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Cash interest explained |
You will receive interest on balances in your platform cash account at the prevailing rate.
Embark Investment Services Limited acts as the custodian for investments on the Willis Owen platform and is one of our strategic partners that provides our Willis Owen ISA, GIA, Junior ISA and SIPP.
Embark places cash with a number of banking partners for safekeeping and to provide the potential for you to earn interest on money in your platform cash account. By managing cash in this way, it aims to provide better protection and a higher overall level of interest than if all funds were placed with a single bank.
The rates of interest paid by banks will vary. Embark retains a portion of the interest earned to cover its costs in managing platform cash.
Current Interest Rate
The table below shows the current customer interest rate payable on cash balances along with the amount of interest retained by Embark. The customer interest rate shown is that after accounting for interest retained by Embark:
| Date From | Customer Interest Rate | Interest retained by Embark |
|---|---|---|
| 25th March 2024 | 2.46% | 1.75% - 2.00% |
Embark can change the rate of interest at any time and it reviews the position at least quarterly. Interest is calculated and accrued daily and is credited to your account on the first of each month. If you transfer out, accrued interest is applied at the point of transfer. We will inform you if and when the interest rate changes as soon as is practicable.
Interest retained
The table below shows the yearly equivalent rates of interest Embark expects to pay based on a range of possible yearly interest rates it may earn.
| Interest Embark expects to earn | Customer Interest Rate | Interest retained by Embark |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1% | 0 – 0.46% | 0 – 0.54% |
| 1-2% | 0.46% – 0.94% | 0.54% – 1.06% |
| 2-3% | 0.94% – 1.46% | 1.06% – 1.54% |
| 3-4% | 1.46% – 2.02% | 1.54% – 1.98% |
| 4-5% | 2.02% – 2.61% | 1.98% – 2.39% |
| 5%+ | 2.61%+ | 2.39%+ |
Historic Interest Rates
To see details of historic customer interest rates, along with the amount of interest retained by Embark, click here.
Investments held on the Aegon platform will be subject to an annual Willis Owen Service fee of 0.5% and an Aegon Platform Charge of up to 0.23%. The fees are calculated are based on the value of your investments at the end of the month, and paid on a monthly basis. We make no other charge for our services but Aegon may apply a charge if you elect to exercise Voting Rights in respect of any Corporate Actions for investments that you hold. The amount of any such charge will be confirmed if and when you make any such election.
Aegon provide a wide range of services that benefit customers investing in Funds. Their offering complements the services provided to you by Willis Owen.
Historically, both Willis Owen and Aegon (formerly Cofunds) received payments for their services through the Annual Management Charge (AMC) levied by the Fund Manager on their Funds. Following changes in 2016, both Willis Owen and Aegon charges are now taken instead by means of a separate and explicit charge against your account and not through the AMC of the funds you invest in. This method is more transparent and makes it easier to understand what you are paying.
Aegon levies an annual charge for its services, which is taken monthly from your account cash facility.
Owing to Willis Owen’s scale and negotiating power, our customers pay lower Aegon charges than those which Aegon apply as standard. These are shown in the table below:
| Customer Portfolio (£) | Standard Aegon Rates | Willis Owen's Enhanced Aegon Rate |
|---|---|---|
| < £100,000 | 0.29% | 0.23% |
| £100,001 – £250,000 | 0.26% | 0.23% |
| £250,001 – £500,000 | 0.23% | 0.23% |
| £500,001 – £1,000,000 | 0.20% | 0.20% |
| > £1,000,001 | 0.15% | 0.15% |
The table below gives you a quick idea on how much you could save each year by using Willis Owen for your Aegon account. These savings all add up and compounded over years can make a big difference to your investments.
| Example | Standard Aegon Rates | Willis Owen's Enhanced Aegon Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio of £50,000 | £145 | £115 |
Each month Aegon calculates a blended rate which is a combined average rate based on all of your assets held within your Aegon portfolio, for which you are the primary holder. This means the more assets you have on the platform, the lower the blended rate could be.
To keep this as straightforward as possible Willis Owen have purposely negotiated the same lower rate for all balances below £500,000, to keep it simple for most investors to calculate their likely costs.
A different rate is applied to each tier (see table above) and these amounts are added up. The blended rate is then calculated by dividing this total amount by the assets held.
For those with a balance of over £500,000 an example below shows how the fees are calculated.
| How blending works: e.g. Portfolio of £750,000 | Result |
|---|---|
| Platform charge on first £500,000 = £500,000 x 0.23% | £1,150 |
| Platform charge on second £250,000 = £250,000 x 0.20% | £500 |
| Total Amount | £1,650 |
| Blended rate = £1,650 / £750,000 x 100 | 0.22% |
