New HL fee structure from 01/03/26

Notepad_Phil

Just spotted that HL are bringing in a new fee structure from the 1st March. The details can be found via https://www.hl.co.uk/accounts/fee-changes but some of the main changes are:

• Account charges. We are reducing our annual account charges from 0.45% to 0.35% on Stocks and Shares ISA and SIPP accounts.
• For Fund and Share Accounts, we’re reducing account charges for holding funds, from 0.45% to 0.35%, and introducing a charge of 0.35% to hold shares. You can see full charging tiers below.
• New account charge limits for shares (includes investment trusts, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and bonds). You will never pay more than £150 per year in account charges for holding shares in each of our SIPP, Stocks and Shares ISA or Fund and Share Account.
• Dealing charges. We are reducing the amount you pay to buy or sell shares with us, from £11.95 to £6.95 per online trade. You can see full dealing tiers below.
• We’re introducing a charge of £1.95 per trade to buy or sell funds online.

A big change to GIA accounts where holding shares will now have a charge of 0.35% (max of £150 per year) and smaller plus and negative changes elsewhere which still leaves HL looking to be on the expensive side of platforms for funds and maybe not so good for shares either.

Section62

I think for me the £1.95 per trade for funds will more than wipe out any benefit of the 0.1% reduction in annual fees.

jaybeetoo

I’m glad I moved away from HL last year.  That’s a big increase for holding shares, ITs, ETFs, etc.  The new owners of HL are trying to get some of their investment back.  They need to spend some money on improving customer support and IT.

guli

jaybeetoo said:

I’m glad I moved away from HL last year.  That’s a big increase for holding shares, ITs, ETFs, etc.  The new owners of HL are trying to get some of their investment back.  They need to spend some money on improving customer support and IT.

Who did you move to?

DRS1

I wonder if others are going to follow suit?

Time to look at switching offers maybe.

jak22

That's a big increase of the cap for a Investment Trust or shares ISA from £45 to £150 a year.

The linked changes page suggests "If you're an HL client you'll have received an email with a summary of the changes" and apparently "Better value. Most clients will pay less, or about the same as before."

The issue of having a cash balance to cover shares ISA charges may become more interesting in the future, although some allow charges to be taken from a regular shares account. 

HL don't charge for regular dividend reinvestment, but quickly looking at A J Bell they do show a reinvestment charge of £1.50 but with a management charge still capped at £3.50pm this seems a fair bit better than the new HL charges.

bagand96

Notepad_Phil said:

A big change to GIA accounts where holding shares will now have a charge of 0.35% (max of £150 per year) and smaller plus and negative changes elsewhere which still leaves HL looking to be on the expensive side of platforms for funds and maybe not so good for shares either.

I have a holding of shares with HL primarily for annual Shareholder Perks Vouchers as HL process these. 

Only £250 so the annual charge would be under £1 (which probably doesn't cover their costs sending the vouchers!) anyone know of any other brokers that allow holding for free and process shareholder incentives? 

masonic

Oh well, I'm surprised I ended up sticking around so long after that very generous incentive in 2024.

Looks like I'll need to weigh up whether I'm comfortable holding a fairly large account at Trading212, or consolidate with my existing S&S ISA at SWSD.

marlot

Thanks for the heads-up.  I hadn't received an email from HL.

It looks like my low yield treasury bonds will suddenly become very expensive to hold (fund and share account).

artyboy

Not going to put me off switching in, as it's worth £2000 in cashback for a £250k transfer, which more than offsets the £150 annual fee for my ETF holdings. 

Of course, also probably won't stick around once the cashback is paid, but I'm not exactly a model customer in terms of loyalty 

disgruntled1234

I've contacted HL today to find out if the 0.35% platform fee is still for the first £250,000 and then still 0.25% from £250,000 to £1,000,000.  If they've changed this to a flat 0.35% fee (no tiers), then I'll be looking to switch elsewhere.