Important information - Our service is designed for people who want to make their own investment decisions. Unlike cash, investments can go down in value as well as up so you could get back less than you invest. This is not personal advice. If you’re not sure if an investment is right for you, please ask for financial advice. If looking to transfer, check if your provider charges exit fees, or if you'll lose any benefits or guarantees by transferring.
Why transfer investments to HL?
Peace of mind - We're the UK's largest investment platform for private investors, trusted by over 2 million clients
See everything in one place - Log in online or with the HL app to see your investments anytime, anywhere.
Support when you need it - Our UK-based helpdesk are here to answer your calls.
Take control of your money - Choose from thousands of shares and funds, or take inspiration from our investment ideas.
It's free to transfer investments to us
Your current provider may charge exit fees though, so it’s worth checking with them first. If you’re transferring a fixed rate cash ISA, remember that if you leave before the end of the term, you may have to pay a fee.
Our annual charge for holding investments is never more than 0.45%. But some investments will have their own charges. See our full list of charges, including dealing fees.
What can be transferred?
Stocks and Shares ISAs
Pensions
More about pension transfersDealing accounts
Junior ISAs
Innovative Finance ISAs
Share certificates
Most providers will offer an electronic transfer, which is usually the fastest way to transfer your investment. If your transfer cannot be done online when you use our online transfer application, we’ll let you know. To transfer an Innovative Finance ISA, you will need to post us a transfer form.
Have your details ready
Before you transfer, make sure that all your personal details (including current name and address) are up to date with your existing provider, otherwise this could slow your transfer down. Check if you'll lose any benefits or guarantees by transferring. Then to get started, you'll need:
The name of your current provider
Your account number (sometimes called a reference number)
The approximate value of investments
The type of account
The most common reasons for an application being rejected are: differences between married and maiden names, or differences between current and previous addresses.
What is the transfer process?
Step 1 - Start your transfer
The fastest way to transfer is online, but you can also transfer by post or over the phone.
Before transferring, please check if your provider charges exit fees, or if you'll lose any benefits or guarantees by transferring.
Step 2 - We work with your current provider
We’ll receive a valuation of your account so we know what’s coming, and check we can hold the investments you’re transferring. If we are unable to hold any investments you want to transfer we’ll contact you to discuss your options, otherwise we won't usually need to contact you again until the transfer is complete.
Not all investments will be transferred at the same time, so you may see some holdings arrive in your account before others and cash is typically transferred last. Rest assured, we will chase any investments that are taking longer than expected to transfer.
Transfers can be made as cash or as stock. With a stock transfer, you stay invested. With a cash transfer, the investments are sold, meaning you’ll miss out on any market rises or falls throughout the transfer.
Fund conversions
When transferring stock we’ll transfer all your investments and cash as they are. If you hold funds, once we receive them from your current provider, we’ll convert them to the lowest cost version we offer. If you’ve asked to transfer your holdings as they are but we can’t hold one or more of your funds, then we’ll automatically ask your current provider to convert them to the lowest cost versions we offer before transferring them. There are no charges or tax to pay. Before transferring, please read about converting funds here.
Step 3 - Your investment transfer is completed
If you already have an account with us you’ll receive either a secure online message or a letter through the post, depending on your contact preference, letting you know that all investments and/or cash have been transferred to your account. If you’ve had to open a new HL account as part of the transfer we’ll contact you by post.
Investment transfer FAQs
Transfer timeframes vary considerably between providers and can also depend on the assets held in your portfolio. We expect transfers to take anywhere between 2-6 weeks although some transfers can be complex and take longer. Timeframes also depend on actions from your existing provider.
While we expect your transfer to complete within 2-6 weeks there are a number of circumstances which could hold up your transfer. For example:
Differences between personal details on the form submitted and what is registered with your current provider e.g. address, name, National Insurance number, date of birth.
Account format differences e.g. if the account is held in joint names it must be transferred to a joint account with us.
Ensuring your full account/reference number is detailed.
Trading on your account whilst your transfer is in progress can cause your transfer to take longer.
Any outstanding fees on the account need to be settled before a transfer can proceed.
We don’t charge anything to transfer to us, however some providers may charge to transfer out so make sure you check with your current provider.
Our annual charge for holding investments is never more than 0.45%. But some investments will have their own charges. See our full list of charges, including dealing fees.
The security of your accounts is really important to us. We have invested in multiple measures to help protect you and your money. Read more about how we look after your savings and investments here.
You can normally choose between transferring all the investments with your current provider, or only some of them. This will leave your existing account open. Please note that some providers may not allow partial transfers, this includes the need for current year ISA subscriptions to be transferred in full to a new provider. If we can't do a partial transfer we will be in contact with you to confirm. Alternatively, you may wish to contact your provider to check their transfer terms.
If you choose to transfer part of your account, you can potentially complete a telephone transfer with our helpdesk on 0117 906 7816 for ISA and General Investment Accounts. For any queries relating to partial pension transfers, please contact our pensions helpdesk on 0117 980 9926. If not we’ll ask you to complete a paper form rather than transferring online.
You cannot normally transfer shares and investments into an ISA. However, you can use shares to top up an ISA by selling them in an HL Fund and Share Account and then buying them back within an ISA. This would count towards your annual ISA allowance (currently £20,000). This is sometimes called a Bed and ISA.
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Help and support
If you have any questions about transferring investments, call our helpdesk or send us a message.