The Unrest-Cure

This is what I wrote seven years ago (in June 2016).

“It should make sense to find one place to park savings that is cheap and secure. Two homes for my money are Investec and Alliance Trust Savings. The former is by no stretch of the imagination cheap. Commission is about 2% +VAT and there is an annual fee. The latter, up in Dundee, has a great online trading platform and is ridiculously cheap. Rationally I should simplify my life by moving everything to Alliance Trust Savings and it was in the back of my mind to do so when my friend Trevor at Investec retires.” You can read the full post here.

Much has changed today. Trevor and his successor have moved on. Investec ramped up its annual fee to one calculated as a percentage of the portfolio value. Since I self select my investments this is deeply unsatisfactory; if I make money  Investec shares in my good fortune without doing anything; their costs remain exactly the same. Accordingly, I have moved to Hargreaves Lansdown. HL charge a nugatory commission on dealing, there are no other fees and they pass on dividends more swiftly than Investec. The move was a bore but so far well worth it. Incidentally HL has a good online trading platform; Investec had none.

And what’s up in Dundee, home of jute, cake and comics? ATS closed and I moved my ISA and self-invested SIPP to interactive investor. Everything was going well with interactive investor until earlier this year when they decided to stop offering self-invested SIPPs so I had to pack my bags again and now am with AJ Bell. I never expected to be such a nomad in 2016.

Years ago I moved the contents insurance for the house to a specialist firm owned by Allianz. This firm is now closing and I have been given less than a month to find a new insurer. I conclude I am being given an Unrest-Cure – if you remember the Saki short story. If not you can read it here.