Interactive Investor has scrapped exit fees for Alliance Trust Savings amid reports it is eyeing a sale of the recently acquired platform.
The fee change leaves AJ Bell Youinvest, Halifax Share Dealing, Hargreaves Lansdown and The Share Centre as the remaining D2C platforms that still charge exit fees.
The change is effective from 1 July.
Interactive Investor has not charged exit fees since December 2017.
Interactive Investor chief executive Richard Wilson said: “Throughout the FCA’s consultation period on exit fees we consistently argued that an outright ban on exit fees, applied to existing as well as future business, is the only fair thing to do.
“Exit fees restrict customer choice – capping them doesn’t solve the issues and is still a recipe for rip offs. By extension, banning exit fees from the get-go for our new ATS customers, and ahead of migration for direct customers, is the only right thing to do.”
Exit fees for Direct to Consumer platforms
| Sipp transfer out | Isa transfer out | |||||
| Cash | In-specie | Account closure | Cash | In-specie | Account closure | |
| AJ Bell Youinvest | £90 | £90 plus £25 per holding | £0 | £0 | £25 per holding | £0 |
| Alliance Trust Savings | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Barclays Smart Investor | AJ Bell Sipp offered – charges not disclosed | £0 | £0 | £0 | ||
| Fidelity Personal Investing | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Halifax Share Dealing | £90 | £90 plus £25 per holding (max £215) | £0 | £0 | £25 per holding (max £125) | £0 |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | £25 | £25 per holding | £30* | £25 | £25 per holding | £30 |
| HSBC | No Sipp offered | £0 | £0 | £0 | ||
| Interactive Investor | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Santander | No Sipp offered | £0 | £0 | £0 | ||
| The Share Centre | £125 per account | £125 per account | £0 | £25 per account | £25 per account | £0 |
Source: Langcat
*Early account closure fee of £354 also applies if Sipp has been open for less than 12 months and is closed by taking all the money as income.
Interactive Investor in discussions with Embark over ATS
News of the fee change comes as Interactive Investor is looking to hand off ATS to rival Embark despite only officially acquiring the platform group earlier this month.
An Interactive Investor spokesperson confirmed that the group is in discussions with Embark regarding the ATS advised and partnership businesses.
“While we regularly talk to lots of businesses, we wouldn’t comment on anything unless we had something definite to announce,” they said.
