Moving S&S ISA from IWeb to Trading 212 or etoro etc for lower fees? any concerns for larger pots?

isayhello

I have an ISA currently with IWeb that is over the 85k protection limit, I'm considering moving to a lower fee provider for trades as I do tend to make a few changes now and then and with IWeb its £5 each time and I like to make changes. It seems many people are using these other providers ok, I just wondered if anyone would have concerns of large ISA pots being with one of these companies.

Another option could be a partial transfer but not sure if anyone has had experience of this with these providers? Any advice appreciated.

masonic

It is good to gain the discipline to sit on your hands and avoid making changes. You should have a long term plan, and try to stick to it. Having a fixed cost to trading is probably worthwhile as a deterrent, as you'll also have hidden costs such as spread, and a tendency to underperform your investments through trading.

I would be more cautious about holding very large pots with the smaller providers, but it is not a major concern.

I don't think iWeb will support a partial transfer out, but that's something you should confirm.

isayhello

masonic said:

It is good to gain the discipline to sit on your hands and avoid making changes. You should have a long term plan, and try to stick to it. Having a fixed cost to trading is probably worthwhile as a deterrent, as you'll also have hidden costs such as spread, and a tendency to underperform your investments through trading.

I would be more cautious about holding very large pots with the smaller providers, but it is not a major concern.

I don't think iWeb will support a partial transfer out, but that's something you should confirm.

Thats a good point, I keep most of the pot in a few steady growth funds but I like to play with about 30% of it for interest and learning as well as reinvesting dividends as I want to so it could save at least 60 pounds a year. I'm not seeing any information on their pages about transferring out so might just do the whole lot.
Why wouldn't it be a major concern for you to use the smaller platforms? is that because there is some protection. I'm sure there are people using them with far more than I have invested but I thought I'd check first.

Albermarle

The smaller providers are often very new, often not profitable and the AUM ( assets under management) are small in relative terms. ( Providers like Vanguard, Fidelity etc are managing Trillions of Dollars of assets for example) 
So there is always a possibility that a new small provider will have some kind of problems, get taken over etc .
Very unlikely you would lose any money, but could be some hassle involved.
Larger investors, maybe retired etc will prefer more established providers as a general rule.

masonic

Below £85k, it is just an inconvenience factor. When you get to several multiples of £85k, then there is some potential risk of a particularly bad state of affairs leading to some degree of loss, but it would take quite a lot of missing assets and/or difficulties returning assets.

Providers break down into several classes: 1) The large established players, who will have billions-trillions under management and mainstream investments only. 2) The smaller players who may be profitable or not, but perhaps whose systems and processes are not as robust, and where any missing assets would not be spread among many investors. 3) The bespoke outfits who have sidelines in complex investments and would be very challenging for an administrator to come in and wind down. Both 2 and 3 present some risks you wouldn't expect from 1.

One option you could take is to start a new account at one of the no-fee brokers and build it up using new money. This could be used for your 'fun' portfolio, while you keep your boring investments at iWeb where they can sit relatively untouched.

wmb194

You could just use multiple brokers.

T212 looks like a decent, profitable business.

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08590005/filing-history

isayhello

wmb194 said:

You could just use multiple brokers.

T212 looks like a decent, profitable business.

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08590005/filing-history

Thanks, they are one of the platforms I'm looking at but have noticed their customer services are a bit slow to deal with issues but if they're not needed then it seems to run smoothly and offers some stocks that Iweb don't, so a bit more choice of the US market too.

isayhello

masonic said:

Below £85k, it is just an inconvenience factor. When you get to several multiples of £85k, then there is some potential risk of a particularly bad state of affairs leading to some degree of loss, but it would take quite a lot of missing assets and/or difficulties returning assets.

Providers break down into several classes: 1) The large established players, who will have billions-trillions under management and mainstream investments only. 2) The smaller players who may be profitable or not, but perhaps whose systems and processes are not as robust, and where any missing assets would not be spread among many investors. 3) The bespoke outfits who have sidelines in complex investments and would be very challenging for an administrator to come in and wind down. Both 2 and 3 present some risks you wouldn't expect from 1.

One option you could take is to start a new account at one of the no-fee brokers and build it up using new money. This could be used for your 'fun' portfolio, while you keep your boring investments at iWeb where they can sit relatively untouched.

That's something I'm thinking about but feels like I could do a lot more if I'm able to bring more funds over and start using them as well than having to build up again during the next year. It seems out of the options I've looked at Trading 212 is a bit more known and used by people I know as well so might make the transfer, I think they do an in specie version where I can keep the current assets for the moment.