New HL fee structure from 01/03/26

jimjames

DRS1 said:

trevjl said:

email received
I don't have a SIPP with them, just a SS ISA (£100K) and F&S A/C (£8K )
The email says I will be approx £8pm worse off (based on 31/12/25

With the introduction of the free regular savings option there is no need to pay any fees for reinvesting dividends. Get paid as cash into the ISA and then invest using regular savings
the email does say no fee for dividend reinvestment.

Thanks for mentioning that bit about the personal impact.  I hadn't scrolled down far enough on the email to see it before.  £11 a month for me.  I web here I come (though I am not sure they will take all my duff investments).

This change by HL could be the perfect timing for marketing opportunity for SWSD/iWeb

ColdIron

trevjl said:

With the introduction of the free regular savings option there is no need to pay any fees for reinvesting dividends. Get paid as cash into the ISA and then invest using regular savings
the email does say no fee for dividend reinvestment.

The bit in bold you have 'quoted' from the post by jimjames was with reference to Scottish Widows (was IWeb) who have just introduced regular investing

HL haven't charged for reinvestment for quite some time now

wmb194

DeepSporran said:

Can anyone tell me what the  new fees will be for holding gilts in a GIA ? It used to be free. I couldn’t see any reference to gilts in the announcements - maybe I missed this.

It states bonds are now 0.35%. You could see whether they can be transferred in specie to SWSD (previously iWeb) where there is no account fee, it offers gilts.

"Share holdings

Enter the value of shares, investment trusts, ETFs and bonds held in the account. You can find this in your account overview."

https://www.hl.co.uk/help/fees/calculator

mills112

so they have reduced the percentage charge but increased the total cap?  so for people with large portfolio, the costs is more as the cap has increased?

NewPieman

I'm a little confused.,......I have a fund & save with some shares in there (US based companies).....the Dividends are paid to me and arrive in my Bank Account......

Moving forward I will be charged 0.35% for the privilege of them holding the shares for me?

What are the alternatives?

Robert_McGeddon

koru said:

Reg_Smeeton said:

Email just received.

My interpretation is that if you hold shares/ETFs/bonds in your LISA the cap remains at £45/year, am I right?

That’s the conclusion I came to 

Not my reading, unfortunately.

I hold only ETFs and shaes in an ISA at HL.  Annual fees capped at £45.  As I read it HL will now cap my fee at £150 p.a.

Love the platform, hate the increases.  I epect I'll move elsewhwere.

ColdIron

mills112 said:

so they have reduced the percentage charge but increased the total cap?  so for people with large portfolio, the costs is more as the cap has increased?

SIPPs have done quite well out of this with the reduced £150 cap from £200 for shares etc and the reduced 0.35% fee from 0.45% for funds

ISAs may not fare so well with the cap increasing from £45 to £150 but may be offset by the reduction in fees

The break even point for the £150 cap is £42,857 so shareholders may see a benefit

The Fund & Share account may be the real loser in all this with the 0.35% fee and a cap of £150 where it used to be free for shares etc. If you use funds you'll benefit from the 0.1% reduction in fees

Everyone's number will be different depending upon their investments and the account(s) that they are in, there will be winners and losers. The new £1.95 trading fee on funds could make frequent trading quite expensive for some (though dividend reinvestment and monthly savings remain free). The reduction from £11.95 to £6.95 trading shares could help others. HL are obviously feeling the heat from the competition with no trading fees from some of the new FinTechs

HL say that 5 in 10 will be better off but they don't quantify it. It could be that the winners win less than the losers lose

For me the SIPP is a bit cheaper than it was but half of that is clawed back by the extra cost of the ISA. However the new cap on the F&S eats all the modest savings and then some

thingswerentthisbadinmyday

My initial positive reaction to the changes soon mellowed. As a SIPP investor who has a habit of frequently topping up his “unit trust” holdings (i know they’re not called that any more) in small amounts of £100/200, the planned changes will probably see the platform fee savings cancelled out by fund dealing charges. But the odd share deal will be much cheaper than before.
I do feel sympathy, though, particularly for those with significant share holdings in either an ISA or Share Dealing account.
I have been seriously thinking about transferring out for quite some time, but if I go, then I’m likely to have to take several family members’ accounts with me, therein increasing the admin burden which will undoubtedly arise.

marlot

The email says I'll be £8 a month worse off (shares and ETFs in a general investment account).

My wife will be £18 a month worse off.

I guess it's time to start researching alternatives!

phlebas192

I was planning to move my wife's trading account from ii to HL once her ii fee free period ended, but instead it looks like her much larger HL ISA will be going to ii. Or maybe both to Scottish Widows. Decisions, decisions.

My mother has an ISA and F&S with HL and both would hit the £150 cap so that's going to be hugely more expensive for her since she rarely trades. Somewhat surprisingly in her email it says:

"As you currently hold a Venture Capital Trust (VCT), we are pleased to confirm we have applied an exclusive discount for you. You will continue to benefit from FREE account charges to own Shares** in a Fund and Share Account for an additional 12 months, from 1 March 2026 to 28 February 2027. For more information, please see our full offer Terms & Conditions." [the T&Cs link is personalised so I can't share it but they are pretty basic]

This is a bit bizarre since the new charges page says "There’s currently no charge to hold Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) in a Fund and Share Account. From 1 March, our 0.35% account charge will apply (capped at £150 per year)."

On this basis, I might hold off getting her to transfer elsewhere for a while to see how other companies react. I'm hoping there might be some good offers to tempt away HL customers!