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We understand how confusing money can be, but hopefully we can answer some of your questions here.
At evestor, we want investing to be straightforward and simple to all; regardless of your age or how wealthy you are. We want to instil confidence back into the industry by ensuring we offer all our customers a transparent and fair price while placing their interests first.
At evestor we offer straightforward, jargon-free investment management at a low cost. It doesn’t matter whether you are investing £1 or £1,000,000, you will receive the same exceptional service.
A range of investment products including a Stocks & Shares Individual Savings Account (S&S ISA), a Pension and a General Investment Account (GIA).
Sign up at from our homepage and select the product you wish to hold your investment in (ISA, General Investment Account, or Pension). Choose your risk portfolio and tell us how much you wish to invest. We also provide you with the option of transferring in existing ISA or Pension plans. Once your first payment has been made, fund orders are sent to the market - you will then become an evestor investor!
To open an account with evestor, you must be at least 18 years old, and a UK resident.
evestor have partnered with Gaudi Regulated Services Limited to provide ISA and Pension products. Our third-party administrator, Quai, arranges your contracts with Gaudi, who then look after the taxation and regulatory reporting of your products. Quai administer these products and evestor provide investment management on the funds within them.
evestor have partnered with Quai Administration Ltd to provide brokerage, custody and administration services. When an investment trade takes place, Quai place the order with the fund manager (brokerage). Quai also support evestor in initiating transfers, and other administrative tasks.
evestor launched in April 2017, it offered both an advised & non-advised service. We decided to split the brand and in April 2019 OpenMoney was launched to cater for the advice side. Doing so allowed us to deal with both audiences specifically meaning better products, content and service. evestor is a trading style of OpenMoney Adviser Services Limited.
We use a passive investment strategy towards investing when managing our portfolios. Meaning we invest in passive mutual funds which track market indices; like the UK FTSE All Share and the US S&P 500. We believe there are several benefits towards using this approach:
A mutual fund is a type of financial product that pools investors’ money together to purchase financial assets, such as Equity and Bonds. These track the performance of its relative benchmark and requires minimal human intervention from the fund manager. As such, these funds are significantly cheaper than active funds. Our use of mutual funds is the core to our passive investment approach.
At evestor, when we say ‘portfolio’ we simply mean a collection of investments. We offer three model portfolios created by our investment committee, these represent three risk levels; 1 – Low Risk (Cautious), 2 – Medium Risk (Balanced) and 3 – High Risk (Adventurous).
Asset allocation is a type of investment strategy. This method balances the risk and rewards associated with investing, against an individual’s attitude to risk and time horizon. The core principle is to use diversification to allocate non-correlated assets (i.e. assets that perform differently in the same economic conditions) to an investor’s investment portfolio. The use of different asset classes in a portfolio aims to reduce the overall risk of the investment and provide better returns for the customer.
Investment diversification is one of the basic building blocks of asset allocation. The principle suggests that spreading your investment across a wide range of asset types will help manage the overall risk of the investment. If you’re familiar with the phrase ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket’, this might help you to understand diversification. Our investments are globally diversified so an investor in one of our model portfolios can be invested in over 70 countries and 2,500 companies.
Our investment committee decides on the asset allocation of our three model portfolios. Each portfolio contains mutual index funds which invest in the core asset classes i.e. Bonds, Equities, Cash and Property. The type and proportion of each asset class included in our portfolio is based on target risk levels. Depending on the risk level of the portfolio the proportion of assets will vary to meet set targets.
Our portfolios are invested in several mutual index funds, meaning they track global market indexes like the UK FTSE All Share and the US S&P 500. Currently we are unable to remove specific investments which may be considered unethical from these funds.
The past performance of each of our portfolios can be found in our portfolio factsheets. These contain useful information on the funds we use, the asset allocation and the past performance of each portfolio. If you wish to view these, please get in touch and we will have these sent across to you. Please remember that past performance provides no indication of future performance.
Our investment committee have carried out extensive research when building each portfolio. Changes can only be made where the investment committee see fit so customers are currently unable to adjust the holdings or ‘pick and choose’ their own investments.
As we manage our portfolios on a discretionary basis, the exact funds we invest in will change from time to time, however here’s a list of the funds evestor currently invest in:
Vanguard UK Investment Grade Bond – this fund invests in pound sterling, major investment grade bonds securities around the world, excluding government and government related securities. Investment grade refers to the quality of a company’s credit. To be considered investment grade the company must be rated ‘BBB’ or higher by the rating agency. Only bonds rated ‘BBB’ or above will be considered for use in this fund. This fund uses a passive strategy to replicate the performance of the Barclays Global Aggregate UK Non-Government Bond Index. We use this fund to gain exposure to sterling denominated investment grade bonds issued by developed companies around the world.
Vanguard UK Government Bond Index – this fund invests in United Kingdom treasury and government related securities with maturities greater than one year. UK Treasury securities refer to the bonds issued by the UK Government. This fund uses a passive strategy to replicate the performance of the Barclays UK Government Float Adjusted bond index. We use this fund to gain exposure to UK Government Securities.
Vanguard Global Bond Hedged Index – this fund invests in major government and investment grade bonds from all around the world. Only bonds rated ‘BBB’ or above will be considered for use in this fund. This fund uses a passive strategy to replicate the performance of the Barclays Global Aggregate Index. We use this fund to gain exposure to major global government and corporate bonds, hedged against the pound sterling.
Blackrock UK Equity (FTSE All-Share) - the aim of this fund is to achieve capital growth for investors by tracking closely the performance of the FTSE All Share Index. Using a passive strategy, this fund will invest directly in companies that are constituents of the FTSE All-Share in relation to their market capitalisation. We use this fund to gain exposure to UK Equities.
Fidelity Index US (S&P 500) - the aim of this fund is to achieve capital growth for investors by tracking closely the performance of the S&P 500. Using a passive strategy, this fund will invest directly in companies that are constituents of the S&P 500 in relation to their market capitalisation. We use this fund to gain exposure to US Equities.
Fidelity Index Europe (ex UK) - the aim of this fund is to achieve capital growth for investors by tracking closely the performance of the MSCI Europe Ex. UK Index. Using a passive strategy, this fund will invest directly in companies that are constituents of MSCI Europe ex. UK Index, in relation to their market capitalisation. We use this fund to gain exposure to developed European Equities.
Fidelity Index Japan - the aim of this fund is to achieve capital growth for investors by tracking closely the performance of the MSCI Japan Index. Using a passive strategy, this fund will invest directly in companies that are constituents of the MSCI Japan Index, in relation to their market capitalisation. We use this fund to gain exposure to Japanese Equities.
Fidelity Index Emerging Markets - the aim of this fund is to achieve capital growth for investors by tracking closely the performance of the MSCI Emerging Market Index. Using a passive strategy, this fund will invest directly in companies that are constituents of the MSCI Emerging Market Index, in relation to their market capitalisation. We use this fund to gain exposure to Emerging Market Equities.
Fidelity Index Pacific (ex-Japan) - the aim of this fund is to achieve capital growth for investors by tracking closely the performance of the MSCI Pacific Ex. Japan Index. Using a passive strategy, this fund will invest directly in companies that are constituents of the MSCI Pacific ex Japan Index, in relation to their market capitalisation. We use this fund to gain exposure to developed Pacific Markets.
Blackrock Global Property Securities Tracker - the aim of the fund is to achieve capital growth for investors by tracking closely the performance of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index. Using a passive strategy, this fund will invest directly in companies that are constituents of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index. We use this fund to gain exposure to the Global Property Market.
(Correct as of 13th July 2019)
An Individual Savings Account (ISA), is a financial product which allows you to save your money free from Income and Capital Gains Tax. The current annaul ISA allowance is £20,000. The four main types of ISA that are available include Cash ISAs, Stocks & Shares ISAs, Innovative Finance ISAs and Lifetime ISAs. Here at evestor we offer a Stocks & Shares ISA.
A Stocks & Shares ISA (Individual Savings Account) allows you to invest in a variety of investment products such as funds and individual shares in a tax efficient way. Compared to a Cash ISA, a Stocks & Shares ISA is higher risk to the investor as returns are not guaranteed, and you can get back less than what you put in.
You can open one of each type of ISA in any given tax year but you are unable to contribute to more than one of the same ISA type in the same tax year. For example, you can have a Stocks & Shares ISA and a Cash ISA, but you can’t contribute towards two different Cash ISAs in the same tax year. If you have already opened a S&S ISA this tax year and wish to open one with evestor, then you must transfer all contributions that were made this tax year and cease any further payments into your old Stocks & Shares ISA. Alternatively a GIA account may be an option to consider.
The current ISA allowance is £20,000 for the current tax year. Each tax year runs from 6th April until 5th April the following year.
You can split your yearly allowance between different ISAs. For example, you can put £10,000 in your Stocks & Shares ISA and £10,000 in your Cash ISA.
We currently only offer a Stocks & Shares ISA.
We currently only offer a Stocks & Shares ISA. This is something we hope to bring to our product range in the future.
A GIA is a simple way to hold your investments, unlike a Pension and ISA, a GIA offers no tax benefits. Any investment held inside a GIA will be subject to Income Tax at your marginal tax rate and Capital Gains Tax on any growth on the underlying investment over the annual Capital Gains Tax allowance of £12,300 (2020/21).
Unlike a Pension and ISA, the GIA has no Annual or Lifetime Allowance restrictions. This can be beneficial if you have used up your yearly ISA and Pension allowance of £20,000 and £40,000 respectively (2020/21).
We offer a restricted self-invested personal pension (SIPP), a flexible and tax efficient product. Your pension with us would be invested in one of our investment portfolios, with every contribution we claim basic rate tax relief from HMRC.
There is currently a Pension contribution Annual Allowance of £40,000 per tax year and that’s including any tax relief you may receive on your contribution; you can contribute an amount equal to the level of your earnings, capped at £40,000. Contributions to an evestor Pension can be through an initial investment, a monthly contribution, or both. There are instances where you can invest more than £40,000 by utilising previous years’ allowances. Your annual allowance is also determined by your annual income that qualifies as UK relevant earnings.
Under current government legislation, you can commence drawing your Pension contributions (drawdown) from the age of 55, or younger if suffering from a very serious illness.
We don’t currently support drawdown at evestor, but it is something we are looking to facilitate in the future. For now, if you are looking to drawdown, you will need to transfer to a new provider.
When you invest in an evestor Pension you will receive tax relief from the government based upon your taxable income. Tax relief is essentially the government giving you back the tax you paid on that monetary contribution. Basic, higher and additional rate taxpayers will all receive a matched contribution of 20% which is collected from the HRMC by evestor.
For example, if you’re a basic rate tax payer you would be taxed £20 on the £100 that you earned (on earnings over your personal allowance), leaving you with £80 net. If you take that £80 and contribute it towards your evestor Pension, evestor will reclaim the £20 tax from HRMC on your behalf, thus making your gross contribution £100. If you are a higher or an additional rate tax payer, you will need to complete and return a self-assessment tax return to receive the additional 20% and 25% respectively.
Currently monthly and lump sum contributions can only be paid via direct debit. We are looking at introducing alternative methods of payment in the near future.
If you wish to add or reduce contributions to your investment, then you can do so via your evestor portal under the ‘Manage Payments’ section in your evestor portal.
You can request to withdraw however much you like, at any time - there is no charge for this. Simply get in touch with one of our team to request a full or partial withdrawal. We will need your customer account number and your date of birth.
Once your withdrawal request has been initiated, it will take approximately 10 working days to receive your money, however we can’t guarantee a timeframe.
Payment details can be adjusted via your evestor portal under ‘Manage Payments’. Please note, if a payment is due to be taken within 2 working days, you will be unable to adjust details until the payment has been collected.
We may have attempted to collect your payment but failed to do so. We receive BACS reports which state the reason why a collection failed. It may be that the connection between us and your bank does not exist or, has been cancelled by the account holder. Please get in touch with one of our team and they will try their best to resolve your query.
Once you have entered your bank details, before any money can be taken, there is a five-working day period to set up the connection with your bank. The collection file is then sent two working days before the debit date. Please keep this in mind for when you select the date for your recurring payment; 1st, 8th, 15th or 22nd.
To view or adjust this date enter your evestor portal and select ‘Manage Payments’. For lump sum payments, money will automatically be taken on the next possible debit date.
Payments can be stopped under ‘Manage Payments’, up to three working days before the debit date. As the collection file is sent two working days before the collection date, we will be unable to stop a payment that is due within this timeframe. If you wish to cancel your payment in this case, please get in touch with your bank.
Once payment has been debited, there is a five-working day clearing period before money is accepted and fund orders are sent to the market. As each fund settles, your evestor portal will update, reflecting your new fund purchases. It can take up to five working days for all funds to completely settle.
Investing can be a powerful way to grow your money over the long term. As tempting as it may be, try not to focus on the day to day changes in the value of your portfolio. Significant changes are not uncommon. These are a result of global market developments and can reflect positively or negatively on your investment. Investing is a long-term game, so we recommend investing for a minimum of 5 years to ‘ride out’ these fluctuations and to allow a chance to recoup losses. If you are worried about the performance of your investment and you are in a higher risk portfolio, you may wish to consider switching to a lower risk portfolio.
If you are looking to adjust the portfolio you are invested in, please get in touch via email or chat. It takes 5 working days to sell down your current holdings and then a further 5 to purchase units in your new portfolio. Your new portfolio factsheet will then be uploaded to your document store. You can request the portfolio factsheets beforehand, so you are aware of the composition of the portfolio and its past performance.
Currently you can only invest in one portfolio at a time for each product. However, if you invest in more than one product you can do so. For example, an evestor S&S ISA invested in Portfolio 1, and an evestor Pension invested in Portfolio 3.
If you are a new customer, simply sign up at evestor.co.uk and follow the steps. You will be asked to enter the amount you wish to transfer from an existing provider. You are then taken to a page where you enter provider details, this triggers a transfer form which is sent to your email via Signable. Once you have signed the form, we then initiate the transfer process.
If you are an existing customer, please get in touch and we will have a transfer form dispatched to you.
Be sure that you are aware of penalties associated with transferring an existing plan, this includes exit penalties and account closure fees.
We allow partial transfers from previous tax year ISAs. However, if you are transferring any ISA to evestor from a current tax year you will need to transfer all contributions paid in this tax year.
For partial pension transfers, it may be worth calling your pension provider and asking them whether this is possible.
The transfer process differs from each provider. We send out transfer requests as soon as possible and aim to chase all transfers on a 10-working day cycle. If you would like an update on your current pending transfer, please get in touch.
evestor are authorised and regulated by the FCA. Our customers are therefore covered by the FSCS. If we or our Product Provider cease trading or have been declared to be in default and are unable to meet our respective obligations, you may be entitled to compensation from the FSCS. Further information about compensation arrangements is available from the FSCS.
Your personal details are stored in our database, and by Quai Administration Ltd. Both evestor and Quai use 256-bit SSL encryption to store your data –the same level as most banks.
Before money is invested, your money is held by our third-party platform provider within a Client Money Bank Account. The account is designated as a trust account which is segregated from our third party’s funds in accordance with the FCA Rules on Client Money. Client Money Bank accounts are pooled accounts with one or more banks. In the event of a bank’s failure, your claim will be for a share of the cash held in all pooled accounts at the bank. Money is held here briefly until fund orders are submitted to purchase your investments from each fund provider, or until a withdrawal is paid out.
We believe it is important to be entirely transparent on how much it costs to invest with us. Fund costs are not charges levied by us, it is the cost to invest in the funds. The costs indicated below include both the Annual Management Charge (AMC) and the ongoing transaction cost for investing in each portfolio. Please note that these fund costs may vary and may be higher than the stated amount:
Along with our annual management fee of 0.25% and the administration fee of 0.10% (paid to a third party), the approximate amount you will pay per annum to invest is:
*This is based on the fees payable as at 20th April 2020
We accumulate a daily fee which is charged as a percentage of the total value of your investments. Over the month the daily fee is added up to calculate a total monthly charge. This fee is deducted from your cash holdings at the start of each month. You can view these charges in your evestor account under ‘Accounts’, scroll down to ‘Past Transactions’.
evestor is a trading style of OpenMoney Adviser Services Ltd. OpenMoney Adviser Services Ltd is registered in England & Wales under Company Registration Number 09407280; its registered address is WeWork St. Peter’s Square, 1 St. Peter’s Square, Manchester, M2 3DE. OpenMoney Adviser Services Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our FCA number for evestor is 676331.