Fund factsheets help - overview

Fund manager's initial charge

Most unit trusts and OEICs levy an initial charge. This is a fee payable to the fund manager when you first invest. We have negotiated special terms with fund management companies which allow us to discount most, if not all, of the initial charge for over 1,700 funds.

HL initial saving

This shows how much we can save you on the standard initial charge. For instance, if the initial charge was normally 5.25% and we offer a 5% saving you would actually pay an initial charge of only 0.25%. Please remember for dual priced funds there may also be a small difference between the buying and selling prices, known as the bid-offer spread and with single priced a dilution levy may be applied on the way in or out of the fund.

Fund manager's annual charge

The annual charge is levied by the fund management company to cover the cost of managing funds. They are normally deducted on a daily basis and reflected in the price of the units. This means that you will not see them shown on your statement and you do not need to pay for them separately.

Total Expense Ratio

The Total Expense Ratio (TER) represents the total annual costs involved in running a fund. The TER consists principally of the manager's annual charge, but also includes additional costs for other services paid for by the fund, such as the fees paid to auditors, registrars and the financial press.

HL annual saving

When you buy funds, part of the annual management charge is usually shared with your broker through what is known as renewal commission. This makes absolutely no difference to the charges you pay; if you invest directly with the fund manager they simply keep the renewal commission themselves. We use part of the renewal commission to administer your account and return the rest to you by way of loyalty bonuses. Please note the loyalty bonus is not available for funds held through the Vantage SIPP.

Platform fee

We are changing the way we make charges for some – mostly tracker – funds within the Vantage Service. We are replacing the 0.5% annual charge we make on a few funds with a flat platform fee of £1 or £2 per holding, per month. This fee will only apply to a minority of funds – it will remain free to hold over 2,400 funds (97.3% of the funds our clients hold) in the Vantage Service – and the charges, where applicable, for shares, investment trusts, ETFs, bonds and gilts will remain unchanged.

We will introduce the new platform fee on 31 December 2011. The Fund & Share Account had been free but this new platform fee will apply to these funds when held in the Vantage ISA, Junior ISA, SIPP and Fund & Share Account too. While there will now be a charge to hold platform funds in the Fund & Share Account, shares and all other types of investments will remain free. The cap that applies to charges to hold shares, investment trusts, ETFs, bonds and gilts in the ISA and SIPP will remain but the platform fee will not count towards it.

Launch Date

The date the fund was launched.

Launch Price

The price of the fund on the first day of trading.

Sector

The funds sector is the category a fund falls into. These are usually determined by the Investment Management Association (IMA).

Fund Size

This is the total value of all the individual investments which have been made into the fund.

No. of holdings

The number of individual holdings a fund holds.

Fund Type

Here we separate funds into two broad categories, Unit Trusts and OEICs. Unit Trusts have two prices; the offer (or buying) and the bid (or selling) price. The difference between the two is known as the bid-offer spread and includes the initial charge plus all the costs to buy and sell a unit. OEICs on the other hand have one price for buying and selling. The initial charge is simply added to the price when shares are purchased.

Type of Units

Funds offer either accumulation units or income units or a choice between the two. With accumulation units income is reinvested within the fund, increasing the price of each unit. If you buy income units any income is paid into your account where it can be withdrawn or reinvested depending on the type of account you hold and the instructions you have given us.