Reply With QuoteRelatively expensive aren’t they ?
What’s your thoughts on ready made portfolio’s from the likes of Hargreaves Lansdown?
Relatively expensive aren’t they ?
I had one many years ago from that very company. I would not trust them again personally.
Stick to Vanguard's index trackers. Cheap and straightforward.
https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk
I use HL as well as others but I don't like the idea of somebody else picking my portfolio.
Cheers,
Neil.
I haven't checked for a while, but if I recall correctly HL as a platform are quite expensive. I think that Fidelity and AJ Bell have lower fees.
The Vanguard Lifestrategy funds are worth a look if you don't want to go 100% into equities, there are a range to choose from dependent on your attitude to risk/length of time you want to invest.
eg. https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/i...fund_fund_link
I've done very well using HL & their fees have been minimal in relation to the gains. I also think it is worth a premium for somebody to answer the phone within 3 rings when you call them
Vanguard are a good bet if you want low cost market trackers. They tend towards passive management so fees should remain reasonable, last checked they had over 5 trillion under management... Almost enough for a grey market 5711 ;)
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Is it really worth hundreds of pounds?Originally Posted by trident-7
Can I ask which platform you use? I am trying to choose one at the moment.
To me, yes. Very much so
if it helps I have used Ascentic for over 7 years. https://www.ascentric.co.uk/about/private-investors/
but i would suggest you speak to an IFA in the first instance.
Last edited by Andyg; 29th August 2018 at 21:26.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
I use AJ Bell and IWeb. HL seems rather expensive.
Thanks both, appreciated. I do have an IFA and have heard some views on some of the platforms. Always good to hear of first hand experiences.
Thanks again.
Really ? Hundreds of pounds per year to have someone answer the phone a bit quicker should you need to call them ? I've never called any of the platforms I hold funds with and cannot see any reason to. Both have decent websites should I require to check or change anything.
I use 3 different platforms for different reasons.
HL are by far the best. A very easy to use app, good published research and very good customer service. That comes at a premium in terms of cost but well worth it imho, especially if you are just starting out. As usual, the irony of people with £'000 watches rather than a £9.99 job mocking paying a few hundred £s more for a premium product - can't make it up!
AJ Bell sit in the middle ground. Cheaper but a slightly dated platform, less research.
Finally, if you know what you want and just need to transact I use iDealing.com. Cheap as chips but don't go looking for any frills.
My investments have increased by nearly 50 times the HL fees this year. Some days they increase or decrease by 4 or 5 times the entire annual fees in a single day. I don't let it worry me
You can't control the returns but you can control the fees. Better in your pocket than theirs IMO, but if it doesn't worry you then thats all that counts.
Another HL fan here. I’ve used them for more than 20 years. I don’t think they are particularly expensive - especially if you take into account the discounts on most funds.
I make my own investment decisions so I can’t speak for their ready-made portfolios. Some family members are invested in their in-house fund-of-funds which seem to perform well.
I'm another HL user (4 years now), I chose them because their site was very easy to use/navigate and manage to either get discounts on initial fee and/or annual ongoing fees.
I'm happy with their services so far, they only downer for me is their annual ongoing fee (1.36%) for one of their own fund (HL Multi-Manager UK Growth Acc)of which I have invested in although it is up 38% from my purchase price.
I suggest you do a bit of reading on some sites like Money Observer/Wise, Interactive Investor, Investopedia UK, who can also recommend a portfolio, my personal recommendation would be to check out Money Observer/Wise, also you can get a 3 month magazine and digital trial for £1.
The Times & Sunday Times (£1 a week for an 8 week digital trial) has sometimes on a Sunday a section on How To Invest 10K by an industry expert and if you subscribe online you will see previous advice by other experts also readers giving their views on what the "expert" has advised for example: Advised to invest in Liontrust Special Situation 0.86% annual fee and a reader would suggest an alternative Marlborough Special Situation 0.79% annual fee.
Last edited by classics; 30th August 2018 at 02:38.
What is the collective view of Robo-investments (Nutmeg, Wealthsimple and the like)? I have just dipped a toe in the water with Wealthsimple but note that they and their ilk have not been mentioned below - Are they a poor choice compared to HL and the other more established players?
That’s easy to say in a steadily increasing bull market.
If the market turns and you where to lose 20% of the funds value over say a 12 month period, you’ll suddenly be looking closer at the fees.
I'm well positioned to take advantage of that buying opportunity when, not if, it happens.
http://https://moneytothemasses.com/...title-anchor-6
This is a winner
Another vote for HL. Most of my holding is invested in individual stocks, and their charges are reasonable.
I also have an AJ Bell account, and find their website comparatively ‘clunky’.
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I use HL and Cavendish. Cavendish far cheaper and they just use Fidelity's platform - white labelled. It's funds only though (no single stocks).
I’ve heard good reports about Fidelity. The web site doesn’t look great to me but maybe that isn’t so important.
I’ve been with Fidelity for 17 years and they are superb. Platform is good for funds etc.
Also have a look at Charles Stanley Direct who I do my share dealing and wife’s ISA’s through.
HL multi manger portfolio’s are very expensive about 1.3% fees + 0.45% platform fee- almost 2% per annum that’s expensive ! ( instead have a look at their wealth 150 funds for individual fund recommendations)
For regular funds HL are actually cheaper than a lot of other providers for example Lindsell Train Global is 0.54% at HL whilst other providers charge 0.74%.
I have been using HL for years and am very happy with their service.
There is obviously some good experience in this thread. My wife has recently come into some funds and has already invested a chunk in relatively good interest but safe investments. She still has several thou that she's looking to invest in slightly higher risk (better returns) portfolio.
Looking at the posts (plus info from reading the Times it seems that the suggestions abve may be the way to go.
However, it's all a bit confusing. For instance, Vanguard, they have several different accounts - Life Strategy, Target Retirement FUnds (she doesn't pay tax so we assume an ISA is not the way to go, Index and active funds.
She is now in early 60's and considering a little bit of low level work (mainly to get out of house).
Any recommendations on which way to go?
I can recommend AJ Bell too. I’ve been using their SIPP platform for a number of years and it works well. I only pay to trade because I buy stocks rather than funds. There is of course, Stamp Duty to pay on UK fund
purchases, even in a SIPP.
Importantly, their customer service is excellent; they answer the phone and you can always talk to someone knowledgeable and helpful. You can trade online or over the telephone (not all new to market equities are tradeaable online so you sometimes have to call).
I’ve also had to open a US Fidelity account and so far, it seems to do what I need.
Last edited by slever; 2nd September 2018 at 12:35.
Quite, rising markets are easy to make money in, the tricky bit is knowing when to sell/exit
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Its pure statistics. Most of these highly-expensive, "tailor-made" solutions for the thick-pocketed, undiscerning (or is it ill-discerning) eager investor, rarely keep up with ETFs, and that's before considering any costs you pay to them for managing these. There could be exceptions out there, but out of reach except for the select few, and also, in the very long run, its been more or less proven that regulated/listed funds do perform better. So why bother paying for something that's likely to be worse off?
For years I wanted to start an ISA which wasn't cash based, confusion all round for me!
After reading this thread as a starter I did lots more research and went with a Vanguard Life Strategy ISA, slowly drip feeding funds in. Thanks guys!
I've used HL since 2013. With no experience of using anybody else I could not comment further than saying I am happy with them.
A bit of a shock today looking at my investments, but not any of their doing obviously!
Last edited by ALindsay; 6th September 2018 at 15:55. Reason: typo
My view: If you aren't a professional investor or are, at the very least, more than competent at understanding portfolios or individual company prospects, find an IFA you can trust. The advice should extend to investments, platforms and related fees.
As a couple of posters have said, the last few years have made everyone look like a magician.
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FWIW I think that’s a great strategy: drip feeding every month into life strategy (presumably 60 or 80% equities rather than 100) and on their investment platform seems to me to be a very sensible, well diversified and low cost approach. It’s what I’d do if I was starting out on my investment journey now.
Incidentally, for biggish portfolios of shares/ITs/ETFs HL are pretty cheap, but throw in funds at .45% pa and they get relatively expensive very quickly.
I have some funds with nutmeg. Not overly impressed with the performance to be honest. Seem to be very low risk (My appetite is 8/10) with limited volatility hovering around a monthly swing of <3% over the last 24 months
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I wouldn't be interested in ready-made portfolios though before I discounted them I'd look at what the offerings have returned over the years. This is likely to be difficult as I would imagine that the brokers will change them all the time. I used to be with HL but when it changed the charging structure some years ago the charges for anyone with >£250k became prohibitive in comparison to others. I'm now with Fidelity. The HL website and facilities online are better than Fidelity, however, it would have cost me circa £1,500 more to stay with HL.
HL are the best I’ve used over the years.
Not happy with their fees? I gave them a call and told them when they changed things a few years back. They happily gave me a cap so my SIPP, ISA and Fund and Share account fees won’t ever go higher than a certain amount each year - no matter how much I have invested. It makes them the cheapest platform available to me. Maybe worth giving that a try. Bit like we do with Sky TV.
.......and they answer my calls within 3 rings.
My father, two sisters and I all contacted HL to challenge its charges and got no movement whatsoever. We each have far more than £250k in funds and consequently all moved. I agree that HL are excellent but given that I (along with the rest of my family) manage my own funds I simply couldn't justify the increased charges.
A J Bell are very good, website could be better but no complaints. HL charges are to high.
What do some of HL's competitors charge? As I've already said, I find what I'm charged by HL reasonable given that the annual charge isn't dissimilar to a typical one day fluctuation in my portfolio value
Which in itself isn't a problem but when i looked at a chart showing high fees compounded over 20/30+ years it looks a bit more worrying!
You got money to gamble.....go to the races.
They wouldn’t budge on the actual charges but put me in place an annual fee limit per account. It made the total cost more comparable with the other cheaper platforms.
Thinking about it - I wonder if they only did it for relatively new customers. I think if only moved my pensions into the SIPP a few months before the changes to their fee structures were announced. I imagine they may have only agreed to offer caps to recently new customers?
Last edited by mr noble; 7th September 2018 at 12:51.
This is a great website for all things investing.
This page offers a couple of great tools that detail all the platforms and their charges.
Depending on the size of your pot and what you wish to do with it, one platform will be better than others.
http://monevator.com/personal-financ...d-calculators/
Just wondering if anyone had any experience of Fisher Investments?
https://www.fisherinvestments.com/en-gb
I have a meeting planned with them next week.
I downloaded one of their guides some time ago. Almost immediately I started getting a lot of very high pressure sales calls from them, I had to tell them quite forcibly to stop. That was enough to put me off straight away, in the end I went with an independent IFA via a friend's recommendation.
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