Closure of the Bestinvest Self Directed Investment Service - Aegon Cofunds (Aegon)

Summary

• The Bestinvest Self Directed Investment Service will close on 31 July 2024
• The Bestinvest Online Investment Service ('Bestinvest Online') is not affected by any of these changes and remains fully operational
• You need to take action before 31 July 2024 to determine which alternative service will be best for you

Overview of the Bestinvest Self Directed Investment Service

The Bestinvest Self Directed Investment Service was introduced to service and support clients who wanted to make their own investment decisions. This service has been jointly delivered by two main providers acting as:

• Servicing agent: Bestinvest had acted as a servicing agent, offering a contact centre, transactional support, investment insights and access to investment coaching.
• Investment platform: Aegon has acted as your platform and custodian, offering their own portal to view and manage your holdings along with provision of additional service support.

Over the years since this service was launched, we have invested heavily in our own Online Investment Service and have reached a point where we do not feel it is in clients’ best interest to retain and pay fees to both Aegon and Bestinvest.

As a result, the Bestinvest Self Directed Investment Service will close on 31 July 2024.

What am I currently paying?

The Bestinvest Self Directed Investment Service carries a standard service fee of 0.55% (Bestinvest) + 0.20% (Aegon) so a standard total service charge of 0.75%.

Telephone trades via our customer support team and paper statements from Aegon are provided at no extra cost. You may be paying less than the standard fee, so please refer to your provider's costs and charges statement to confirm your actual fees.

You may be able to reduce your charges with one of the options below – please do your own research on the features and fees before making a decision.

What are my options?

At this stage there are three actions you can take:

1. If you want to retain your relationship with Bestinvest

• Transfer to Bestinvest Online - open an account and transfer your investments to us. We would become your single provider for both investment platform and ongoing customer service and you would no longer have the services provided by, or cost of, Aegon. It is important to remember that the Online Investment Service is for clients who are comfortable managing their investments online - additional costs will apply if you wish to place trades over the telephone or require paper valuations to be sent (which will otherwise be posted online for you to view).

Already have a Bestinvest Online account? Log in and select 'Transfer an account'. Log in to my account

• Bestinvest Online key features
• Bestinvest Online fees

You can also call us on 020 7131 8888 or email best@bestinvest.co.uk and we’d be happy to talk to you about any of this.

2. If you want to transfer to a new provider

• Open an account with a new provider and transfer your investments to them. The new provider would become your single provider for platform and service

3. If you want to retain your relationship with Aegon

• You can call Aegon and request a form to add, remove, or change a financial adviser or third party. We would then no longer service your account and you would no longer be able to contact us about your investments, or use our online portal. Any fees paid to us would cease.
• If you remain with Aegon without a servicing agent or adviser then they would term you an “orphaned client” and your service, costs and charges will change. The fees for this service start at 0.29% and tier down depending on the value of your investments. 
• You will be able to log in to your Aegon account to view your investments as well as buy, sell or switch investments. Log into your Aegon account.
• You can find out more about how Aegon could support you by calling them on 0345 604 4001, speaking to them on webchat or visiting their support page.

Which option should I take?

This is up to you. We cannot give you advice about what course of action is right for you but we can discuss your available options. We are available on 020 7131 8888 Monday to Friday 7.45am-6pm (8pm on Thursday) and Saturday 9.30am-1.30pm.

Things to consider when making your decision include:

• What features do you value about your current service, and what features does each option provide.
• What are the costs of each option.
• Bestinvest will not charge you should you wish to remove us as agent or transfer elsewhere, but you should check with your current provider about any costs they may have for leaving them.
• In addition, if transferring a pension, ask yourself:
  • 1. Will I lose any valuable benefits?
  • 2. If the Pension is an employer related plan, will my employer cease to pay benefits if transferred elsewhere? If the pension is a stakeholder pension, a Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) is likely to be more expensive – Bestinvest only offers a SIPP, which may not be suitable for your needs if you do not wish to invest across different asset classes. You should consider if the additional costs are justifiable based on your own personal needs.
• If you hold cash in your investment account, what Interest do you currently receive and how does this compare to that offered by other providers? 'Bestinvest online' currently offers a rate of 4.45% which is set by the custodian responsible for keeping your money safe and is subject to change at any time.