There’s a strange psychological barrier between knowing your investment platform is too expensive and actually doing something about it. People will read article after article comparing fees, work out that they’re paying hundreds or thousands of pounds a year more than they need to, and then quietly do nothing about it. The reason is almost always the same: they’re not entirely sure how the moving process works, they’ve heard vague horror stories about transfers going wrong, and the prospect feels stressful enough that the status quo wins.
This post is the reassuring guide to switching investment platforms that the industry rarely provides. The mechanics are more straightforward than most people fear, the protections are good, and once you understand the process the inertia tends to lift quickly. The point of this piece is to make the next platform switch you do (the first one, perhaps) feel like an admin task rather than a financial event.
Why people switch in the first place
Common reasons for moving from one platform to another:
- The fees are too high for your portfolio size. This is the most common reason. A 0.45% percentage-based platform that was fine when your ISA was small becomes expensive when it grows, and a flat-fee platform might save you £500 to £2,000 a year. Once you cross the crossover threshold (usually around £25,000 to £40,000 in invested assets), switching is often a clear win.
- You’re paying for features you don’t use. Some platforms bundle expensive research, analysis, and broker reports that you may never look at. Stripping back to a simpler, cheaper provider can pay off immediately.
- You’re holding actively managed funds you want to move out of. Switching to trackers often pairs with switching to a different platform that hosts them more cheaply.
- The platform’s pricing has changed. Pricing models change. What was competitive five years ago may not be now.
- Customer service or the user interface is poor enough to bother you. Less measurable but legitimate. You’ll be using this platform for decades; if you hate it, switching is reasonable.
If any of these apply, the question becomes: how do you actually move?
The two ways platforms transfer your investments
There are two methods for moving an investment account between platforms. Understanding the difference is the most important part of this post.
1. In-specie transfer (also called “stock transfer”)
In an in-specie transfer, your existing investments move from one platform to the other without being sold. The shares or fund units you hold today are simply re-registered with the new provider. You’re never out of the market.
This is almost always the right method for two reasons. First, you don’t crystallise any capital gains (relevant if you’re transferring outside an ISA or pension wrapper). Second, you avoid being out of the market for the days or weeks the transfer takes. If markets rise during a cash transfer, you’ve missed the gain. With in-specie, you’re invested the whole time.
The downside is that an in-specie transfer requires the new platform to support exactly the same investments. Most do, for mainstream funds and shares, but if you’re holding obscure or platform-exclusive funds, the new platform may not be able to receive them.
2. Cash transfer
In a cash transfer, your existing investments are sold on the old platform, the cash moves across, and you have to reinvest it on the new platform.
This is faster (typically a few days rather than a few weeks) but it has two real costs. You’re out of the market while the transfer is in progress, which is a problem if markets rise during that period. And outside an ISA or pension wrapper, the sale could trigger a capital gains tax event.
For an ISA or SIPP transfer, the cash transfer route is sometimes used out of convenience, but in-specie is almost always preferable when it’s available.
The crucial rule: never withdraw and re-deposit
This is the single most expensive mistake people make when switching platforms, and it’s worth flagging clearly.
If you have an ISA worth £80,000 and you withdraw the cash to your bank account and then deposit it into a new ISA, you have lost the tax wrapper on £80,000 of investments. The new ISA only allows you to deposit your £20,000 annual allowance, and the rest of the cash is now sitting outside any tax-efficient wrapper.
The right way to move an ISA is via an official ISA transfer, where the new provider requests the funds from the old provider and the tax wrapper is preserved throughout. The same applies to pensions: never take a cash withdrawal as a transfer mechanism.
Every UK platform offers a formal transfer process for both ISAs and pensions. Use it.
Switching investment platforms: the step-by-step process
The mechanics of a platform transfer are largely the same across providers. Here’s what actually happens:
- Open an account at the new platform. This is usually online and takes about 15 minutes. You’ll need ID verification, your National Insurance number, and basic financial details.
- Initiate the transfer from the new platform’s side. Almost all UK platforms accept inbound transfers and have a clear “Transfer your existing ISA/SIPP” option in their account interface. You provide details of your existing platform and account, and the new platform takes over from there.
- Sign whatever transfer authorisation the new platform sends you. This is usually electronic. You’re authorising the new platform to talk to the old one and instruct the transfer.
- Wait. The transfer typically takes between 10 and 30 working days for an ISA, and longer (sometimes several months) for pension transfers, particularly from older or workplace pensions. The new platform should keep you updated.
- Confirm the transfer is complete. Once your investments appear in the new account, check that everything came across correctly. Compare the units of each fund or shares of each holding to your most recent statement from the old platform. If anything’s missing, contact both platforms.
- Close the old account if appropriate. Once the transfer is complete and verified, you can close the old platform account. (Or leave it open with a zero balance if you might want to use it again, though there’s rarely a reason.)
That’s it. You don’t need to do anything during the transfer itself. The two platforms talk to each other.
What about exit fees?
Several years ago, some UK platforms charged substantial exit fees for transferring out, sometimes per holding. The FCA effectively banned these for retail investors in 2022, and most platforms now charge nothing to leave.
A handful of older or specialist platforms may still charge small administrative fees for transferring out (typically £25 to £100 in total), and these are sometimes covered by the new platform as part of a “we’ll pay your transfer fees” promotion. Worth checking on both sides before you start.
You should never feel locked in to a platform by exit fees. If your current platform makes leaving expensive or difficult, that’s itself a reason to leave.
Common worries, briefly addressed
A few of the fears that keep people stuck on the wrong platform:
“I’ll lose money during the transfer.” With an in-specie transfer, you stay invested the whole time. The transfer doesn’t trigger a sale or a tax event, just a change of who’s holding the records.
“What if something goes wrong?” Your investments are protected by the FSCS up to £85,000 per platform. The custody of your shares and funds is legally separate from the platform’s own balance sheet, so even if a platform went bust, your investments would still be yours. (This is one reason to favour established platforms regulated in the UK.)
“It’ll take ages and I won’t be able to use my account.” ISA transfers typically complete within 30 working days. You can usually still see the account on both sides during the transfer; you just can’t trade in the holdings being moved. For most long-term investors, this matters very little.
“I’ll have to choose new funds.” With an in-specie transfer, you don’t. Your existing holdings come across as they are, and you can leave them alone or change them later as you see fit. Simple Investing for Absolute Beginners covers fund selection in plain English if you want a refresher.
“What if my employer’s workplace pension is involved?” Workplace pensions are slightly different. You generally can’t transfer them while you’re still employed and contributing, although you can usually transfer old workplace pensions from previous employers.
When NOT to switch
A few situations where staying put is the right call:
- Your portfolio is small and the fee difference is minimal. Switching is rarely worth the hassle for portfolios under £10,000.
- You hold investments the new platform can’t accept. If you’d be forced into a cash transfer that triggered capital gains, the move may not be worth it.
- You’re due to retire imminently. Moving a pension just before drawing it can complicate things. Get the move done well in advance, or wait until things settle.
- The savings don’t justify the time. A £30 a year fee saving probably isn’t worth a few hours of admin. A £300 a year saving definitely is.
How often should you check?
You don’t need to check this annually, but every three to five years it’s worth taking ten minutes to compare your current platform’s fees against the current market. Pricing changes. New platforms launch. The flat-fee provider that was barely cheaper than your percentage-based platform when you opened the account might now be saving people in your situation hundreds of pounds a year.
This connects to the broader habit of doing an annual financial review. Most years, the answer to “should I switch?” will be no. But every few years there’s a good case for moving, and the worst thing you can do is keep telling yourself you’ll get around to it eventually.
| Want a clearer picture of how to set up and manage a sensible UK investment account? Simple Investing for Absolute Beginners covers platforms, fees, ISAs and the practical mechanics in plain English. [ Find out more → ] |
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Switching investment platforms is one of those tasks that feels much harder before you do it than after. The first time you initiate a transfer, you’ll probably spend longer worrying about the process than the process actually takes. After that, it becomes a manageable piece of admin that can quietly save you a substantial amount of money. Worth getting comfortable with.
This article is for information and education only and does not constitute financial advice. Investments can fall as well as rise in value and you may get back less than you invest.