Vanguard: New Minimum Monthly Account charge

dgpur

Alexland said:

dgpur said:

I mean that the platform fees are the final deal breaker for me. I thought that was obvious, based on which thread I posted in. I was prepared to give them longer. But not with these fees.

So is the performance issue with the Vanguard fund you hold because they are doing a bad job tracking an index or executing the fund strategy or it just that the underlying assets the fund invests in are not going up? Eg. Vanguard could be doing a great job tracking something that's decreasing in value which would be outside their control.

The fund has been performing much better recently, and was one people advised to go for at the time. I accept that I first funded in late 2019, so I was willing to give it longer for obvious reasons. I’m essentially a lazy investor, and don’t want to be messing around with rethinking/guessing a different path. But the fee change has just put me right off. I can’t see the value.

Alexland

dgpur said:

The fund has been performing much better recently, and was one people advised to go for at the time. I accept that I first funded in late 2019, so I was willing to give it longer for obvious reasons. I’m essentially a lazy investor, and don’t want to be messing around with rethinking/guessing a different path. But the fee change has just put me right off. I can’t see the value.

Hmm you've got me wondering what it might be for something to perform poorly over that period. Did it have a heavy slug of bonds something like VLS40/60 or one of their Target Retirement funds that is coming up in the next few years perhaps? If so then a lot of investors who were in lower risk multi asset funds not just from Vanguard but with other fund managers were disappointed with returns during that period and it was a problem with the assets themselves unwinding valuations from a period of ultra low interest rates not the fund management.

gelato_cat

jbrassy said:

I think Invest Engine is the best one to go for. If I could transfer my SIPP to Invest Engine, that's where I would go. Invest Engine allow ISA transfers, but not SIPP transfers.

NickBFS said:

I was eyeing invest engine but, like you, noted that inbound SIPP transfers to them were not possible at this stage.

Invest Engine is accepting SIPP transfers from Vanguard now.

https://investengine.com/sipp/

Jami74

This sort of thing really highlights the differences in attitudes towards money between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots'.

People with enough money to invest in a tax free environment are up-in-arms about a £4 a month fee, whereas those that don't might think nothing of spending £4 (a day/a week/a month) on overdraft fee's/credit card interest/branded groceries/phone contracts etc.

I'm divided about whether I should be outraged or whether I should consider ways to find £4 a month from elsewhere in my budget. It coud potentially be found by cutting my junk food spend by 93p a week. 

Stargunner

Jami74 said:

This sort of thing really highlights the differences in attitudes towards money between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots'.

People with enough money to invest in a tax free environment are up-in-arms about a £4 a month fee, whereas those that don't might think nothing of spending £4 (a day/a week/a month) on overdraft fee's/credit card interest/branded groceries/phone contracts etc.

I'm divided about whether I should be outraged or whether I should consider ways to find £4 a month from elsewhere in my budget. It coud potentially be found by cutting my junk food spend by 93p a week. 

It is not an extra £4 a month, because you will already be paying a platform fee.

The platform will continue to charge an annual 0.15 per cent fee across all assets and accounts, capped at £375 a year, but with a minimum charge of £4 a month. 

Apricota

I’ve been encouraging my kids to start investing, they don’t have much money but have started. This fee will mean they need to leave Vanguard and go elsewhere as would eat up too much.

deano3

I was always going to move away from Vanguard eventually as  percentage based fees are likely to cost more as my portfolio increases, now transferring to Invest Engine. 

22225

I keep hearing about Invest engine etc but I suppose the thing is I do like having someone to phone up and talk to if I have a problem, which I suppose costs money... I'm not sure what to do. At the moment I've only got a little bit in there but would I feel comfortable having 100k plus on a platform where I couldn't phone a real person if I had an issue? I'm assuming you can't phone a real person on Invest engine. And I do worry a bit about security on investing apps like Dodl in case my phone gets stolen.

Hoenir

22225 said:

I keep hearing about Invest engine etc but I suppose the thing is I do like having someone to phone up and talk to if I have a problem, which I suppose costs money... I'm not sure what to do. At the moment I've only got a little bit in there but would I feel comfortable having 100k plus on a platform where I couldn't phone a real person if I had an issue? I'm assuming you can't phone a real person on Invest engine. And I do worry a bit about security on investing apps like Dodl in case my phone gets stolen.

Majority of complaints these days relate to perceptions of customer service received. You pay for you get in this world. 

AlanP_2

22225 said:

I keep hearing about Invest engine etc but I suppose the thing is I do like having someone to phone up and talk to if I have a problem, which I suppose costs money... I'm not sure what to do. At the moment I've only got a little bit in there but would I feel comfortable having 100k plus on a platform where I couldn't phone a real person if I had an issue? I'm assuming you can't phone a real person on Invest engine. And I do worry a bit about security on investing apps like Dodl in case my phone gets stolen.

Put the app on an old phone / tablet without a SIM card that stays at home so reducing theft risk?