I will do although my view on this is that I'd probably just put it in Vanguard and let it do its thing.  Essentially Dave Ramsey/Andrew Craig/JL Colins style.  I rarely make changes (beyond adding a fund occasionally) anyway.

The thing is, what the IFA said to me yesterday is the only actionable advice I've really had as no one else is allowed to give advice given the constraints around the topic.  You get a lot of 'you're wrong' but not any 'but this is what you should consider.'

But yep, I'll definitely read ahead.