It is important to follow the ISA Tranfer Rules or your savings can lose their ISA status.

Whether you hold a single ISA investment or have taken out a separate plan each tax year since 1987, the ability to transfer your ISA investment between ISA managers is an important one. An investor should not have to tolerate poor investment performance from ISA managers. However, many ISA holders are loathe to change company for three main reasons. Loyalty, the work involved in changing managers and finally the cost involved. Seymour Sinclair Investments ISA transfer service will help you to overcome all three of these obstacles.

     This information is designed to help you decide the best course of action for your ISA investments, to point out reasons to transfer or not to transfer, and to guide you through the simple process of moving your ISAs between managers. It should be noted that the options expressed in this guide must not be taken as giving advice to transfer your ISA investments. The choice of new fund manager is entirely the choice of the investor

HOW CAN IT BENEFIT ME TO TRANSFER MY ISA USING SEYMOUR SINCLAIR?

Like most types of investments, a ISA transfer has charges, either initially or annually, usually both. With these charges is an allowable commission which will be paid to an intermediary if one is involved with the transfer. If no agent is involved, this commission is retained by the investment company.

     By using Seymour Sinclair we will ensure that for most ISA transfers, 100% of the initial commission payable is either returned to the investor by way of a cheque or used to discount the unit purchase price. This is usually a saving of 3% to 6% of the investment value, money that would otherwise be lost to you if you made the transfer direct yourself.

     For this service we make no charge as we are remunerated by the investment company with a `trail commission' of approximately 0.25% - 0.5% p.a. of the ISA value. This is paid to us by the new company from their resources and not taken from your investment. Therefore it is not detrimental in any way to your investment by using our services. If no renewal commission is not payable we will retain a small portion of the initial commission payable, usually 1/3rd.

SHOULD I TRANSFER MY ISA?

There are many reasons why you might wish to transfer your ISA, poor investment performance, too general, the ISA manager's service might not have been up to your expectations or you might require a growth ISA rather than income and visa versa.

ISA PERFORMANCE

Probably the main reason why most people transfer ISAs is because of poor performance, but before you switch, check the performance of your ISA fund in the context of its performance over a three and five year period and since you invested. Compare these figures with other funds within the same sector. If, after comparing these returns, you decide that your ISA manager has done a good job with your investment, do nothing. However, if you are dissatisfied make a transfer without delay.

CHANGE OF INVESTMENT REQUIREMENTS

This is something to be aware of with all your investments, ISA or otherwise, and can affect your long-term plans. Are your chosen funds fulfilling their original aims? It may well be that when first investing into ISAs, income was not the main priority, but now circumstances have changed. There are some fund managers who specialise in income producing ISAs and others growth. Whatever your requirements it may well be that the only way to get the best from your ISA is to transfer it.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I HAVE MORE THAN ONE ISA WITH A PARTICULAR MANAGER?

Although you may have started a new ISA in each tax year you invested, if more than one of these is with the same manager, you may find that your ISAs have been bundled into one plan.( Whilst this isn't a problem if you wish to transfer the entire holding to one new manager, it will cause problems if you wish to split the holding if companies cannot unbundle the plan. Leaving you with one choice of either transferring all or none. (After the recent rule changes this may not apply, but it is still worth checking.)

MANAGEMENT CHARGES

Fund managers have the right from time to time to change their management fee structure and a common complaint is that the charges have become too high. However management charges should be considered with reference to fund performance. There are fund managers who charge higher fees but their fund performance is equally exceptional. Likewise there are some that charge very little, which appears at first to offer the investor a better deal, but whose fund performance is equally low.

    
For your information the average annual management fees range from 1% to 2% approximately. You must ask yourself, are you paying too much for your investment?

WILL MY CURRENT ISA MANAGER CHARGE ME TO TRANSFER?

Your original investment may have a hidden price. Some ISA managers will charge you for the honour of leaving them to invest with another manager. There are some ISA plans that have no initial charges but do have penalties for switching within a certain period. Although the sum is unlikely to be large, you need to check how much any such charge is, and assess whether it is worth paying in order to transfer.

WILL MY NEW ISA MANAGER CHARGE ME TO INVEST WITH THEM?

Some managers will not and some will offer a discount off their normal initial investment charge to encourage transfers to them. You will need to assess whether any initial charge you pay is worth the performance or increased relevance of investment that you are expecting. It is certainly worth shopping around because you may well find the style of ISA you want, at a lower or no charge.

IS TRANSFERRING A ISA A COMPLEX PROCESS?

No, by using the services of Seymour Sinclair it becomes extremely easy. Firstly because we will handle the whole process for you and secondly ISA managers are very eager for you to transfer to them. In the majority of cases all you have to do is complete a simple transfer form. This details your current ISAS, where you would like them transferred to and gives the transferring manager authority to deal with all the administration on your behalf.

     Return to Seymour Sinclair along with our 'Execution Only & Product Specific Investment Confirmation Form', stating whether you prefer cash-back or an investment price discount and we will instruct the transfer to be carried out for you. This form will also confirm that Seymour Sinclair are acting as you agents for this ISA transfer and that the agency of this ISA is to be changed to ourselves, so enabling us to give the investor either cash-back or discount.

     The process ought to be quick as well as simple (generally 2-4 weeks), but technicalities associated with transferring ISA capital make some delay inevitable. You will need a little patience.

HOW DO I GO ABOUT TRANSFERRING?

Most ISA managers will offer you the facility to transfer into their funds. When you have made your choice of which company to transfer to, either ask Seymour Sinclair for the relevant transfer forms, or request one direct from the manager to whom you are transferring your ISA. Then simply complete and return the form to Seymour Sinclair. Your part of the job is done.

IN SUMMARY, WHY SHOULD I CONSIDER A ISA TRANSFER?

You now need income rather than growth from your investment.

You need growth rather than income from your investment.

You want better performance.

You want to pay less in the way of charges.

You want better service from you ISA manager.

IMPORTANT: Remember that the price of units and the income from them can go down as well as up and that past performance is no guarantee of future returns. Key Features give full details of aims, risks and charges - remember to read them before you invest. We are happy to provide factual information about any investment. We cannot and will not offer any opinion as to the suitability of any investment for any client. Any response to this Newsletters is therefore on the basis that client specific advice has not been given. If you are unsure whether any investment mentioned is suitable for you, you should seek an independent advice.

For Brochures Please Contact Us:

Seymour Sinclair Investments Limited

2 Blade Mews, Putney, London SW15 2NF.

Tel: 020 8870 7072    E.mail: info@seymoursinclair.co.uk