Transact has made changes to its charges which it expects will benefit “many thousands” of existing customers, by lowering the threshold at which a lower second tier of admin fees is applied and cutting so-called ‘buy commission’ rates for a second successive year.
Currently portfolios of up to £300,000 pay a 0.5 per cent admin fee, with a 0.325 per cent charge applying thereafter up to £600,000. From 1 April the starting point of this second tier will be £180,000, meaning “more people will pay less”.
For example, a client with a portfolio value of £180,000 will be paying £105 less per year, a saving of over 15 per cent, according to Transact.
From 1 April, clients will pay 0.325 per cent for investments for the first £600,000, and 0.29 per cent for cash.
On the next £600,000, the annual commission will be 0.2 per cent for investments and 0.18 per cent for cash; on the remainder the annual commission will be 0.075 per cent for investments and 0.0675 per cent for cash.
There will be a charge of 0.5 per cent on the first £60,000 only where the portfolio is valued less than £180,000.
The wrap platform is also cutting buying fees again, as previously announced in January last year. Transact said then it was cutting these buying fees by half from 1 March, with the move to be repeated in March this year.
Transact has now announced that from 1 March 2015 ‘buy commission’ will be halved again to 0.05 per cent and no charge will apply for portfolio group values over £1m.
The Transact dealing charge, to cover brokerage for investments listed on or admitted to a stock exchange, will also be reduced again from 1st March 2015. Dealing charges for standard, phased and regular transactions will be up to a maximum of £3.75, £1.00 and 50 pence respectively.
Ian Taylor, chief executive, said: “We have a clear strategy and with prudent management and decision making we can pass on savings derived from our scale and specialisation in the wrap market.
“It is also very satisfying that some of the benefits of our commitment to responsible pricing will be passed on to both new and existing customers.”
donia.o’loughlin@ft.com
