Donate to Remove ads

Got a credit card? use our Credit Card & Finance Calculators

Thanks to johnstevens77,Bhoddhisatva,scotia,Anonymous,Cornytiv34, for Donating to support the site

Alliance Trust

Closed-end funds and OEICs
Dod101
The full Lemon
Posts: 16629
Joined: October 10th, 2017, 11:33 am
Has thanked: 4343 times
Been thanked: 7534 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#176034

Postby Dod101 » October 24th, 2018, 7:23 pm

Hariseldon58 wrote: Apart from that it’s ok !


I like the security of HSBC in the background and I already bank with them as a Premier customer. Could you recommend them for an ISA? Is the site easy to navigate, and trade on?

I am looking for a home for about half of my combined ISA, which is a significant figure to me anyway. Obviously I would be going for their Invest plus and I imagine they would be reasonably happy to see me.

Dod

Hariseldon58
Lemon Slice
Posts: 835
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 9:42 pm
Has thanked: 124 times
Been thanked: 513 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#176494

Postby Hariseldon58 » October 26th, 2018, 8:21 pm

@Dod
HSBC Invest Direct works well online, one or two ETFs they didn't offer, after being contacted, they subsequently offered.

Telephone service backup was helpful if you had online dealing issues (at no additional charges)

So despite the rubbish paper statements I quite like the service (online transaction statements are OK) Hargreaves Lansdowne is better but having multiple brokers makes a lot of sense. HSBC preferred to A J Bell, Alliance Trust Savings, iii and Halifax Share dealing.

Customer service at HL is first class and HSBC is pretty good too, a lot better than the others mentioned...

MDW1954
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2358
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 8:46 pm
Has thanked: 526 times
Been thanked: 1011 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#176782

Postby MDW1954 » October 28th, 2018, 8:48 pm

tjh290633 wrote:No, I was talking about what comes up if you ask for a statement online. I have just got one. It gives me two cash balances, £5.08 and £5.76. Elsewhere it gives it as £10.84. Why is that money split between two accounts? There is also zero balance in the fees account. In the past I have had cash accumulating in yet another account. It is a mad, mad system.

TJH


Terry,

I'm with you. I have two reasonably-sized SIPPS, one with ATS and one with another provider, and have been seriously considering moving the ATS to the other provider, simply because I can manage the SIPP with the other provider far more easily than I can with ATS. Overall, I expect a saving from the move, but that is not the reason. The reason is ATS' rubbish reports/ statements, and the ludicrous multiple accounts.

MDW1954

Dod101
The full Lemon
Posts: 16629
Joined: October 10th, 2017, 11:33 am
Has thanked: 4343 times
Been thanked: 7534 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#176793

Postby Dod101 » October 28th, 2018, 11:29 pm

MDW1954 wrote:[The reason is ATS' rubbish reports/ statements, and the ludicrous multiple accounts.


Weird. I see nothing wrong with the multiple accounts. The user is in complete control and does not have to use them.

Anyway, it looks as if HSBC may be the recipient of about half of my ISA. I hope they are happy about that. I am as I have said a Premier customer so I suppose it is the least I can do.

Dod

tjh290633
Lemon Half
Posts: 8209
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 11:20 am
Has thanked: 913 times
Been thanked: 4097 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#176837

Postby tjh290633 » October 29th, 2018, 9:10 am

Dod101 wrote:
MDW1954 wrote:[The reason is ATS' rubbish reports/ statements, and the ludicrous multiple accounts.


Weird. I see nothing wrong with the multiple accounts. The user is in complete control and does not have to use them.

Dod

I question that complete control. It takes a fair bit of effort to make it do what you want. Even then, there is no guarantee that it will not make a change of its own volition.

Charging £5 a month for regular savings is punitive.

TJH

OZYU
2 Lemon pips
Posts: 199
Joined: December 31st, 2016, 3:52 pm
Has thanked: 42 times
Been thanked: 139 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#176839

Postby OZYU » October 29th, 2018, 9:17 am

tjh290633 wrote:
Dod101 wrote:
MDW1954 wrote:[The reason is ATS' rubbish reports/ statements, and the ludicrous multiple accounts.


Weird. I see nothing wrong with the multiple accounts. The user is in complete control and does not have to use them.

Dod

I question that complete control. It takes a fair bit of effort to make it do what you want. Even then, there is no guarantee that it will not make a change of its own volition.

Charging £5 a month for regular savings is punitive.

TJH


Quite the reserve, TJ, you can use the flexibility of the site to always invest for a fiver, even for very large amounts, as I always do and have done for donkeys You don’t have to use their £500 limit at all. Just need to be awake on the possibilities, and set up the site as you want.

Ozyu

Hariseldon58
Lemon Slice
Posts: 835
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 9:42 pm
Has thanked: 124 times
Been thanked: 513 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#176877

Postby Hariseldon58 » October 29th, 2018, 12:16 pm

@Dod

Little bit O/T....With HSBC dealing account if your balance is £500,000 plus, then you can promote yourself from Premier to Jade, incl free travel insurance to 80 rather than 70, could be worthwhile in later years if one travels.

Dod101
The full Lemon
Posts: 16629
Joined: October 10th, 2017, 11:33 am
Has thanked: 4343 times
Been thanked: 7534 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#176880

Postby Dod101 » October 29th, 2018, 12:20 pm

Hariseldon58 wrote:@Dod

Little bit O/T....With HSBC dealing account if your balance is £500,000 plus, then you can promote yourself from Premier to Jade, incl free travel insurance to 80 rather than 70, could be worthwhile in later years if one travels.


Thank you. I did not know that. I will investigate further. I fit that profile exactly (as I have said before, I live off my dividends so I am not giving too much away)

Dod

Steveam
Lemon Slice
Posts: 974
Joined: March 18th, 2017, 10:22 pm
Has thanked: 1745 times
Been thanked: 534 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#176903

Postby Steveam » October 29th, 2018, 2:10 pm

I looked at the free travel insurance and found it to be too restrictive for me. Do, of course, check-it-out but my (very few) pre-existing conditions and a previous claim and the length of my stays away made it too restrictive. I often spend time in Bangkok and specifically asked them about one particular hospital (the best in Bangkok) and they couldn’t confirm that I’d be covered for there as it would be subject to authorisation at the time of claim.

Best wishes,

Steve

MDW1954
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2358
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 8:46 pm
Has thanked: 526 times
Been thanked: 1011 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#176904

Postby MDW1954 » October 29th, 2018, 2:10 pm

Dod101 wrote:
Hariseldon58 wrote:@Dod

Little bit O/T....With HSBC dealing account if your balance is £500,000 plus, then you can promote yourself from Premier to Jade, incl free travel insurance to 80 rather than 70, could be worthwhile in later years if one travels.


Thank you. I did not know that. I will investigate further. I fit that profile exactly (as I have said before, I live off my dividends so I am not giving too much away)

Dod


Dod,

We have been talking so far about HSBC's Invest Direct service, of which I have no experience. However, I do use HSBC's Global Investment Centre, its funds platform. Platform fee = 0.39%, but fiddly to navigate. They also don't carry some of the funds that I like.

MDW1954

Hariseldon58
Lemon Slice
Posts: 835
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 9:42 pm
Has thanked: 124 times
Been thanked: 513 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#177157

Postby Hariseldon58 » October 30th, 2018, 2:56 pm

@steveam

The insurance has been simplified re pre existing conditions and have added to the cover over the years, you never know with these schemes until you need too.....

I have extended cover to nearly three months (30 days included) whilst I travelled around South America earlier this year for a reasonable cost.( £180 iirc)

They also offer the Red 24 service in the event of civil emergencies etc , the Jade account offers a refund of the £195 fee for their upmarket credit card with free lounge access etc

Clearly you need to study the small print for the details applicable to your needs.

Steveam
Lemon Slice
Posts: 974
Joined: March 18th, 2017, 10:22 pm
Has thanked: 1745 times
Been thanked: 534 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#178441

Postby Steveam » November 6th, 2018, 10:22 am

Thx Hariseldon58. I’ve had a further look at HSBC in the light of yr comments.

How do they deal with income in $ and €? I have a number of ETFs such as VJPN and VERX which pay in $ or €.

Your comment regarding the Jade account is of particular interest as I’m seeing 70 looming and will be thinking of the issues of travel insurance for longish (1 to 3 months) trips to SE Asia where I like to break up the British winter.

Your comments are most helpful - thx again.

Dod. If you do pursue the move to to HSBC I’d be pleased to hear how it goes.

Best wishes,

Steve

Hariseldon58
Lemon Slice
Posts: 835
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 9:42 pm
Has thanked: 124 times
Been thanked: 513 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#178577

Postby Hariseldon58 » November 6th, 2018, 4:44 pm

@steveam

With regard to income from VERX and VJPN, the income just appears in £

It all works well, the telephone dealing service is fine , bit pricey for Gilts though, online dealing and reporting is fine.
As stated previously, the paper statements are not user friendly, but online transaction reporting is fine.

The Plus option is more versatile.

Steveam
Lemon Slice
Posts: 974
Joined: March 18th, 2017, 10:22 pm
Has thanked: 1745 times
Been thanked: 534 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#178657

Postby Steveam » November 7th, 2018, 3:02 am

@Hariseldon58: “The Plus option is more versatile” - what is the Plus option please.

Once again, many thx.

Steve

Hariseldon58
Lemon Slice
Posts: 835
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 9:42 pm
Has thanked: 124 times
Been thanked: 513 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#178830

Postby Hariseldon58 » November 7th, 2018, 5:50 pm

@Steveam

The Plus option allows international dealing and you can have a trading reserve account, this allows a cash account for funding trades and you can subject to approval borrow against your portfolio.

The vanilla account pays for non ISA trades from your HSBC current account, subject to a fairly small limit, default is £10,200. In practice I have had the regular account, the low £10,200 limit is a bit silly but if you are selling a larger holding and then repurchasing a similar amount its not. problem. When I have had a larger sum, then I added into the bank account a few days before and telephoned for temporary authorisation for the trade and it was OK.

Doesn't matter with respect to the ISA, as you have to fund it with the annual limit each year. The Premier banking works well and for me that is the major attraction. I will be sending some more money to Invest Direct with a view to the Jade status for banking.

HL is very good for shares and ETFs etc but the Beaufort Securities* issue has focussed my mind on having multiple brokers....there is transfer in deal with Interactive Investors and I tempted to take advantage of the transfer in deal to make them an additional broker. Its offering unto £2000 as an incentive but I will only transfer a smaller part of my HL accounts for the £500 incentive, for each of myself and Mrs HS.

Halifax Share dealing is OK and I still use them, but Hargreaves and HSBC are both easier.

If you are not aware of the Beaufort Securities issue, it was a failed broker recently and it showed that ring fenced assets could be seized by an administrator, the FCA cover is £50k per investor. The eventual result was not as bad as it first appeared, but if you wanted full cover then as a couple you would need a lot of broker accounts, personally we would be in well into double figures, not very practical.

flint
2 Lemon pips
Posts: 111
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 6:55 pm
Has thanked: 12 times
Been thanked: 14 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#178835

Postby flint » November 7th, 2018, 6:21 pm

Hariseldon58

said : The HSBC vanilla account pays for non ISA trades from your HSBC current account, subject to a fairly small limit, default is £10,200.

If, as you say, you find this limit restrictive, I am sure you only have to ask to get it raised.
All my sharedealing is done through HSBC nominees and the limit is many times higher, they debit one of my HSBC bank accounts for settlement.
Platform fees are £10 per quarter.

Cheers

Jon

Steveam
Lemon Slice
Posts: 974
Joined: March 18th, 2017, 10:22 pm
Has thanked: 1745 times
Been thanked: 534 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#178958

Postby Steveam » November 8th, 2018, 11:01 am

Thank you both. I get back to the U.K. next week and will make an appointment with HSBC to find out more.

@Hariseldon58. A few years ago I decided to spread my holdings across a number of brokerages/outfits as the (albeit small) risk of a broker failing due to massive fraud or somesuch would leave me too exposed. At one time I traded equity options as well and used Options Direct and Sucden but nowadays my brokers are just big names with deep pockets. I’m talking figures way above any compensation limits.

Once again, many thanks. I’ll report back as things progress.

Best wishes,

Steve

Julian
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 1385
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 9:58 am
Has thanked: 532 times
Been thanked: 676 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#179095

Postby Julian » November 9th, 2018, 7:19 am

Blimey. I don't know who might or might not be living in the dark ages but I'll admit that it's pretty dark under this rock where I must have been living for a while. I only clicked into this thread out of idle curiosity to see what people were saying about Alliance Trust IT, an IT that I don't hold, but I have been a customer of Alliance Trust Savings (ATS) for almost a decade now. I had absolutely no idea that it was being taken over by ii.

Oh well, another day another broker change (it's still a change even if I stay onboard for the ride to ii).

I've had an awful lot of this since I started my investing adventures in 2001. This will be the 5th of my brokers that has been taken over and the 6th transfer of one of my accounts if I count the catastrophic (for my situation) change in the Barclay's charging structure that effectively forced me out of their service last year.

- Julian

Parky
Lemon Slice
Posts: 378
Joined: June 9th, 2017, 8:51 am
Has thanked: 53 times
Been thanked: 106 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#179380

Postby Parky » November 10th, 2018, 3:36 pm

Here's a cunning plan for ATS customers.
ii are offering a cashback plan for people who open new accounts. Since I am an ATS customer who will be transferred to ii when they take over anyway, why not benefit from the cashback by transferring now (before the end of the year). My family and I have 2 trading accounts and 3 ISAs. Transfer costs would be £456, and cashbacks would be would be £2000, a "profit" of £1544.

Have I missed anything here?

scrumpyjack
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 4814
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 10:15 am
Has thanked: 606 times
Been thanked: 2675 times

Re: Alliance Trust

#179398

Postby scrumpyjack » November 10th, 2018, 5:49 pm

You need to look at the ongoing charges.

HL frequently offer cash incentives for transfers. I guess their hope is that on average much of the transfers in will be invested in funds where they will get large % based fees.

I have transferred quite a lot to HL, picking up several thousand in incentives but do not have anything invested in funds so the ongoing fees are trivial.


Return to “Investment Trusts and Unit Trusts”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests