I commented last month on an article in Investors Chronicle by Mary McDougall on the subject of platform transfers, and how they are inordinately slow. Despite past efforts by the FCA, the situation does not seem to be getting any better. My latest transfer, which was commenced on the 12th of January, is still not complete. The shareholdings have recently been transferred to the selected new platform but not the substantial cash holding in the portfolio.
But according to the latest article (see link below) by Mary, other investors have even worse experiences. Six months is how long it took in two examples reported to her. Hargreaves Lansdown, who otherwise have a good reputation for service, seem to be no better in doing transfers than other brokers although none seem to be exactly fast. Of course it requires both sending and receiving brokers to act quickly to expedite a transfer so they tend to pass the buck if you complain. See her full article on the link below.
Mary would like folks to send her examples of their own experiences with broker/platform transfers so she can take up this problem with the regulators. Please send her an email to mary.mcdougall@ft.com . Please help her so we can get this problem fixed.
Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://twitter.com/RogerWLawson )
Latest Investors Chronicle Article: https://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/news/2021/04/12/time-for-the-fca-to-crack-down-on-platform-transfers/
My Previous Article: https://www.sharesoc.org/blog/brokers/platform-transfers-progress-has-been-pitiful/
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