Why you should consider changing wealth manager (and how to do it)

The thought of moving from one provider who manages your money to another with similar objectives may cause you to hesitate. Yet with the right partner it can be well worth the effort – with a proactive approach being rewarded through considerable long-term benefits.

Here we explain why you should consider changing wealth manager, the practicalities of how to do it, and we highlight the things which could prevent you from making a move.

Why move at all?

Many investors happily pay whatever their wealth manager charges to manage their money, a tonic easily enough digested when markets are healthy and portfolio growth ticks up nicely. But even in good times it is easy to be lulled into a false sense of value – and when conditions are challenging you really should question what you pay in fees.

Investors typically prefer to accept the familiar, but that familiarity is unacceptable when it could cost you thousands of pounds over time – often tens of thousands, or many more years of a comfortable retirement, as we show in this article. Like to know upfront how much we charge? Find out more, plus see some examples of what extra money from fee savings could mean for your lifestyle.

Paying less for a quality service is worthwhile, and other factors can also more than compensate for the effort of moving.

- More control over your accounts. As well as having a core of experts to help you, modern wealth managers such as Netwealth are enhanced by the latest technology, which gives you more freedom and flexibility to manage your money how and when it suits you.

- Greater transparency. View all your investment accounts (from multiple providers) in one place, plan ahead with better clarity and use our unique planning tools to help you look after your money more effectively.

- Consistent and durable approach. By predominantly investing in passive instruments, we don’t invest in riskier assets or move in and out of investments at the first sign of volatility. Many active managers take this approach to justify their fees, which is why time and time again, even in a market downturn, they typically fail to outperform. The Financial Times reports consistently on this failure, recently highlighting a Morningstar study showing that only 14% of active managers outperformed passive strategies over the past decade.

If you don’t invest – perhaps because you are risk averse – it is worth considering the risk of holding too much of your assets in cash savings.  You may also find it useful to gain a broader understanding of how to consider risk, and make it work in your favour.

How to change provider

Moving provider can sometimes be a little painful but at Netwealth we certainly do all we can to help make the process as smooth as possible – and do the majority of the work on your behalf.

·       The first step is to open your Netwealth account, choosing your account types and investment goals. If you need any guidance, our advisory team are on hand via video call or phone to assist.

·       We can usually verify your identity online so you shouldn’t need to send documents to us. If required, you can send these securely via our message centre.

·       The next step may be to transfer pensions and ISAs from other providers. Don’t be daunted by the thought of contacting them all – as long as you have the details of your providers and policy numbers, we should be able to do this for you. We have a simple online form for pension transfers and our Client Service team will send you pre-filled forms for any ISA or JISA transfers.

·       A lot of transfers can now be submitted via electronic transfer systems and therefore no further paperwork is required. We will proactively follow up on the status of your transfers with your existing providers, as these can take several weeks. If any of them do need further paperwork we will let you know and notify you as soon as each transfer has completed. Different providers have different requirements and procedures, but we have dealt with most of them so please reach out if you have any questions and we will be happy to advise you on the process specific to your current provider.

·       Even if your transfer takes some time the assets you are holding at your current provider will only be sold once all the paperwork is complete and the transfer is ready to progress. We will invest within a day or two after receiving the proceeds so you will be out of the market for the shortest possible time.

What’s stopping you?

Whether or not you make the move to a different provider – from a bank, broadband service or wealth manager – is not always dictated by logic. We are all often ruled by the whims of our emotions which may stop us from doing the right thing. But once you are aware of these biases, and the oppressive cost of inertia, you should be in a better position to act in your favour.

When you have decided that moving your money is the right thing to do – either for the tremendous cost savings, better control, or more transparency – then please get in touch.

Please note, the value of your investments can go down as well as up.