Is it worth changing portfolio before in-specie transfer

TicketToRide25

I'm considering moving my SIPP from HL to ii in the new year. I hold several HL specifc funds such as the HL Select Global Growth Shares Fund which obviously won't transfer directly over to ii.
Is there an advantage to me selling the non-transferrable funds and purchasing something which is transferrable (a vanguard fund for instance)  whilst still in HL to allow for a full in-specie transfer? Will this cut down on time spent out of the market?

masonic

Yes, it's generally worth making any necessary changes up front to avoid time out of the market during the transfer. Especially when you can change funds at no cost with the source provider, but not at the destination provider.

dunstonh

You could be unable to trade for upto 12 months on an in-specie transfer. It's rare nowadays for it to be that long, but occasionally you get a straggler that can take many months.  So, you want to be in the position you want before you start the inspecie transfer

Alexland

I wouldn't want to be in an HL own-brand fund for a moment longer than necessary and switching funds will incur trade fees (or at least consume credits) at II whereas fund trades are free while you are still at HL. A good time to tidy up, simplify and cost-reduce the portfolio to minimise the number of assets that need re-registering and complexity (and trade and ongoing costs) for the future.

Just ensure you use assets that are exactly available at both platforms and are happy to keep holding whatever happens to markets during the transfer. It might get complicated if you start using special discounted fund classes etc that need to undergo conversion. It's preferable to avoid income units to avoid the delay of waiting for income to be credited to the old account unless you really need income units at II for your strategy.

aroominyork

Alexland said:

Just ensure you use assets that are exactly available at both platforms...

This might catch you out if you hold funds where HL has a discounted annual charge. For example, I hold iShares index funds at ii for Europe and Japan. Both are Class D, but HL only offers the discounted Class S. Trying to transfer Class S to ii would run into problems. 

TicketToRide25

Alexland said:

Just ensure you use assets that are exactly available at both platforms 

So is the best way of doing this to check the ISIN numbers on HL and confirm they can be bought on ii?

I can see straight away on my alphabetical list that I hold BlackRock Gold & General Class D1 Acc on HL, but its only available as a Class D on ii. Presumably thats the kind of gotcha that you are referring to?

ColdIron

TicketToRide25 said:

Alexland said:

Just ensure you use assets that are exactly available at both platforms 

So is the best way of doing this to check the ISIN numbers on HL and confirm they can be bought on ii?

The class identifier alone should be sufficient, e.g. your D/D1 but ISIN will be authoritative

I can see straight away on my alphabetical list that I hold BlackRock Gold & General Class D1 Acc on HL, but its only available as a Class D on ii. Presumably thats the kind of gotcha that you are referring to?

Yes. Trustnet is good at this sort of thing, click the 'All Units' tab to see the identifiers and OCFs

https://www.trustnet.com/factsheets/o/fmp2/blackrock-gold--general

jaybeetoo

I moved my SIPP from HL to ii last year.  It was a mixture of cash and in-specie.  It took about 2-3 weeks.