Trading 212, vanguard or SJP

[BeLimeTiger]

I have about 150k I would like to invest in stocks and shares over the next 15+ years. I had a call with an old mum friend who works for SJP. She suggested an isa unit feeder (which automatically feeds your s&s into an isa each year- invested in Polaris 3 and Polaris 4). SJP seems unpopular on here due to the high fees.

As a newbie investor vanguard lifetime strategy 80 seems like a good option and it looks as though I can just buy into it through my trading 212 account. Is it better just to go directly through vanguard?

Also does anyone have experience of how easy it is to manually move 20k a year from s&s to a s&s isa?

I’m totally new to investing so want something fairly straightforward.

Avoid SJP.

DIY ISA feeder is really easy. Just make sure your non-ISA stuff is in income rather than accumulation funds to make it simple to keep track of tax liabilities.

Vanguard is probably the simpler platform for a beginner because it's a quite limited range of funds, and nindividual l stocks,.

Thank you. Am I right in thinking from what you’ve said I’m best off going directly with vanguard rather than through a different provider that offers vanguard products?

Is it the high fees with SJP why you’d advise against it?

High ongoing fees, high exit fees, and a reputation for sharp practice are the points I know of against SJP.

I'd start directly with the Vanguard platform. It's straightforward to transfer to a different one later once you've got a feel for how things work, and there are often cash bonus offers for doing so towards the end of the tax year.

I am in the same dilemma…. I have some money to invest.

I use SJP l and to be honest their Polaris 4 product has done much better than my old pension (even including fees).

I have some more money to invest and I’m very cautious putting everything in with SJP so I am tempted to let them look after my pension and I go elsewhere with the others.

Im very cautious of investing myself as I managed to lose quite a bit with Woodford.

Therefore I’m probably always going to use and IFA.

All I would say my SJP advisor is excellent. I just WhatsApp him when I have a decision, even if it doesn’t relate to SJP matters and he replies instantly. I’m not finding such a good service with other FAs (that are independent)

Another +1 to avoid SJP because of fees.

Question - is your 150k in cash ISAs? If so you can transfer to an ISA in bulk and not lose the tax free wrapper status.

In consolidating my ISAs into two providers right now but hold may types of investments in them.

SJP are not Independent FAs.

I knew someone would say that hence why I said below…

I’m not finding such a good service with other FAs (that are independent)

Sorry - but you did say you were “always going to use an IFA” while also saying you use SJP. I just didn’t want people thinking that SJP is independent.

True independent IFAs are unlikely to take someone on with only £150k.

No problem. SJP are always criticised and at times rightly but there are also people who use them, like me, and have found them very good. However, I do use with caution and think important to diversify.

On the same line, I personally wouldn’t invest any significant sum on my own, unless I was confident and knew exactly what I was doing and could monitor consistently.

I have invested in both Polaris 4 and vanguard life strategy 100. Both have performed really well over the last couple of years, however Polaris 4 is heavily weighted in N American stock and some investors say N American stock performance is peaking and not likely to continue giving such great returns over next 10 years.

Can you put some into your pension to get the tax relief? If you need the money in 15 years, you will be able to start drawing down from 57.

Also the vanguard website and app are pretty user friendly, so if you do want to invest in a vanguard fund, I'd go direct through them.

Ask about the exit fees..extortionate. They have been subject to investigations due to their fees and extravagant payments to advisors. Performance has also been judged lower than competitors.

I can't recall the study but it was a recognised financial benchmark.

Avoid SJP if you don't want high fees
I use HL but I have just moved half of my funds to 212 as they charge no fees
I don't find The App as user friendly as HL but its fine

Don’t forget that only £85k is protected.
I’d split the money between AJ Bell ( I have my S&S ISA) and Trading 212 ( where I have my Cash ISA).
SJP are highly unlikely to beat a passive Global tracker and their fees are 3X others.

The £85k compensation limit only applies to cash. Not stocks.

If a platform goes under, it's not the same as a bank collapsing.

The platform doesn't own the stocks/funds; you own them. They are registered in your name. If the investment platform you bought them through goes bankrupt, you still retain ownership - you just need to get another platform to take over administering them. You don't lose anything, so you don't need compensation as you would if a bank collapsed and actually took your money.

I’ve got about 60k in cash isas and 150k stuck in higher interest bank accounts. My plan is to put the cash isas into a s&s one and eventually move all of the 150k into the s&s isa. My question was about how easy it is to move the money

Step by step instructions. www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/need-help/answer/move-funds-ga-to-isa

Thank you!

Wrong.
The £85k protection only applies to cash holdings.

I'd consider InvestEngine - their fees are very low and you'll have access to more ETFs, including Vanguard's funds if you want to invest in those.